City Administrator Scot Simpson provided the Pierce County Journal with an outline of the city’s approach to homelessness, written Nov. 29, when asked about a social media post by Dana Linscott on the River Falls Community Page in early November.

Linscott has been a vocal advocate for the city’s homeless population on various social media community pages and at River Falls City Council meetings. He doesn’t believe the city is doing enough to help the homeless and has proposed various solutions, such as an encampment an island in the South Fork River, allowing people to stay at Hoffman Park during the winter months, or designating part of the Heritage Park parking lot as a “safe place” for the homeless to park and plug in vehicles.

While the city council hasn’t taken up any of these ideas yet, Simpson provided the following statement: Overview

Homelessness is an issue of national concern. It is complex, and often intersects with several other challenges of the human condition. We appreciate community members’ sincere concern for their neighbors experiencing homelessness.

In Wisconsin, government financial and service support for homelessness is often coordinated by the State of Wisconsin through its counties and by the federal government through poverty agencies like West CAP and other non-profits. In River Falls, we are fortunate to have partners like these providing direct services and support to our community members.

Although direct services for homeless populations is not part of our primary services, the city has provided financial support to Our Neighbors’ Place for their initial homeless shelter and the purchase of their Day Center. We are grateful for the many generous donors who support their mission and for their board, director, and staff who work in this important field. Additionally, the city has provided financial support to ARC for their great work, which has kept many people on the edge of homelessness from experiencing it.

The City of River Falls employs a neighborhood resource officer, who acts as a liaison to community service providers and serves as a link to individuals who choose to accept referrals and assistance. The city has a formal policy identifying Officer Axley as the homelessness liaison. Like all RFPD officers, Officer Axley leads with the “serve with compassion” mission. This includes making direct contact with homeless individuals in the community to complete welfare checks and offer referrals for service. Being homeless is not criminal. That is clear in our Police Department’s operating procedures.

Guiding principles

Individualized, compassionate – The City of River Falls treats each person individually. Those who are homeless have different circumstances and we recognize and honor that. For this reason, our approach to helping individuals find needed resources is personalized. We do not take a one-size-fits-all approach. Homelessness itself is not against the law. If an individual is not breaking laws or ordinances or causing a disturbance, we demonstrate patience and compassion in our efforts.

Partner-led case management – The city refers individual cases to our governmental and non-governmental partners. St. Croix County, Pierce County, West CAP, Our Neighbors’ Place, ARC, Salvation Army, and our local churches are just a few of those with missions to serve those experiencing homelessness. The city directs offers of financial and supply donations to those partners.

Housing policy – Housing accessibility and affordability are part of the solution. We are actively working on policies and programs to enhance the availability of housing for folks across income levels in the community. The city has provided direct financial support for creating more units of affordable housing in the community, including units managed by the City’s Housing Authority.

Transparency – Many situations of homelessness involve factors that cannot be publicly discussed for reasons of confidentiality. Case managers and other support providers are often bound by laws protecting health and financial information of the individuals. City staff will not honor requests to break confidentiality in exchange for transparency. The city does not participate in conversations on social media that specifically or indirectly attempt to engage city staff in discussions about specific individuals. This allows us to maintain our commitment to an individualized, compassionate approach.