Supported Outdoor Shelter (SOS) Proposal
the report is designed to serve as a useful resource and potential blue print for government leaders, service providers, advocates, and academics who seek to develop humane and legal interventions to unsheltered homelessness, informed by current research and best practices.
In August 2021, the City of Santa Fe contracted with Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge to explore and develop interventions to mitigate the public health and safety crisis of unsheltered homelessness and unsanctioned encampments in Santa Fe’s parks, arroyos, streets, and neighborhoods.
This project’s Scope of Work is focused on developing operations and site development templates for a Supported Outdoor Shelter (SOS) pilot — also known in other municipalities as Safe Ground, Safe Outdoor Spaces, Safe Sleeping Sites, Transitional Villages, Managed Outdoor Campsites, Sanctioned Encampments, Green Zones, etc. — within the City of Santa Fe.
In alignment with the values and protocol of both Built for Zero and Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge, the process used to explore and develop potential new interventions for Santa Fe incorporates a data-driven and collaborative approach that directly involves people experiencing, impacted by, and/or working to address unsheltered homelessness.
While in some ways site-specific to Santa Fe, the report is designed to serve as a useful resource and potential blue print for government leaders, service providers, advocates, and academics who seek to develop humane and legal interventions to unsheltered homelessness, informed by current research and best practices. An overview of legal precedents and municipal interpretations (e.g. Martin v Boise) are included—along with models for Supported Outdoor Shelter (SOS) with open source operating documents, sample budgets, evaluations and more from SOS models around the country, and data from interviews and focus groups with Santa Fe residents experiencing, working to address, and/or impacted by unsheltered homelessness.
This project’s Scope of Work is focused on developing operations and site development templates for a Supported Outdoor Shelter (SOS) pilot — also known in other municipalities as Safe Ground, Safe Outdoor Spaces, Safe Sleeping Sites, Transitional Villages, Managed Outdoor Campsites, Sanctioned Encampments, Green Zones, etc. — within the City of Santa Fe.
In alignment with the values and protocol of both Built for Zero and Saint Francis Homelessness Challenge, the process used to explore and develop potential new interventions for Santa Fe incorporates a data-driven and collaborative approach that directly involves people experiencing, impacted by, and/or working to address unsheltered homelessness.
While in some ways site-specific to Santa Fe, the report is designed to serve as a useful resource and potential blue print for government leaders, service providers, advocates, and academics who seek to develop humane and legal interventions to unsheltered homelessness, informed by current research and best practices. An overview of legal precedents and municipal interpretations (e.g. Martin v Boise) are included—along with models for Supported Outdoor Shelter (SOS) with open source operating documents, sample budgets, evaluations and more from SOS models around the country, and data from interviews and focus groups with Santa Fe residents experiencing, working to address, and/or impacted by unsheltered homelessness.