A Denver City Council committee on Tuesday forwarded to the full council a $750,000 contract to boost outreach services to the homeless.
The contract follows the City Council’s approval of a panhandling ordinance that prohibits anyone from sitting or lying on sidewalks or any public right of way from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the 120-block downtown district.
The city hopes the outreach workers will help direct homeless people violating the ordinance into needed service centers and keep them from ending up in the city’s jails.
“The outreach workers will be the eyes and ears of everything we do in the community,” said Patrick Coyle, the city’s homeless-programs director.
The contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is one of four expected to gain council approval in the coming months. The city previously spent $315,000 annually on such services. Now it plans to spend $1.16 million annually after all contracts are approved.
The increases are a crucial part of Mayor John Hickenlooper’s 10-year plan to address homeless issues, said Deborah Ortega, executive director of the Commission to End Homelessness.
The $1.16 million would allow the city to increase the number of outreach workers and dispatchers who help funnel the homeless to temporary housing and services from 13 to 29.
Before the contracts are finalized, they must receive approval from the full City Council.
The contracts will be financed with $975,000 in property tax levies already dedicated to the city’s Department of Human Services and federal aid.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
