Tucson updates shelter, encampment and opioid response; city and county to explore detox/‘safer’ center using opioid settlement funds

The mayor and council received a multi‑department update on outreach, shelter capacity, housing placements and opioid response centered on the city’s encampment assessment and multi‑agency housing efforts.

Community Safety Program Director Brandy Champion and city staff reported that the city’s Encampment Assessment Team and environmental services coordinate daily outreach and cleanups through an internal encampment protocol. Champion provided a summary of outreach and the tiered response model: since the inception of the city’s tier system the dashboard recorded numerous cases with roughly 34% immediate removals, 21% classified as debris‑only cleanups, 14% low‑impact encampments and 24% that required formal 72‑hour decommissioning notices. Private property reports routed to code enforcement accounted for about 4% of the recorded matters.

Officials said Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness (TPCH) leads a HUD‑funded housing central command and a rapid‑housing effort that had assessed several hundred people since January 2024 and placed 119 households in housing through rapid housing funding during the last year. The city is piloting a coordinated outreach model intended to move small priority batches through coordinated enrollment rather than relying on a slow “by name” waiting list. The city also operated a temporary extreme weather/respite shelter (partner hotel) for 137 people (93 adults, 44 children) and opened a low‑barrier shelter at the Amphi Housing Resource Center (formerly Fire Station 8) with 17 adults; Old Pueblo Community Services operates the low barrier shelter in Amphi’s facility.

A city‑directed emergency shelter with 70+ beds opened March 1; other partners’ shelters — Desert Cove, Pima County‑operated sites and OPCC sites — continue to operate. The Housing Emergency Action Response Team (HEART) was reported to be providing wraparound services to 45 households; the multidisciplinary outreach team had referred 50 people into permanent supportive housing and engaged volunteers to support encampment outreach.

Opioid settlement funds and a ‘safer’ or sobering treatment facility were a major topic. Mayor and council members said they want Pima County and the state opioid settlement task force to explore siting a medically supported detox/sobering/sobriety center (referred to as SAFR or SAFER or “safing” alternatives) on county‑controlled property. City Manager Tamir and staff said they will meet with county leadership to discuss next steps and the potential to use opioid settlement funds for a facility that could provide stabilization, medically assisted treatment and wraparound social supports. Council members raised the related need for an alternative‑to‑booking facility and suggested co‑locating sobering, justice transition and short‑term judicial supports so police could divert people to care rather than incarceration; staff said developing an alternative requires coordination among county behavioral health, the sheriff, courts, prosecutors and defenders.

Council members pressed for clear definitions of capacity and pathways from outreach to detox, detox to permanent housing, and for mechanisms to coordinate court requirements and social service engagement. Several council members asked staff to ensure the planned strategies would not simply shift encampments from parks/washes to alleys or other neighborhoods without providing housing and services. Champion said staff will report back after the meeting with county leadership and that the city’s approach remains to pair enforcement priorities with active housing offers and services where possible.

Ending: Council directed the manager’s office to meet with the county and TPCH leadership and to report back on the feasibility of a detox/sobering/‘safer’ center using opioid settlement funds and on any intergovernmental data‑sharing or diversion protocols needed to create an alternative‑to‑booking pathway for first responders.