As Boulder faces a shortage of federal housing vouchers and a looming budget shortfall, the city has adopted a new homelessness plan that makes a clear distinction: People with long histories of homelessness in Boulder will be first in line for scarce subsidized apartments, while newcomers will be offered short-term help such as hotel rooms, bus tickets or other assistance.
The plan, released earlier this month, calls for greater investment in “diversion” programs meant to quickly get people out of homelessness without necessarily offering them a locally subsidized apartment. This could mean paying for a car repair, reconnecting someone with relatives, mediating with roommates, covering a rent deposit or providing a bus ticket out of Boulder.
“It’s a more cost-effective approach than trying to get everyone into housing in our community, which we know we can’t do,” Kurt Firnhaber, the city’s director of Housing and Human Services, told Boulder Reporting Lab in reference to diversion programs…