An audit of a Honolulu homeless assistance initiative that came under fire for being ineffective has been halted because the program keeps changing direction and can’t produce reliable data about its efforts.
That development leaves the future direction of the Crisis, Outreach, Response and Engagement program in flux.
Known as CORE, the program launched in 2021 to pair social workers with EMTs on 911 calls for help with homeless people in mental health crises. The City Council last September voted to audit the $2.7 million program, citing concerns it had drifted from its original purpose to steer people off the streets and into shelters and services…