Source: Radio New Zealand
RNZ / Nick Monro
Dunedin City Councillors have decided a service for the homeless is best handled in-house.
Councillors have voted to set up a council-led housing outreach service to address rising homelessness, at a cost of $270,000 annually.
Councillors already supported establishing an outreach service, and at Thursday’s meeting debated whether to deliver it in-house or use an external provider.
Council housing principal policy adviser Gill Brown said homelessness and housing insecurity remained a growing problem in the city, and the need for an outreach service was “incredibly urgent”.
“The current single worker is unable to meet some of the demand or some of the comments that we’re getting from the members of the public.
“We’re also hearing that more people are in very tenuous living situations because of the cost of living, only exacerbated by the fuel prices now.
“It is incredibly challenging and ultimately we need to get help to people before winter.”
A council report said the benefits of an in-house model for the outreach service would be greater control, integration, and long-term system capability but using an external provider would mean faster implementation and lower short-term risk.
Councillor Doug Hall believed the in-house option was best.
“If we’re serious about reducing homelessness in Dunedin then this service should not sit at arm’s length from the council. It should sit close to the rest of the work we already do across housing, community well-being policy, planning and partnerships,” he said.
“If council is funding this service, if council is going to be held accountable for it, and if the costs are broadly similar across the options then I believe the council should keep its hands firmly on the wheel.”
Councillor Andrew Simms believed the service should be delivered by an established social services provider.
“They are already operating in this space, some of them 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. They know the challenges, they know the people and most importantly they already have the trust of the homeless whānau,” he said.
“It makes less sense to me for the Dunedin City Council to set up a homeless outreach service from scratch.”
During the debate, different councillors flagged the horror stories they knew about in the city – people living in doorways, in cars, and tents set up in parks, and there was consensus change needed to happen.
The in-house housing outreach service was set to be in place by June.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
