Issues related to homelessness continue to be one of the main complaints of Colorado Springs residents and a primary focus of its leaders, the city’s top housing official said Monday.

“It is an ongoing commitment to do everything we can to reduce homelessness and continue the success with the approach the city has taken,” Steve Posey, chief housing and community vitality officer, said after updating Colorado Springs City Council about 2023 accomplishments and what’s to come.

A successful outreach program to provide resource materials to homeless people who are routed through Municipal Court after being cited for illegal urban camping or violating other city ordinances is expanding, said Presiding Judge and Municipal Court Administrator HayDen William Kane II.

Last year, 1,749 citations for camping-related violations were issued, according to Posey’s presentation. The bulk — 986 tickets — were given for camping on private property in the city limits. Others were camping on city property, such as parks or near waterways, which is banned.

People arrested for camping-related violations are served and released but not taken to jail unless they have an outstanding warrant.

The Homeless Outreach Court program began in April 2022, providing “navigators” to talk to homeless people in the Municipal Court hallway about services to help them get into a housing program, find employment and other needs.

From May through December 2022, 112 clients were seen voluntarily, and 50 homeless people took a vulnerability survey to prioritize needs, Kane said.

Cases tripled last year, he said, with nearly 300 clients seen and 158 completing pre-screenings for services.

“We’re seeing some good trends in people seeking help,” Kane said. “People are seeking help with assets at the courthouse because they’re now in criminal trouble.”

But that program reaches only 40% of those who are cited for violating municipal laws, Kane said.

About 60% of ticketed homeless people do not show up to court and subsequently are arrested on a warrant and sent to the county jail, he said.

As a result, in a few weeks resource materials also will be accessible at the county jail, Kane said, “to be there for the 60% of people that don’t come to court.”

Another new program that Kane said should start within the month will distribute vouchers to homeless people who have lost their state-issued identification cards so they can receive new ones for free through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The city also started a new shopping cart retrieval program last year, to locate and return stolen shopping carts to businesses.

Posey said that effort recovered 1,841 shopping carts from homeless camps, at a value topping $1.5 million, since each cart costs an average of $850.

“The return of the stolen carts allowed local businesses to avoid having to purchase new carts to replace the previously stolen carts,” according to Posey.

In all, the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team cleared 362 felony warrants while contacting people in illegal homeless camps, which included cases of murder, bank robbery and sexual assault. Police also cleared 2,783 misdemeanor warrants in illegal camps.

Homelessness continued to decline in El Paso County, according to the 2023 Point in Time survey, which is usually taken in January under a federal mandate for communities to receive funding. It’s considered the prime barometer of how many homeless people the community has on a given night.

The results from the survey conducted last month won’t be released until May or June, Posey said.

Last year’s census showed 1,302 homeless people living in El Paso County, representing an overall decline in the homeless population of 17% over the past five years.

The number of unsheltered people increased from 267 in 2022 to 374 last year. However, since 2019 the county’s population of people living in shelters, cars, tents and other uninhabitable places has decreased by 16%.

Overall, Posey said, “We are the only city and urban area in the state that’s seeing a decline in its homeless population.”

When asked by City Councilor Dave Donelson why he thinks that is, Posey attributed the decrease to legal enforcement of city ordinances and connecting people to housing services.

That also means there’s a high number of homeless people in the El Paso County jail on misdemeanor and felony charges, and incarcerated homeless people are not counted in the Point in Time. Neither are homeless people in hospitals and treatment centers.

Regarding the potential for additional undocumented immigrants to arrive here after crossing the nation’s southwest border, Posey said the city’s nonprofits that provide emergency overnight shelter have never run out of shelter beds, with an 80% average vacancy rate last year.

Both Colorado Springs and El Paso County have declared that they are not sanctuary communities and do not plan on spending taxpayer dollars on newly arrived undocumented immigrants.

Springs Rescue Mission, the city’s largest shelter, which receives about $500,000 a year from the city’s budget, has not seen an influx of immigrants, Chief Development Officer Travis Williams told City Council on Monday.

Should that happen, Williams said the organization would consult with local government officials.

Balancing compassionate care with taxpayer dollars is a “core piece” of the end goal of reducing homelessness in Colorado Springs, Posey said.

In coming months, Posey said his department will host public forums about how the city handles homelessness, with objectives identified under Mayor Yemi Mobolade to include prioritizing mental and behavioral health problems, being “proactive and responsive,” working with nonprofits and maintaining the goal of protecting all citizens and the environment.