Comparing Colorado Springs and Denver's homeless population fair or unfair?

Feb. 25—While it's true that Colorado Springs has had a better track record than Denver in reducing the number of unsheltered homeless people living on the streets in recent years, as a new analysis from a Colorado think tank shows, some say it isn't fair to compare the state's two largest metropolitan areas.

"It is well-understood that Denver and Colorado Springs are very different cities with very different populations and resource trends," said Cathy Alderman, spokesperson and public policy officer for the Denver-based Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.

"I don't know what the value in making this comparison is without comparing other factors like population size, population growth, availability of housing resources and availability of shelter and non-congregate shelter options," she said. "I think this report incorrectly conflates a reduction in unsheltered homelessness with homelessness resolution."

Others, like Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, who will retire after the April 4 municipal election, believes the Colorado Springs Homelessness Study that the Common Sense Institute released this week confirms what he's been espousing for years.

"Compared to other cities, we're doing a hell of a job," he said in an interview.

The Greenwood Village-based Common Sense Institute, which describes itself as a nonpartisan, independent research organization, studied years of results from a mandatory annual census known as the Point in Time survey — which is necessary for communities to receive federal funding for homeless services — and determined that "unlike several places in the Denver metro area and the region as a whole, Colorado Springs is not experiencing a significant rise its homeless population."

Some people won't believe the conclusion, Suthers said.

"This report will come as a shock to most Colorado Springs residents," he said. "They see two homeless residents and think it's too many, they see people on their favorite trails, and they don't like it.

"First and foremost, we want to help anybody that wants help in terms of getting shelter, and we have worked very intentionally, looking at various ways of dealing with this."

In the 2022 Point in Time, Colorado Springs reported a total of 1,443 homeless people to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Denver counted 6,884 homeless people in 2022, up from 4,019 in 2017.

All communities are still tallying statistics for the 2023 count, which was conducted in January.

What's most significant, the institute's analysis says, is that Colorado Springs' unsheltered rate, which refers to people living outside in tents, under bridges, in doorways or other uninhabitable places, has fallen by nearly 43% since 2018, when almost one-third of the city's homeless population was considered unsheltered.

As of last year, Colorado Springs' unsheltered rate dropped to encompass 19% of the total homeless population, or 267 people.

In the metro Denver area, the unsheltered population grew by 33% from 2020 to 2022, to reach 2,078 — the area's highest level since 2008, the institute reports. And since 2019, Denver's unsheltered population has increased by 120%.

"It's natural to want to compare two cities to one another — this city is doing this, we don't want to do this — and they're making the case that homelessness in Colorado Springs is more in check," said Evan Caster, senior manager of homeless initiatives for the Pikes Peak Community Health Partnership, which focuses on improving the overall health of the region.

Walking around downtown Denver shows visible differences in the homeless population, he said, as many more homeless people can be seen hanging out on the streets and living in makeshift camps than in Colorado Springs.

However, Caster said, "It's a hard apples-to-apples" comparison to draw from just looking at the numbers.

While the populations of Denver County, which includes the city of Denver, and El Paso County, which includes the city of Colorado Springs, are similar, the metro Denver area in terms of the Point in Time survey covers seven counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties. The Colorado Springs area encompasses only El Paso County.

That means the one-night snapshot the Point in Time provides is a limited look at the population, Caster said.

"El Paso County is unique in that we have urban, rural and suburban all in one county," he said, "so you're going to see the homeless experience in a variety of ways."

Suthers said he thinks it's reasonable to pit Colorado Springs side by side with Denver when it comes to the issue.

The significant disparity in the larger numbers of homeless in Denver versus Colorado Springs can't be explained by claiming the cities are too different, he said.

"It is very clear to me that they are not enforcing the camping bans in Denver," Suthers said, "and frankly, I don't understand why."

Colorado Springs has maintained a relatively stable homeless population since 2015, Common Sense Institute's Executive Director Kelly Caufield said.

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Though the county's total number in 2022 was 31% higher than in 2015, it's was also 10% lower than it was in 2019, she noted.

"Homelessness is certainly not solved in Colorado Springs, but we did see some encouraging trends," Caufield said.

As to extrapolating data from the Point in Time as the basis for her organization's analysis, Caufield said it's the best information available with which to compare statewide trends.

"It's not perfect, but it's the only metric I know in terms of quantifying and counting this population," she said. "It does allow the best apples-to-apples comparison as we can in the state."

Homelessness is one of the top issues of many political candidates running for municipal seats this year in cities including Colorado Springs and Denver, Caufield said.

The issue is tough, officials agree, because the reasons people become homeless are multifaceted, and the solutions must take into account legal considerations as well as humane approaches.

Nonetheless, "We think Colorado Springs is bucking the trend, and there's something worth learning from, and something worth trying to replicate here," Caufield said.

So what's working?

Suthers points to a strategy under his leadership in Colorado Springs to increase emergency shelter beds at the city's main shelters, the Springs Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army's R.J. Montgomery Center.

An $18 million expansion at Springs Rescue Mission, which was completed in 2021, expanded the campus to provide a multitude of services, including job training through a culinary academy and city cleanup work, on-campus transitional housing, substance abuse programs, a nearby indigent health center and other support services, all toward the goal of moving people from the streets to shelters to permanent housing.

"The important thing is to make sure you have a broad range of services to take care of the people who want help," Suthers said.

Also, "You don't throw up your arms and surrender for people who don't want help and want to remain on the streets."

Other steps Colorado Spring has taken include enacting an ordinance that prohibits anyone from sitting, lying, kneeling or reclining on sidewalks, trails, alleys and other rights of way — a law that critics say targets homeless people.

Colorado Springs and El Paso County also ban camping near waterways, in parks, along trail systems and on other government land.

Enforcement is possible because of the availability of shelter beds for anyone who wants to sleep inside overnight, said Suthers, who is a former Colorado attorney general.

Even with two family shelters closing last year and the Salvation Army transitioning its shelter from singles and families to families only, Springs Rescue Mission has had enough space to accommodate single men and women this winter season, said spokesman Cameron Moix.

Bunk-bed use has been between 425 and 450 people on colder nights, he said. The shelter has reached maximum bed capacity of 450 twice this year and then switched to having people sleep on mats, Moix said, adding that the shelter won't turn anyone away because of space.

Colorado Springs also has increased its affordable housing stock in the past five years, Suthers said, with now more than 1,000 units per year committed for development or availability.

What's also helped, Caster said, is that Colorado Springs homeless service providers and city departments, including fire, police, subsidized housing and homeless prevention, do a good job of working together toward the common goal of ending homelessness.

Alderman of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless said the solution to ending homelessness "is and always will be housing."

However, she added, housing with supportive services is most effective for people coming directly from unsheltered environments, people who are chronically homeless, and individuals and families with healthcare or other acute needs.

"The Denver Social Impact Bond program (which uses a housing-first approach to get people into housing before addressing other problems) proves housing with supportive services both increases the likelihood of long-term housing stability and reduces spending on emergency resources like shelter, detox and interactions with the criminal justice system," she said.

"If a local government is not also investing in long-term solutions to homelessness including housing, services, health care and employment, then they are managing homelessness and not resolving it."

Other strategies that help communities respond to immediate needs include street outreach, 24/7 shelter operations, non-congregate shelter-like motels, transitional or bridge housing, and access to better health care and employment services, Alderman said.

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