As a result, providers often struggle to deliver services to their homeless clients, the report said. Homeless people can often miss vital connections to information related to their health, employment, housing, transportation and financial needs because they lack consistent access to the internet, electricity, phones or computers. The report said it’s critical to improve access to online or electronic information for homeless people who don’t have reliable phone and computer devices.

More self-navigation tools could reduce the time spent during the process, researchers said. The process to receive services often involves many forms and complex structures that make it difficult for homeless people to navigate, extending the amount of time before people in need can get help. Clarifying eligibility requirements can help achieve that goal. Mistrust in the system can steer some people away from accessing the services they need, so finding new ways to build trust in the system is also crucial, researchers said. Encouraging formerly homeless people to become entrepreneurs, who offer peer services in the system, can also help address the crisis, study leaders said. Amplifying awareness of providers and their work can help achieve that goal. The researchers are also urging community leaders to find additional ways to support providers, who are short-staffed, yet offer critical support to people who are homeless or at risk for homelessness. Researchers estimated, almost $447 million a year is spent on shelters, supportive services, health care and other public assistance for people experiencing homelessness in metro Denver. The first report, released in August, analyzed the economic impact of homelessness in metro Denver. The Common Sense Institute and CU Denver released a nearly 70-page report Monday morning, the second to emerge from their research. “Our goal with this phase was to document what’s working, where there are opportunities, where there might be gaps and ultimately learn from them to solve this crisis.” “There are a variety of programs doing impactful work in meeting the different needs of people experiencing homelessness,” said Kristin Strohm, CEO and president of the Common Sense Institute, a research organization dedicated to protecting and promoting Colorado’s economy, which partnered with CU Denver to produce the report. The report includes several other ideas that researchers at the Common Sense Institute and University of Colorado Denver identified as successful in other communities and held promise for use locally.

When those people were offered housing and wrap-around services, they remained housed and interacted less frequently with costly emergency services, according to an analysis published on the city’s website. The report cited Denver’s Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative, which has provided housing and case management services to about 300 people experiencing chronic homelessness, who were frequently involved with police, jails, courts and other emergency services. But there’s no single solution to resolving the crisis affecting more than 6,000 people in the seven-county metro region, according to researchers who spent months interviewing formerly homeless people and the leaders of organizations that serve them.Įxpensive housing, a shortage of paid human services staff and mistrust in the system are among the factors making the homelessness problem even more intractable, researchers said.Ī major recommendation by the researchers studying homelessness in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties is adding more affordable housing options. Homelessness is pervasive and costly, and has worsened and grown more complex in metro Denver, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ufish homelessness