by John Claybaugh
by John Claybaugh
In late June the Denver Police Department and the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation conducted sweeps along the Platte River and also the Cherry Creek. These areas are readily accessible because of bicycle trails that were built adjacent to them, and so many people experiencing homelessness sleep there each night. (In a recent meeting, outreach workers estimated this number to be between 95 and 130.) Many of these individuals call the area home.
These areas are technically part of the park system here in Denver. This means that, even without the urban camping ban legislation that was passed just over three years ago, laws like the park curfew make it illegal to sleep and hang out there at night. Therefore, the police will tell them to move along next week. There is a plan to clean up trash and other items in these areas.
And by "other items" I mean personal belongings. This could mean bags of clothes, blankets, court paperwork, and forms of identification, including state IDs and birth certificates.
Any belongings lost during this process will have to be replaced. Individuals will go to clothing rooms and similar service providers with the hope of replacing clothing and blankets. These items are typically donated by the general public. Many of these items sit around in garages until someone makes the decision to donate them to people who are less fortunate. However, I know a few people who buy items from second hand stores in order to give them to people who need them. Wherever these items come from, what does throwing them away solve?
Legal papers are needed to remind people of court dates and such. When these items come up missing, it increases the likelihood of a warrant being issued because of a missed court hearing or other appointments within the legal system. Also, some of the paperwork may be related to child visitation. The loss of such documents may cause even further stress on families. This means that children, who may also be experiencing homelessness, may also be negatively affected when their parent misses an appointment or is unable to keep other commitments.
And then there is the issue of identification. Birth certificates and state IDs cost money. Many times, when these need to be replaced, the individual is able to go to various service providers or churches and get a voucher with which to obtain these documents. But this is a huge waste of public resources (read money) when the reason these items need replaced is due to the police or parks department confiscating them.
Also, the individual may be in the process of getting permanent housing. These documents are needed. In most situations the housing provider will work with an individual as long as there is proof that the documents have been ordered, but sometimes that isn't the case. Also, an individual may be forced to wait until the beginning of the next month due to the fact that many service providers run out funds after the first week or two. Without funds, they cannot issue vouchers, and most funding that is set aside for purpose of obtaining identification is used up in the first ten days. A crazy catch-22 here is that police spokespeople said bags containing IDs would be considered “not trash” and would therefore be taken somewhere for safekeeping--but in order to retrieve them the owner would need to show ID…!
All of this leads to a poor use of funds, as providers are paying for the same necessities multiple times. These funds could and should be used for housing. While other services are important, we will never end homelessness without housing. And yet we continue to spend money in other areas because of waste.
And what about the going-nowhere-fast cycle of sweeping people from the waterways and elsewhere, usually in the middle of the night, thereby disrupting their sleep, and telling them they have to “go somewhere else”--even though there’s nowhere for them to go--only to have them “move along” to yet another location--and eventually return to where they started?
How long must this go on? How long will we continue the cycle?
In late June the Denver Police Department and the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation conducted sweeps along the Platte River and also the Cherry Creek. These areas are readily accessible because of bicycle trails that were built adjacent to them, and so many people experiencing homelessness sleep there each night. (In a recent meeting, outreach workers estimated this number to be between 95 and 130.) Many of these individuals call the area home.
These areas are technically part of the park system here in Denver. This means that, even without the urban camping ban legislation that was passed just over three years ago, laws like the park curfew make it illegal to sleep and hang out there at night. Therefore, the police will tell them to move along next week. There is a plan to clean up trash and other items in these areas.
And by "other items" I mean personal belongings. This could mean bags of clothes, blankets, court paperwork, and forms of identification, including state IDs and birth certificates.
Any belongings lost during this process will have to be replaced. Individuals will go to clothing rooms and similar service providers with the hope of replacing clothing and blankets. These items are typically donated by the general public. Many of these items sit around in garages until someone makes the decision to donate them to people who are less fortunate. However, I know a few people who buy items from second hand stores in order to give them to people who need them. Wherever these items come from, what does throwing them away solve?
Legal papers are needed to remind people of court dates and such. When these items come up missing, it increases the likelihood of a warrant being issued because of a missed court hearing or other appointments within the legal system. Also, some of the paperwork may be related to child visitation. The loss of such documents may cause even further stress on families. This means that children, who may also be experiencing homelessness, may also be negatively affected when their parent misses an appointment or is unable to keep other commitments.
And then there is the issue of identification. Birth certificates and state IDs cost money. Many times, when these need to be replaced, the individual is able to go to various service providers or churches and get a voucher with which to obtain these documents. But this is a huge waste of public resources (read money) when the reason these items need replaced is due to the police or parks department confiscating them.
Also, the individual may be in the process of getting permanent housing. These documents are needed. In most situations the housing provider will work with an individual as long as there is proof that the documents have been ordered, but sometimes that isn't the case. Also, an individual may be forced to wait until the beginning of the next month due to the fact that many service providers run out funds after the first week or two. Without funds, they cannot issue vouchers, and most funding that is set aside for purpose of obtaining identification is used up in the first ten days. A crazy catch-22 here is that police spokespeople said bags containing IDs would be considered “not trash” and would therefore be taken somewhere for safekeeping--but in order to retrieve them the owner would need to show ID…!
All of this leads to a poor use of funds, as providers are paying for the same necessities multiple times. These funds could and should be used for housing. While other services are important, we will never end homelessness without housing. And yet we continue to spend money in other areas because of waste.
And what about the going-nowhere-fast cycle of sweeping people from the waterways and elsewhere, usually in the middle of the night, thereby disrupting their sleep, and telling them they have to “go somewhere else”--even though there’s nowhere for them to go--only to have them “move along” to yet another location--and eventually return to where they started?
How long must this go on? How long will we continue the cycle?
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