KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A program dedicated to diverting unhoused people from being arrested as well as get them closer to the resources they need was introduced at City Hall on Thursday.
The program is called REACH, which stands for Responding with Empathetic Alternatives and Community Health.
If the ordinance is approved by the City Council later this month it would allow people, like small businesses the ability to call 3-1-1 on their phone to report an unhoused person for things like trespassing.
Mayor Quinton Lucas, 6th District Councilman Johnathan Duncan and Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw introduced the ordinance with Decarcerate KC, a local advocacy group.
“Last summer I was getting calls from a Brookside property owner who said every day there was someone who was sleeping in front of their establishment, and they kept emailing us on council, they talked to KCPD,” Lucas said. “What’s the best way to address that issue, you can arrest the person again, and again, and again, and they get right back out, and you have the same issue.”
The goal would be to provide the person housing and resources so they can find a job.
The program would provide $1.266 million that would partially go towards a staff of 12 people, and an extra $500,000 towards housing services.
The program is based off of similar programs in Atlanta, Tucson, Arizona and Tallahassee.
“The Tallahassee Police Department reported that they’ve diverted over 1000 offenders in the first three years of their pre arrest diversion program,” Lucas said. “80 percent of those diverted offenders have successfully completed the program and only 6 percent were rearrested, 1,000 offenders, only 6 percent rearrested.”
The ordinance still has to make it through committee and if it successfully jumps through the hoops the City Council would be voting on it before the end of the month.
The REACH center location has yet to be determined. If the ordinance passes the City would begin with “hotspots” like the Prospect Avenue corridor, select KCATA routes, and the Greater Downtown Area.
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Tags: Deflection Programs Legislation Programs