Councilor Gamroth told the Casper City Council on Sept. 2 that local agencies are reporting rising demand for homeless services and a severe shortfall in subsidized housing.

Gamroth said the Casper Housing Authority recently received about 480 applications for subsidized housing and that only 22 applicants qualified. He said many applicants are disqualified for reasons that include debts to utility providers, felony records and current drug or substance use, and that those who do not qualify were “going somewhere” to find shelter.

Why it matters: Councilors said the shortfall is driving pressure on emergency services, food providers and detox programs and is pushing some people into congregate living arrangements. Those trends affect public safety, health services and municipal budgets.

Gamroth described several service and enforcement developments reported to the Homelessness Coalition Task Force: parking enforcement with a two-hour limit in many commercial blocks, use of drones by police to monitor camping along the river, and outreach resources intended to reduce inappropriate 911 ambulance calls. “There’s a 2 hour time limit on every block, during, you know, mostly regular business hours,” Gamroth said when summarizing the task force discussion about parking enforcement.

Gamroth referenced remarks from local providers: Christy of the Natrona County Health Trust (reported to the council by Gamroth) said lift-ride resources remain available to transport people who need help reaching medical care without calling an ambulance. Gamroth also said Kim at the Casper Housing Authority reported that of 480 recent applications, only 22 qualified for subsidized housing and that many were turned away in part because of unpaid utility bills.

Local service providers are reporting other strains, Gamroth said: the rescue mission reported 26 residents from outside Natrona County during its most recent monthly count and said about 26% of its clients were from out of state, an increase of roughly 5 to 7 percentage points from the prior year. Gamroth said the Wyoming Behavioral Institute (WBI) is seeing four to five times more people seeking detox services who identify as homeless than in the past. He also said the Salvation Army recently served four families who were pooling resources to house multiple people in a single household.

Councilor Gamroth encouraged stakeholders to take part in an upcoming TriNet County Safety and Justice summit scheduled for November at the Best Western; he said the summit will cover topics related to the task force’s work.

What the council did: Gamroth’s comments were part of council reports and informational updates; the transcript records reporting and no formal council action adopting new policy or funding on these issues during this meeting.

Provenance: Transcript remarks summarizing the Homelessness Coalition Task Force and agency reports appear at the meeting transcript beginning with the councilor’s remarks at the segment starting "Thank you, Mayor. I wanna thank, Greg Dixon and Melissa Huguet..." (transcript block starting at 670.82 seconds) and conclude in the block reporting rescue mission and WBI figures (ending near 966.70 seconds).