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Polk County to add two homeless-service team members, plans expanded cleanup coverage
Summary
County staff said two additional homeless-service team positions will increase outreach and cleanup coordination with public works, aiming to expand from Monday–Thursday operations toward seven-day coverage and to have new hires in place around Black Friday.
Polk County staff reported the county authorized two additional homeless-service team members to expand outreach and cleanup coverage.
"The council authorized at the October, for us to add 2 more homeless service team members, to the department," a county staff member said, noting the two existing positions are funded through opioid funds and now will be supplemented to increase capacity.
The homeless-service officers work with an SOS public-works team to post camp notices and allow public-works crews to clean sites after a 72-hour posting period. County staff explained that current operations run Monday through Thursday, which limits cleanup windows; the two new positions are intended to expand coverage and the cleanup crew to reach problem locations more often.
Staff said candidates were being tested with an anticipated start "essentially Black Friday," and that outreach will be coordinated across the city, including Wallace Marine Park and other sites. Residents with camping complaints are directed to the county website; reported locations are filtered for staff follow-up each Monday.
No new ordinance or policy change was proposed during the meeting; this item reported staffing authorizations and implementation steps based on existing authority.
