By Corinne Murdock |
The city of Phoenix reported having an 82 percent success rate with admitting The Zone’s homeless into shelters after a court order to clean up the infamous downtown homeless encampment.
The majority success rate came just ahead of the court-ordered deadline last week, Nov. 4. Of the 716 homeless in The Zone, 590 consented to entering a shelter according to Rachel Milne, director of the Office of Homeless Solutions. That’s a success rate of over 82 percent.
Milne also said that they managed to reconnect some of those sheltered homeless with their families, or got them established with treatment programs. Milne says that shelter only serves as the beginning of securing permanent housing for the homeless.
“We need to make sure those 590 individuals that did move on to an indoor location now have the support systems and the proper services to help them in their homelessness,” said Milne.
That concern relates to the recidivism rates of The Zone’s residents, something noted by the Maricopa County Superior Court when it ordered the city to clear The Zone.
In his ruling, Judge Scott Blaney criticized city officials equating 70 percent of individuals accepting services as a permanent movement from the streets. Blaney ruled the data as potentially misleading, noting that the city wasn’t able to disclose how many of those individuals accepted a “free hotel room for the night” before returning to The Zone the next day.
As part of their compliance with the court order, the city established clear signage prohibiting encampments and other related criminal activity around the area that formerly housed The Zone.
AZ Free News published a series of reports on the nature of The Zone: rampant crime and lawlessness: murders and assaults, drug use and dealings, prostitution, gang violence, theft and property destruction, bordered all around by knee-deep and blocks-long biohazards.
One of the lawyers that sued the city over its handling of The Zone, Ilan Wurman, marveled at the success rate the city of Phoenix experienced when forced to meet a court deadline to help the homeless.
“We did it. Because of our lawsuit, the City has cleared the Zone,” said Wurman. “And look at the huge number of folks who ACCEPTED SHELTER. Just incredible.”
As reported previously, the city attempted unsuccessfully to obtain an extension in April on an original order to clean up The Zone.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
