HOMELESSNESS IN DENVER COMES WITH A MAJOR PRICE TAG. THE CITY SPENDS NEARLY HALF A BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR ON POLICIES AND SERVICES FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. THAT'S ACCORDING TO THE ECONOMIC FOOTPRINT OF HOMELESSNESS IN DENVER REPORT FROM THE COMMON SENSE INSTITUTE.... WHICH PARTNERED WITH C-U AND OTHER DENVER-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT THE DATA WITH COMMON SENSE INSTITUTE PRESIDENT AND CEO KRISTIN STROHM.
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--The report’s estimates group together the spending from Denver Health, Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, Denver’s Homelessness Resolution Fund and charitable organizations.
--The Denver metro spends just under a half billion dollars a year: $481 million. Most of that is spent in Denver. Denver itself spends $435 million on homelessness.
--The Common Sense Institute estimates between $41,679 and $104,201 per year spent per person experiencing homelessness.
-- The Common Sense Institute, a business-focused organization, partnered with the University of Colorado Denver’s Inworks program, the Downtown Denver Partnership and Together Denver