By Devyn Lyon, FOX23 News
TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa City leaders are looking at the money used by Safe Move Tulsa, an initiative to combat homelessness downtown.
Outreach teams are reporting fewer encounters downtown, but how many people are actually getting into housing, as opposed to just going somewhere else, is still a question.
Grand Mental Health Outreach Director Scott Whitefield says his teams offer rides to shelter and connections to services.
“When we first started, we were averaging 35, 40 engagements a night, and now we’re down to, just our average right now is 5.3 engagements a night,” said Whitefield.
But fewer encounters downtown alone doesn’t tell us whether homelessness is falling citywide. FOX23 has reported on the work being done by outreach teams with Safe Move Tulsa, taking those who are homeless either to resources or outside the IDL.
More people are getting off the streets, but Whitefield says those who don’t are move elsewhere.
“Now, a lot of those people moving into areas that we’re finding along the way with our normal general outreach, which to me is a good outcome because we were trying to find them all along anyway,” said Whitefield.
At City Hall Wednesday, providers said quarterly funding makes it harder to commit to a full year of rent and support.
“Our hope would be to grow the initiative so that we can go beyond helping 300 people at a time,” said CEO of Tulsa Housing Solutions Mark Smith.
Councilors are navigating how to keep the program going in the right direction.
The Harbor low-barrier shelter is one example of the City and its partners working together.
For Safe Move Tulsa, the City initially committed $6 million dollars, $5millino from private donors, and more pulled from the Vision Tulsa surplus fund.
But as more money get set aside for Safe Move Tulsa, is there a plan to expand? How do you measure if it’s actually working?
“I think it’d be a great idea. If we tried this with different parts of the city. You know, we’ve seen it work. It’s been successful,” said Whitefield.
Whitefield says outreach has connected multiple clients to care, but as the City navigates the money behind these efforts, outreach teams are finding more people in new locations who also need help.
Wednesday’s discussion did not establish a new expansion plan. Providers say they need funding they can county on, both for rent and the staff who help people stay housed.
