Homeless Study Prompts Call for More Research

Now that the city has studied how homelessness impacts the local criminal justice system, more information is needed on the cost and benefits of a proactive approach to poverty in Fredericksburg, says Meghann Cotter, director of which offers resources to the local homeless community. 

Cotter frames her comments as adding context following a The report also documented discontent among members of the downtown business community over the visibility of the homeless population. 

"The conversation needs to change from 'where we move those people to'," said Cotter in an interview. "Let's change it to 'what do we have to do to make sure that no one in Fredericksburg is homeless.'"

According to Cotter, she first approached the Fredericksburg Police Department to study the local homeless population. Her goal was to study a small subset of the population, perhaps 50 people, to see if the costs of dealing with the homeless population are rising or falling over a multi-year period. It was motivated by a desire to demonstrate that it could be more cost effective to have a more proactive approach to homelessness in Fredericksburg. 

"If you truly do an in depth cost analysis…the cost goes down," said Cotter. "Those particular individuals, their cost goes down as they are being housed, as services are being provided."

According to Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department, the report was not intended to be an full scale analysis of local homelessness. 

"It was not at all an attempt to solve the issue," said Bledsoe in an interview on Friday. "I don't think any solutions are offered up in the document. The intent was to see where we are, how much are we spending in time and money, with the idea that we can't possibly begin to look at solutions until we know what the cost is."

The report, prepared over six weeks by Fredericksburg Police Intern Kirsty Meyer, found that homeless residents in Fredericksburg account for a disproportionate number of arrests relative to their population size, generating 10 percent of all arrests in the city over the course of 2010. The report also studied the costs incurred by homeless residents arrested for drunk in public and 30 prolific repeat homeless offenders during that year.

Cotter praised the report for establishing a snapshot of the impact of homelessness. Now Cotter says she is preparing to conduct a similar study over the next few weeks looking at the costs incurred by providing services to the homeless designed to break the cycle of poverty. 

"I asked for that knowing that I have a guy who was arrested 79 time over the last several years," said Cotter. "Since May, he has only been arrested once, because he's now living in housing."

The report also laid bare a variety of concerns the downtown business community has over the visibility of the homeless population in the historic district. Responses to open-ended questions in the report from business representatives often repeated calls to relocate homeless resources away from downtown. 

"I don't think it's any secret that there are some who feel we are a very unwelcome presence in the community," said Cotter. "I think you can probably find just as many who fully appreciate, are not bothered by, what it is that we are doing. A lot is through the lens that you look through. We have worked very hard and changed the way we do business to cater to the needs of our neighbors and the downtown merchants."

Cotter said it was unrealistic to move homeless resources away from downtown without suffering a drop off in participation.

"We are located in the middle of our walkable community because that's where the need is to begin with," said Cotter.

Cotter also took time to praise the police department for taking homelessness seriously. By establishing even just one year's impact on a branch of city government helps clarify the conversation about poverty in Fredericksburg. 

"I really don't want to indicate that the study is bad, this is a very positive step," said Cotter. "We can't lose out on the fact that this number has to be compared with something in order to have true meaning."