Denver City Council on Monday will consider a $1 million contract with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless to add behavioral health services staff to several permanent supportive housing facilities.
It’s the council’s first contract since January involving the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, one of the Denver metropolitan area’s largest nonprofits, which provides housing opportunities for homeless people.
The city proposal listed on Monday’s agenda states the money would be used to “fill gaps in behavioral health services through additional staffing, technology updates and staff training.”
The coalition’s proposed contract with the City of Denver states that city funding will provide “strengths-based case management by two case managers to formerly homeless individuals with disabilities, including medication treatment and critical primary health care and mental health care needs, at the Riverfront Lofts and Upton Lofts permanent supportive housing communities.”
Officials say the coalition’s permanent housing facilities are needed, not facilities like Mayor Mike Johnston’s temporary transitional housing program, which would take homeless people straight off the streets. Homeless people can either stay in the temporary facilities long-term, return to the streets or transition into permanent housing opportunities.
So far, of the 1,564 people who have moved indoors, 497 have moved from temporary to permanent housing, according to the city’s homeless housing dashboard, adding that 45 of those people moved directly from the streets to permanent housing.
Some “mental health first” critics argue that homeless people don’t receive enough mental health services in housing programs.
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless serves an estimated 300 permanent housing “clients” annually and plans to train 150 staff members annually, according to nonprofit officials.
According to the contract, the training consists of “Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use problems and emergencies in clients.”
Under the coalition’s contract, if city funding is approved, medical and nursing support and group counseling will also be provided at the Stout Street Nursing Care Center.
In other action on Monday, the council will consider:
- The company signed a $1.5 million deal with United Airlines to become its exclusive marketing partner in the “airline category” at venues and locations across the city.
- It has signed a $2.35 million purchase agreement with Globeville Redevelopment Partners, LLC for affordable housing projects at 4964 N. Pearl St. and 624 E. 50th St. The residential development will include at least 170 units and provide space for a new Globeville Branch Denver Public Library.
- The $1.7 million grant agreement with the Colorado Governor’s Office is for the Governor’s Education Relief program, which will support summer youth employment, summer pop-up events for youth and families, Denver Parks & Recreation’s Night Moves program, and one-on-one tutoring support at comprehensive youth outreach organizations.
- $844,851 in federal grant agreements for the “Drug Trafficking Hotspots” program. Funds will support the efforts of the Rocky Mountain Drug Trafficking Hotspots Program to enforce enforcement in high-drug trafficking hotspots.
