photo by: Rochelle Valverde/Journal-World

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on Jan. 31, 2023.

City of Lawrence staff says it’s launched new efforts to encourage people camping in public spaces to relocate to the Lawrence Community Shelter or the city-run support camp in North Lawrence, and it plans to give residents new ways to report unsanctioned camps, as well.

That’s what the Lawrence City Commission heard in a presentation from Assistant City Manager Brandon McGuire at this week’s commission meeting. McGuire said the presentation was intended to address community concerns and provide clarity on how the city is addressing public camping, both at new, unsanctioned campsites popping up throughout the city and established campsites with a larger, long-term population.

McGuire said the city will soon have a new tool for the public to report camping — an online reporting form and phone number that are scheduled to begin operating Wednesday. But he also said the city has already been taking action on its own to encourage those who are staying at an unsanctioned campsite to relocate to either the Lawrence Community Shelter or the city-run support site for those experiencing homelessness in North Lawrence, Camp New Beginnings.

“With new short-term campsites, our goal — just as with anything that we’re working on around emergency sheltering — is to provide access, get access for people to stabilize in shelter or Camp New Beginnings and hopefully go ahead and get case management support and access housing,” McGuire said.

The process starts with outreach and assistance efforts by city staff to help people relocate. If they don’t relocate voluntarily, McGuire said, the city will arrange for a law enforcement officer to make contact with them; he said in “almost every situation” that’s required that additional contact, the individual has voluntarily complied by the next day. If people continue to refuse, McGuire said, they will eventually be issued a citation.

McGuire also mentioned a few city policies that intend to prevent new instances of public camping and other disruptions altogether, such as the city’s signs that list park hours and regulations for the downtown zoning district that prohibit camping there. He also referenced the Lawrence Public Library’s behavior policy. That policy currently only extends to certain areas of the library building, because the city owns the library property, along with the grassy lawn and parking garage next door. A draft lease agreement recently approved by the library’s Board of Trustees would allow the library to enforce its policies in these spaces outside of its building, but it still needs to be approved by the City Commission first.

None of these strategies are designed to solve the problems of long-term, established campsites, however. Those sites require much more involved long-term solutions, McGuire said.

Homeless Programs Coordinator Misty Bosch-Hastings, who assisted with Tuesday’s presentation, said that process starts with street outreach and engagement — working outside the walls of an agency to engage directly with people experiencing homelessness who may be disconnected from mainstream services and supports. There are already a couple of existing community resources directed toward that goal, such as Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center’s homeless outreach team and a new “by name list” that documents more information about people experiencing homelessness.

But Bosch-Hastings said there are some big needs for Lawrence, like a specific, centralized “navigation center” location where homeless people can go to receive a variety of housing-related services, as well as a multidisciplinary homeless outreach team that combines the efforts of a number of agencies.

Placing people in emergency shelter is also an important part of those long-term solutions, Bosch-Hastings said, but the community’s existing emergency shelter options are limited by eligibility requirements and other factors. That includes emergency shelter operations that are still in the works, such as the city’s planned Pallet Shelter Village at 256 N. Michigan St.

Tuesday’s update took place during a City Commission work session, which commissioners don’t take any action on.