Post updated at 10:12 p.m. Wednesday, April 17:
The City of Lawrence’s multidisciplinary Homelessness Response Team will soon launch, and one member of that team will be a peer outreach worker with Artists Helping the Homeless.
Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of the city’s homeless solutions division, has previously shared her vision and plans for the HRT, which will include mental health providers, substance use treatment professionals, peer support specialists, physical health professionals, emergency shelter staff, benefits specialists and law enforcement.
Bosch-Hastings told the Douglas County Commission on Wednesday that staff members are in the process of developing memoranda of understanding with partner agencies and hoping to have that work wrapped up within the next couple of weeks.
“We’d really like to see the team come together and start at the very beginning of May,” she said.
Douglas County commissioners approved paying Artists Helping the Homeless up to an additional $36,000 to add a 20-hour-per-week peer outreach worker who will work in camps and other areas where people experiencing homelessness live.
AHH is a nonprofit organization that operates two Oxford-style houses in Lawrence helping men who are released from the Douglas County jail through the transition, among other things.
The peer outreach worker will build rapport with people who are living outside, prioritize people who have the highest barriers to reentering and maintaining housing, refer people to services, maintain by-name lists for specific areas and more, according to the agenda item.
“This is one piece of a puzzle,” said Jill Jolicoeur, assistant county administrator. “We hope to provide more information, but the role of peers is huge. I think this organization appreciates that.”
The position’s salary will be $28,558, according to the agenda item. The worker will also need to be available during instances of inclement weather to provide lifesaving services for people experiencing homelessness. Commissioners approved the agreement unanimously.
“There’ll be other funding partnerships that I’m sure may come into play at some point,” Jolicoeur said. “But as you learn more about what this multidisciplinary model looks like, it’s really exciting. It’s also really hard as it relates to conversations around medical care and medical outreach, but there are some really cool things happening that we hope we can share with you all.”
Bosch-Hastings said she was very grateful for AHH — they were the first partners to be really excited about the team and say yes, “and they always are that way,” she said.
They have also started talking with partners at the Lawrence Humane Society and their outreach for people and pets who are unhoused, Jolicoeur said.
“So we’re constantly evolving and thinking of ways that we can work with with the partners that we have and the resources that we have available,” she said.
Bosch-Hastings said the city has purchased training on outreach from the National Alliance to End Homelessness and is working with KU to develop outreach training. She said the team will present everything at the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting on May 7.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
