Elected Officials Meet Today For Rochester “Homeless Summit”

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Members of the Rochester City Council and Olmsted County Board will meet this afternoon in a rare joint session to discuss the community's response to the homelessness issue.

Officials with both government bodies for the purpose is to develop a city/County consensus regarding a "community purpose to end homelessness in Olmsted County" and an implementation strategy to meet that vision. A presentation to the elected officials proposes a purpose statement that reads: "In Olmsted County, we strive to end homelessness by focusing on prevention, and making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring."

The presentation calls for a "community vision" that will help the two governments and other agencies to better focus resources to reach a "desired end state" or goal. It describes an option known as the "Built For Zero" framework, which it describes as a movement of community solutions that has been adopted by dozens of cities across the US, including the Twin Cities.

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The presentation also likens Built for Zero to a "recipe" that includes a shared goal or vision, outreach and accountability, real-time data, and the data driven investments. A steering committee is proposing the creation of an Outreach/Accountability Team involving multiple agencies that would meet weekly and review real-time data to identify who is experiencing homelessness in the community, what services they are utilizing, and if there are "clogs" in the system slowing the response.

The plan would also include the acquisition and repositioning of housing assets, enhanced emergency assistance, and targeted rental assistance. It describes the use of a homeless shelter as a last resort option. The report also stresses that a shelter needs to be located near where both services and transit are available.

Today's presentation calls for the development of a local plan to implement the Built for Zero framework by mid summer. The proposed timeline has the implementation process beginning in August.

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