(The Center Square) – With the Spokane Police Department officially enforcing Proposition 1, over a dozen city leaders met on Thursday to discuss other efforts to mitigate the homelessness crisis.
Proposition 1 was a citizen’s initiative that passed with nearly 75% voter support last November. The measure expanded the city’s illegal camping prohibitions to include anywhere within 1,000 feet of a school, park or daycare, in addition to the existing restrictions.
However, SPD held off on enforcing Prop. 1 until last week due to a prior court decision that was recently overruled, allowing officers to finally uphold the law. Still, many leaders are worried about criminalizing the vulnerable population and want to utilize all the tools at their disposal.
Dr. Darin Neven, chief executive officer and founder of Consistent Care, was in the room on Thursday, along with several department heads and city council members. Since Mayor Lisa Brown’s emergency declaration, his team has helped identify those frequenting the streets, jails and hospital system and provided case management services to homeless individuals.
“We stick with them as long as they’re willing to stick with us,” Neven said.
Consistent care works closely with SPD, the various shelters, the Spokane Fire Department and others to identify the population’s overwhelming needs. He said the most important part is getting people treated.
Neven said one method that proved highly effective is substituting an individual’s heroin or fentanyl for suboxone as they wean off their addictions; however, many of the individuals also have an untreated mental illness, often schizophrenia.
When it comes to schizophrenia, he said Consistent Care tries to get them on antipsychotics, but the individuals often lose their pills. What’s more effective is offering a 30-day treatment shot, which they usually accept in exchange for a meal.
“A lot of these people are treatment resistant, but they will eventually be treatment ready,” Neven said. “They tell us to get lost, and then when they’re ready, that’s when we want to jump.”
He said that their current focus is the top 30 people frequenting municipal court and that Consistent Care is attempting to make a presence at each of their upcoming court dates.
The next step would be getting into housing, which Neven said can take up to and over six months at times. A few service providers specializing in transitional housing also spoke during the meeting, noting roughly 25% of the 39 people identified along the Division corridor are in some transitional housing situation.
However, Councilmember Michael Cathcart noted that the homeless population is much larger and asked for regular updates on those entering and receiving services. Spokane’s most recent Point-in-Time Count included over 2,000 homeless individuals across the county.
Neven said there needs to be more places for individuals to go once they’re ready for treatment, a location as readily available as a 7-Eleven to receive their suboxone. He wants to see a “social” intensive care unit set up for services outside of medical facilities, which are often intimidating.
Council President Betsy Wilkerson applauded the work but acknowledged that the community is overwhelmed and wants to see an increased capacity for solving this regional issue.
“Spokane’s like many other communities, we all see it on the news every day,” Wilkerson said. “They’re all struggling with the same thing, so I think letting us know as we’re doing our broke budget what that really needs to look like if we really want to move the needle.”