Boulder reviews updated homelessness strategy aimed at ending unsheltered homelessness

The Boulder City Council on a study-session agenda heard an updated homelessness strategy that staff and consultant Clutch presented as a five‑year operational road map intended to reduce long episodes of homelessness and end unsheltered sleeping in the city.

City Manager Nuria Rivera Vandermeidt said the city’s efforts “have already achieved significant progress, helping over 2,100 vulnerable people secure housing since 2017.” The update, led by consultant Mandy Chapman Semple of Clutch, uses system modeling and community input collected over six months to recommend prioritized, measurable investments for single adults and for families.

Why it matters: presenters said the document is intended to serve as an operational guide for staff and partners—especially Boulder County and nonprofit providers—to align limited resources toward the highest‑impact interventions. Council members pressed staff on costs, county coordination, and measurable milestones; staff repeatedly said funding and formal budget choices will come through the city’s annual budget process.

The update separates two response plans: one for single adults and one for families. For single adults the plan sets two milestones over five years: eliminate long episodes of homelessness (defined in the report as episodes exceeding 365 days) and end rough sleeping. The plan’s model estimates an annual inflow of about 1,250 individuals and lays out an “optimized” response in which roughly 60 percent of people would be resolved through rapid resolution or rapid exit interventions, about 20 percent would exit from shelter into affordable housing developed through the city’s pipeline, and about 20 percent would receive rental subsidies and stabilization services. In that optimized state the model projects an average time from entry to exit of 46 days and a goal of zero individuals with long episodes of homelessness.

Clutch consultant Mandy Chapman Semple described the approach as “a road map to end unsheltered homelessness,” and said the system modeling identified where to prioritize investments to shorten shelter stays and increase exits.

On families, the report identifies a different set of conditions and a distinct goal: scale a family response system that stabilizes families with children at or below 50 percent of area median income. The consultant and city staff estimated roughly 1,700 such households annually in Boulder and said about 76 percent of those households could be served through prevention programs rather than emergency housing.

City staff described immediate implementation steps already underway or planned: clarifying governance roles within Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC), adding nonprofit representation on HSBC’s board, exploring a single shared data system to replace multiple separate program reporting systems, revisiting prioritization to move people who have long stays higher on lists, and piloting standardized diversion, navigation and rapid exit staffing at shelter and outreach points.

Megan Newton, homelessness policy adviser for Housing and Human Services, told the council the update is being advanced “in a context of a challenging financial environment” and emphasized that staff are focusing first on actions likely to be impactful and feasible with current resources while using the strategy to shape future budget requests.

Council members asked about several specific topics raised in the presentation: the feasibility of achieving a 60 percent rapid‑resolution rate, how permanent supportive housing inventory would be used, options for prioritizing people who are long‑term Boulder residents versus people who travel to the city, and the role of the county and regional partners in providing behavioral‑health and institutional care beds.

Consultant Chapman Semple and city staff said the 60 percent figure reflects evidence from system performance and from other cities that organize diversion and rapid exit as the front‑end triage tool; they noted many communities that scale these approaches have achieved high diversion/rapid‑exit percentages. Staff and the consultant also said the city does not expect to cover the entire cost of the proposed framework and repeatedly called for regional cooperation and data sharing with Boulder County and other partners to align investments.

Council members raised budget concerns throughout the discussion. Several members said the strategy is a substantive planning document but that funding assumptions and the city’s fiscal capacity need clearer articulation before the council could commit to specific new investments. Staff responded that they will use the strategy as the basis for budget proposals and return to council through the normal budget process; no formal budget decisions or votes were taken at the study session.

On operational questions, staff recommended strengthening outreach and centralizing services around the day services center and shelter to improve the connection between outreach, supply distribution and exit interventions. They also recommended standardizing messages delivered by frontline workers so people receive consistent information about housing options and next steps.

Speakers and partners identified in the session included City Manager Nuria Rivera Vandermeidt; Kurt Bernheimer of Housing and Human Services and other HHS staff; Mandy Chapman Semple of Clutch; Megan Newton, homelessness policy adviser; Elizabeth Crowe, deputy director of Housing and Human Services; Mike Block, CEO of All Roads; and members of the council. Staff noted the Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC) structure and local nonprofits including Emergency Family Assistance (EFA) and SPAN as partners in the response system.

What didn’t happen: the council did not take formal action or adopt the strategy document at the meeting. Staff said the document is intended as an operational roadmap and that specific funding and ordinance or policy changes would be considered through future budget and intergovernmental processes.

Next steps noted on the record: staff will use the strategy to inform 2025–26 budget requests, continue provider and county collaboration through HSBC, evaluate options for a shared data system, and pursue standardized diversion, rapid exit and prioritization practices. City staff and the consultant emphasized continued engagement with providers, the county and other partners to implement the plan.

The study session closed with council members offering broad support for the analysis and urging staff to return with budget‑level recommendations and measurable implementation milestones.