Douglas County Homeless Initiative

BOCC Hearing Room, Conference Rooms A & B

Agenda — 14 items

1. 1. Welcome & Introductions: Commissioner Laydon
2. 1 In - Person Attendees: Commissioner Abe Laydon, Allison Cutting, Andrea Barnum, Caroline Frizell, Catherine Millis, Dan Marlow, Darcy Kofol, Darren Weekly, Donte Young, Erin White, Greg Matthews, Jamie Fisher, Jason Gray, Jeff Garcia, Jennifer Eby, Jill Duffy, Joel White, Kevin Torrens, Kirsten Swanson, Luke Ward, Mary Grothe, Matt Holl, Mike Hill, Melody D’Haillecourt, Nick Adamson, Rand Clark, Ruby Richards, Sasha Easton, Sasha Larson, Scott Nelson, Shawn Sanchez, Steven Dodrill, Tiffany Marsitto, Zoe Laird Online Participants: 18 (list is available upon request)
3. 2. January 2025 PIT Update: Rand Clark, Community Services Manager: On January 27, 2025, Douglas County conducted the annual Point in Time (PIT) count in coordination with our regional partners and Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) as required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Douglas County submitted surveys to MDHI that totaled six people sleeping outside, 25 people in their vehicles, and 32 people that were in shelters, for a total of 63. This represents a 21% reduction in overall homelessness from last winter’s count. There was a slight increase of people sleeping in their vehicles and the largest gain came from those in shelter.
4. 1. Welcome and Introductions
5. 3. Immigration Update: Sheriff Darren Weekly, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office: Colorado has been classified as a sanctuary state. Colorado peace officers have no authority to enforce federal immigration laws. However, if someone is in the country illegally and they violate Colorado state law then officers are allowed to make an arrest. Currently, there are 375 inmates in the Douglas County Jail and 20 of them have United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers. Douglas County cannot hold people on ICE detainers alone and inmates will be released after they have processed their local charges. However, since November 2024, ICE has started to come and detain illegal immigrants from the Douglas County jail. The website does have the names of people detained in the jail per Colorado law. Advice to non-profit agencies if ICE comes to their agencies is to cooperate with them and to follow the federal law.
6. 4. Legal Update: Jeff Garcia, Douglas County Attorney: The County’s attorney office has filed a lawsuit against the laws that impede the work of the Sheriff’s office. Since January 20, 2025, there have been 59 Executive Orders signed. The impact of the executive orders on federal funding for the County include the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Immigration and Border Security. These two orders will impact the Homeless Initiative (HI) the most. The DOGE will affect the HI because of the reduction of staffing in offices including housing and human services agencies, which could impact efficiency. The funding changes will affect federal funding that pass through organizations to the County including housing. On January 20, 2025, the executive orders paused all funding to immigration, foreign aid, international environmental agreements, energy and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI). It did not affect SNAP, Medicare, or Social Security. However, on January 30th, after 22 states filed a lawsuit against the memo, a Rhode Island judge has halted the lawsuit. The memo has been rescinded but the overall arching order of funding is paused until organizations have complied with the executive orders. This will cause delays in funding for several months. The Attorney General, Pam Bondi’s ban on federal funds to sanctuary cities may affect Department of Justice (DOJ) funding. Colorado received $54,307,080 and an additional $19,855,707 for Colorado local government. This may not have a direct effect on Douglas County, but it hasn’t been challenged yet. This could affect grant requirements and may have a trickledown effect and impact future funding availability. On a local level, initiatives the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners recently passed included updating restrictions on parking. Expanding the restrictions may help to reduce people sleeping in their cars and will change limits on large vehicles parking in residential areas.
7. 5. Judicial District 23 Introduction and Update: Darcy Kofol, Assistant District Attorney: The 23rd district includes Douglas County, Elbert County, and Lincoln County. They have 100 total staff, 39 prosecutors, and seven Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) investigators. The 23rd district has a County Court for misdemeanors, a District Court for felonies, and specialized units. There is an Organized Crime Unit (OCU) for narcotic crimes, a Family Violence Unit (FVU) to deal with Domestic Violence and family crimes, a Juvenile Unit, and an Appeals Unit. There are a total of 19 judges. There are four problem-solving courts including Veteran’s Treatment Court (VTC), Recovery Court (RC), Wellness Court, and Sobriety Court. The 23rd is hoping to add a competency court to reduce recidivism, appropriately and quickly provide treatment, and to help reduce the number of people waiting to receive treatment at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo (CMHHIP). We are looking forward to working with the Homeless Initiative, HEART, CRT, and other community partners for community support to help make this system successful.
8. 6. Help and Hope Contribution: A Douglas Has Heart fund distribution was made to Help and Hope Center in the amount of $2,500.00.
9. 7. Executive Committee Member Update: Shawn Sanchez, DCSO Reintegration Deputy: In 2024, the reintegration deputy conducted 97 transports and were heavily involved with the then 18th district problem-solving courts. There were 81 individuals that transferred over to the 23rd district problem-solving courts and on March 12th there will be a recovery court graduation of some of those individuals. Please attend to see the success of the participants. Sasha Easton, A/D Works! Workforce Director and Division Manager: Money Matters Financial Workshops are being hosted at the ACC Sturm Campus in Castle Rock both virtually and in person. Please visit their website for more information. There will be two upcoming career fairs; the first one is in partnership with Douglas County Schools and Arapahoe Community College at the ACC Sturm campus on April 3rd and is open to the public. The second is solely for Douglas County students on February 28th at the Legacy Campus for career navigation and job services support. Please visit the website for more information.
10. 8. HEART Update: Tiffany Marsitto, Community Services Supervisor: January HEART activity summary includes 40 new clients enrolled in the HEART program, 226 total referrals, 30 clients exited the program, and 12 business engagements. HEART activities that were completed for the month included two presentations at local churches, conducted the Point in Time count, and participated in Strive to Thrive. In January 2025, there were 40 new enrollments to the HEART program, in December of 2024, there were 19 and in January of 2024, there were 31. In January of 2025, there were 53 households that received one or more services in the HEART program. In December of 2024, there were 40 households that received one or more services and in January of 2024, there were 39. HEART completed a total of 226 calls for service for the month of January 2025. The services provided by location included Highlands Ranch 29%, Castle Rock 19%, Parker 23%, Lone Tree 15%, Castle Pines 9%, Englewood 2%, and out of County 3%. Exit outcomes for the 30 clients were 40% exited to permanent housing, 30% exited to temporary housing, 10% exited to shelter, 10% were no contact, and 10% wanted to remain homeless out of County. January success story comes from a client of Greg Matthews from Parker that was about to be evicted. It was determined that the client was a Veteran and placed on the Veterans By Name List with the VA. After months of work with our regional community partners he was housed in Douglas County.
11. 9. Public Comment: No Comment
12. 10. Closing Comments: Commissioner Laydon
13. 11 **The Next Regular Meeting Will be Held on Thursday, March 13, 2025 @ 9:00 a.m**
14. 12 The Douglas County Homeless Initiative provides a collaborative meeting space for a diverse group of community partners to discuss issues related to homelessness. These meetings are not a forum for discussion of specific land use applications or development projects in individual jurisdictions. Please contact the relevant jurisdiction to inquire about how to participate in the public input process for specific projects.