SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — A new report gives Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County some key insight on how to alleviate homelessness.
A study from the Augustana Research Institute presented to the Sioux Falls City Council and Minnehaha County Commission Tuesday night says Sioux Falls has a higher rate of homelessness compared to other similar communities. The numbers persist despite a 2005 push by the city to end homelessness by 2015.
The study recommends making homelessness a consideration across all areas of governing.
“Homelessness is not something that happens in isolation,” lead researcher Suzanne Smith said in a presentation outlining the study’s findings. “If we’re not talking across the spectrum of homelessness and across sectors of the community, it’s very difficult to confront something as complex as homelessness.”
The report also recommends giving more authority to the city’s Homelessness Advisory Board, which today can only make recommendations to lawmakers about the issue.
Smith said the board “lost focus” after its 10-year plan expired in 2015.
“There wasn’t an agreed-upon vision or role among members, and more fundamentally the board hadn’t been realized without any formal power or budget authority to carry out its work,” Smith said.
The report recommends setting nearer-term goals for reducing homelessness, thinking in terms of one to three years instead of 10.
