JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Missouri transportation officials have inked a first-ever contract with a social service agency to help homeless people living on state property find services and housing.
Although the $681,000 pilot project will focus on unsheltered citizens living in the Kansas City area, the Missouri Department of Transportation said last year the concept could someday expand to other urban areas.
The contract with Independence-based Community Services League of Jackson County would require the organization to notify homeless people that they must move out of public right-of-ways and deliver services to them.
It also calls for the vendor to clean up vacated property.
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MoDOT launched the program last year before the U.S. Supreme Court in June allowed cities to make sleeping outdoors in public spaces like parks and sidewalks illegal. 狐狸视频 officials have said they are reviewing the decision and are seeking a regional solution to the area鈥檚 unhoused population.
An annual survey by the city鈥檚 Department of Human Services found there are 1,250 homeless people but just 760 year-round city-funded shelter beds.
According to the Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness, there were more than 400 unsheltered individuals in the Kansas City region in 2021 and over 800 individuals in emergency, transitional or safe haven facilities for the unsheltered.
As of 2020, Missouri had more than 6,500 homeless individuals, according to the . Witnesses noted that due to the difficulty surveying homeless individuals, this was likely an undercount.
The Supreme Court decision found that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors, even in areas where shelter space is lacking.
The high court decision came after a separate Missouri Supreme Court decision struck down a 2022 state law barring unauthorized camping on state-owned land.
In their unanimous decision, the Missouri judges ruled the law deviated from contained in the Missouri Constitution. The judges struck it down 鈥渋n its entirety.鈥
In addition to homelessness, the law also touched on a variety of other issues, including county coroners, county financial statements, neighborhood improvement districts and more.
Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, had signed the law despite a warning from his own director of the Department of Mental Health that the measure would negatively affect people living on the streets.
The measure outlawed unauthorized camping on state land, such as under highway overpasses and bridges.
It said that after one warning, the offense would be classified as a Class C misdemeanor, punishable with up to a $750 fine and 15 days in jail.
The legislation also prioritized providing short-term shelter for homeless people, attempting to reverse a popular 鈥渉ousing-first鈥 strategy to get people into permanent homes.