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(Photo from Micah Ministries/Facebook)

GWRC talks street outreach position — again

by | Jan 28, 2025 | ALLFFP, Government, Region

While Monday’s meeting of the George Washington Regional Commission didn’t make much headway toward creating a street outreach position to address homelessness, it did help to piece together the complicated puzzle of area agencies and nonprofits that encounter the unhoused on a regular basis.

Sam Shoukas, housing and community health program director for Planning District 16, presented a sample job description for an outreach case manager position, with a suggested salary of $112,574.

While Shoukas’ presentation outlined the duties for an employee working in the City of Fredericksburg, the board had asked Shoukas to investigate a similar position for someone who would rotate among the other four counties that make up PD16. The position would be managed by the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB).

“We see street outreach across the country as being those people who are out there in the field most of the time and building those relationships with the folks living outside, to get them the resources they need,” Shoukas said.

Amy Jindra, director of community support services at RACSB, said the position would be on par with a case manager.

“Ideally we want someone who has some experience working with people with mental illness and has some mental health training and experience with fieldwork,” said Jindra, “and be familiar with the resources available.”

In November, Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine told the Free Press that the city was reviewing a draft MOU (memorandum of understanding) from the RACSB “to hopefully be able to execute on a homelessness street outreach coordinator position specific to Fredericksburg.”

“The city’s need is very different from the counties’ needs,” said Meghann Cotter, executive director of Micah Ecumenical Ministries. “The city has people who may or may not even be homeless that are spending a lot of time downtown and need a little extra TLC and it’s going to look very different than in the counties.”

Cotter, who has become a fixture in the discussions, told the board that a chronically homeless person costs the taxpayer an average of $35,578 per year, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The most recent point-in-time count indicated a growing number of unhoused people in the region, she said.

In a phone interview, Cotter told the Free Press that “our numbers were really high,” with at least 100 people staying in cold-weather shelters. 

The board also heard from members of the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office’s behavioral health unit. Deputies Toni Dean, Dillon Jackson and Margarida Figueroa shared how their unit approaches interactions with the unhoused population.

“We primarily answer a person-in-crisis call,” Dean said. “[The position] wouldn’t be duplicative… a lot of the homeless people we face are already receiving services.”

Sgt. Steven Curtis with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office told the audience about the work he has been doing through Stafford R.I.S.E., a collaborative effort among churches and nonprofits to address the needs of the unhoused.

Representatives from the two smallest counties in the planning district appeared hesitant to make any commitment to funding a position. 

David Sullins, a supervisor in King George County, said he wouldn’t make any moves without hearing from his board of supervisors first. Jeff Black, a supervisor representing Caroline County, agreed, saying: “We can discuss concepts all day, but I just can’t see our board going for this.”

Neither attended the Dec. 16 GWRC meeting, when the second outreach position was proposed.

Still, Cotter remains hopeful that something will come of the discussions. 

“This is the first time there has been any regional dialogue about doing something together to move us in a common direction towards solutions,” she said. “And that’s the part I was excited about. It is disappointing that we’re going to continue to talk about it rather than take meaningful action steps.

“At the same time, I’m at least glad we’re still talking about it as a region because that wasn’t happening three months ago.”

Meghann Cotter is a member of the Free Press journalism advisory committee. 

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