Ending encampments could prevent danger
The most humane and compassionate position on encampments of the homeless is to end them. I was a clinical counselor for 25 years, with a number of homeless (mostly chronic and tough) clients, including someone who moved to Boulder to camp on the creek. They have no chance for improvement if they’re enabled to break laws and disconnect from people who want to help them. From my experience:
1. The unfortunate persons who camp in public spaces typically won’t stay in shelters.
The encampment life prevents them from learning the importance of following boundaries and rules as the necessary step to change patterns of behavior that become increasingly more harmful. I have seen how forcibly removing a person from his tent and hospitalizing him prevented his continuing down a catastrophic path.
2. Giving the chronically homeless person a shot at changing detrimental behavior patterns takes caring counseling to encourage and direct gradual changes. As an example, I worked with a homeless couple who gradually worked their way out of their homelessness. Often the homeless person drops out of counseling or other services. Without ending the encampments, there’s little incentive to get help and no chance for individual changes.
3. Of course, the encampments present dangers to people’s lives, which we see in reported murders and other crimes. City council members who are against removing the encampments are actually encouraging potential harm to the campers as well as the public.
— Ron Biela, Boulder to her bank to check the balance every day. We worried that she would become lost and that led to her being placed sooner than we would have liked.
Where can families turn to for help if their loved one is at risk of wandering? A new website developed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) includes information about wandering, how to prepare for and manage it, and provides details about local resources across our state that can help. This important website was the result of legislation passed last year (SB22-187) by State Senator Jessie Danielson, State Senator Lisa Cutter and State Representative Mandy Lindsay, in partnership with organizations including the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado.
The issue of wandering will increase as the number of people living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias is expected to grow more than 21% over the next few years. Thank you Sen. Danielson, Rep. Cutter, Rep. Lindsay and staff at CBI who created this important resource to support Colorado’s dementia families. Visit the CDHS website at https://cbi.colorado.gov/ law-enforcement-grant-information.
— Jean Ruecker, Fort Collins