Mayor’s office proposes new community care specialist to expand outreach to unhoused residents

The mayor’s office told the Jan. 14 Committee of the Whole it is proposing to add a full‑time community care services specialist to the city’s outreach team to expand direct services to people experiencing homelessness.

Mike Disco, the mayor’s chief of staff, and Ethan Posey, community relations, presented the mayor’s office organizational budget and said the new position would be a qualified mental‑health professional who would work primarily in the community to connect unhoused residents with services and to reduce unnecessary law‑enforcement contact.

Posey described recent outreach accomplishments — expanded cleanup and community events, a relocation effort with partner agencies at Old Town and collaboration with Springfield School District 186 on civic education — and said the additional outreach clinician would be deployed primarily on the street. “This will be us adding another qualified mental‑health professional to our outreach team to be on the street actually working and interacting with members of our unhoused community,” Posey said.

Council members asked how the position would operate (hours, reporting and data collection) and requested assurances that the city’s outreach work integrate with existing service systems such as the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Posey said the city intends the new role to be on‑the‑street with flexible hours and to coordinate with HMIS and community providers. Alderman McConley and others urged the position to prioritize street outreach and to avoid duplication of intake or case management that community providers already deliver.

Budget context: The mayor’s office presentation showed a modest increase in personal‑services and equipment lines tied to staffing and audiovisual needs. Disco said the mayor’s office total represents roughly 2% of the corporate fund and that the new outreach staff are funded within the proposed FY26 budget.

Next steps: Council members asked that the mayor’s staff provide more detail on hours of coverage, how the new staff will enter data into HMIS and how the city will measure outcomes. Several aldermen said they want quarterly reports on outreach activities and vendor/partner coordination.

Ending: City staff said they will coordinate a plan with purchasing and community partners and will return with additional operational details at later budget workshops.