What goes into the rating?
The draft would rate encampments on a 0-to-100 scale, with 60 set as the critical or high-risk threshold, according to St. Louis Magazine. A referral from the Citizen Services Bureau, an alderperson or another city agency would start a seven-day assessment by the mayor’s office operations team, with input from city departments, police and firefighters, the magazine reports.
The assessment could take account of fire or health dangers, weapons or drugs, children or other people especially exposed to harm, unsafe structures and obstacles to first responders, the magazine reports. St. Louis Public Radio also reports that the draft identifies visible or accessible weapons, suspected human trafficking and drug distribution as high-risk indicators.
The draft would assign risk scores to encampments.
A high rating would trigger more steps
A score above 60 would begin a further review process, not an immediate closure. Outreach teams would have 21 days to work with residents and provide case management before the city reassessed the site, St. Louis Public Radio reports. St. Louis Magazine describes the outreach as recurring work by the Department of Human Services and contracted organizations to connect residents with housing or other services.
If the city then determines that disbandment is warranted, residents would get seven days’ notice to leave while the city continued offering resources, according to St. Louis Public Radio. St. Louis Magazine reports that the city would decommission the camp after that period and that residents who remained would have to relocate. Mayor Cara Spencer has said the approach would focus on sites judged to pose risks rather than seek to clear every encampment, the station reports.
The proposal remains under review
The scoring proposal is part of a separate 17-page draft Unhoused Response Policies and Procedures Manual. The manual outlines coordination with social and human-service groups, but has not been finalized or approved; it remains under review by the Board of Aldermen, the city’s Continuum of Care board and other stakeholders, St. Louis Public Radio reports.
The proposal is being considered amid limited shelter capacity. Spencer has acknowledged that people often move elsewhere in the region after camps are disbanded, and St. Louis Public Radio reports that shelter space is limited. St. Louis Public Radio reports that the January Point-in-Time Count recorded nearly 1,800 people experiencing homelessness or living in shelters, about 9% more than the year before.
Earlier counts varied
HUD’s St. Louis City Continuum of Care profile notes that unsheltered sub-totals are excluded for 2021.
The city’s Code Blue program added at least 450 beds last winter when temperatures fell below 25 degrees, and the city has awarded $2 million for the program for the coming winter, St. Louis Public Radio reports. Separately, city officials issued an emergency condemnation in January for a structure at the 10th and Cass encampment, citing building-safety concerns, Spectrum News reported.
