Task force launches childcare survey; team finds 54 unsheltered
Two areas identified as community concerns in the City’s organizational strategic plan, Bartlesville NEXT, are moving forward thanks to work that has been underway by a multi-agency task force and the Bartlesville Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Response Team.
“City staff and our community partners have been hard at work on the projects and concerns outlined in our strategic plan since the plan was adopted by the City Council earlier this year,” said City Manager Mike Bailey.
“We have recently seen some fairly significant advances in two areas identified as concerns in the plan — homelessness and childcare — and we want to share this information with the public, both to obtain their input and to dispel some of the rumors going around about unsheltered individuals in our community.”
Team gathers statistics on unsheltered in Bartlesville
Local residents may have noticed an apparent uptick in the number of unsheltered people in Bartlesville over the past few years, which is consistent with nearly every community across the country. The issue was identified in the strategic plan as one needing attention, prompting City staff to begin work to find out how many people are unsheltered in Bartlesville and the reasons behind their situation.
Assistant City Manager Tracy Roles, who is overseeing the City’s role in addressing homelessness in Bartlesville, said the first step in addressing the issue is to understand who is homeless and/or unsheltered and why.
“There is a difference between those who are homeless and those who are homeless and unsheltered,” said Roles. “A homeless individual or family isn’t necessarily without shelter. These are people who may be staying or sleeping at the home of a friend or relative or someplace else provided in our community. They don’t have a ‘home,’ but they have a place to stay, at least on a temporary basis.
“Unsheltered individuals, on the other hand, are sleeping and staying in our parks and City facilities, under bridges and other locations because they have no place else to go.”
It is this population, the unsheltered, that Bartlesville Police Department has been making contact with to learn more about their situation, Roles said.
Crisis Intervention Response Team
Specifically, the police department’s Crisis Intervention Response Team units have been gathering information as they make contact with unsheltered individuals in the community, Police Chief Kevin Ickleberry said this week.
“In an effort to better address the mental health issues and homeless population in Bartlesville, CIRT has begun gathering and tracking information pertaining to the unsheltered population currently living on the streets in Bartlesville,” Ickleberry said.
CIRT consists of two units containing one officer and one mental health case manager from Grand Mental Health, approved by the City Council and implemented last year. The units are comprised of officers Sierra Compton and Michele McKinley, and mental health case managers Cori Bryson and Allison Klasna.
“CIRT answers calls for service involving cases of suspicious persons, welfare checks, domestic violence, sexual assault, and other similar calls,” Ickleberry said. “Essentially, anytime there might be a mental health component involved, CIRT either responds to the call or is available to assist.”
Ickleberry said the team has made contact with 54 unsheltered individuals in Bartlesville over the past several months and, as a result, has obtained a good amount of information.
“The information obtained is focused on where these individuals are from, why they are unsheltered, and how long they have been without shelter,” he said.
The stats
Of the 54 persons contacted, the following information was obtained:
Location
- 28 are local to Bartlesville
- 8 are from Osage, Nowata, or Mayes County
- 7 are from Tulsa or other parts of Oklahoma
- 11 report that they have moved from out of state
Reason
- 27 are homeless due to a mental health or substance related issue
- 7 have been discharged as homeless from jail or the Department of Corrections
- 1 was discharged from a hospital to Bartlesville
- 2 were brought to Bartlesville from a referral to the Lighthouse, a local homeless shelter
- 14 reported that they were homeless due to job loss or loss of their home
Length of time
- 22 reported being homeless less than a year
- 14 reported being homeless for at least one year
- 11 reported being homeless for at least two years
- 1 reported being homeless for at least three years
- 5 reported being homeless for more than four years
Work continues
According to Roles, these numbers will be helpful as the City moves forward in studying possible solutions to the issue. The information also dispels claims that “hundreds of homeless people” are being bussed into the community from other states, he said.
“There have been rumors that people are being transported here from other places around the country. This information shows that is simply not true,” he said. “The vast majority of unsheltered people in our community are local to Bartlesville.
Roles said the City will continue working with community partners to find ways to reduce or eliminate the number of unsheltered people in Bartlesville.
“There are a number of people in our community who are working on this issue, and the City will continue to participate in doing what we can to help everyone who is seeking shelter in Bartlesville to obtain it,” he said.
United Way, Chamber task force launches childcare survey
Childcare was also identified as a Bartlesville NEXT project after gathering input from the public about their concerns for the community.
City Manager Mike Bailey is currently serving on a childcare task force, spearheaded by the Bartlesville United Way and the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce, to identify areas where improvements can be made to help alleviate childcare burdens for local residents.
“The City, of course, has no specific expertise or experience in dealing directly with childcare,” Bailey said. “But we understand this has reached a crisis point for our citizens, so we want to be involved in finding solutions and do anything we can to help reduce these concerns for Bartlesville families.”
The task force has launched a survey to obtain information needed to move forward, Bailey said.
“Directly or indirectly, most of us are impacted by childcare issues in Bartlesville on a daily basis, whether that is being unable to find quality care for our own children, or as an employer, fellow employee or family member,” he said.
“It behooves all of us, and most especially our children, to find solutions to the shortage of quality childcare in our community, and the best place to start that process is by gathering the information we need to make informed decisions that will allow us to initiate programs and services that our young families desperately need. We hope everyone will take a few minutes to take the survey and assist in this important, information gathering step.”
To take the survey, click here or on the box below.
