Amid a growing push to provide permanent housing for Denver’s surging homeless population, the Denver Gazette reports, there are “hints” that City Hall may finally address the gaping hole in substance abuse and mental health treatment.
“If we are to move people from sheltering toward stability…we must recognize that providing shelter is not enough,” the Denver City Council recently acknowledged — emphasizing the need for “comprehensive support services to ensure long term housing stability.”
Last year’s $45 million blitz by Mayor Mike Johnston sheltered 1,000 individuals, yet just one accepted substance abuse treatment. Among those who returned to the streets, only four opted for help, while many more died, went to jail or faced fates unknown.
As Denver expects to spend $143 million more this year, funding support services is critical. But what good is offering treatment if it isn’t taken?
“I would have more confidence in the mayor’s plan if he would actually acknowledge what the problem is. You have to come out and publicly say that the problem is addiction and mental illness, and we’re gonna do something about it,” said Craig Arfsten, founder of the neighborhood organization Safe and Clean Denver.
“If you haven’t identified the problem, you’re just gonna throw money away while doing nothing to help people who need help,” he added. “You must address the high risk nature of this population in tandem with permanent housing, or it just won’t work.”
Arfsten is right: The National Coalition of the Homeless reports substance abuse is especially common among homeless individuals compared to those who aren’t. Oftentimes, drug or alcohol use begins as a coping mechanism for the stress of being unhoused, rather than the addiction coming first. It can then become especially challenging to quit the drugs or alcohol.
One in every 21 homeless Denverites died in 2022 — of which drug overdoses claimed 56%.
“(S)tudies have now shown that simply providing people subsidized housing does not reduce drug use, and often encourages it, which makes sense because there is no mandated treatment in (permanent supportive housing) and the free unit provides people with more money to pursue their habits,” a recent Cicero Institute analysis concluded.
The same need applies to mental health treatment.
The National Academy of Sciences identified a large body of research suggesting, absent supportive services, homeless individuals who have chronic problems may be unable to maintain housing even if it’s initially given to them.
Let’s be clear: Merely providing “wraparound services” — particularly substance abuse treatment and mental healthcare — isn’t enough.
Denver’s efforts to shelter residents in converted hotels and tiny home “micro-communities” have brought grave challenges, resulting in an alarming surge in 911 calls. The former Double Tree Hotel on Quebec has, by itself, experienced seven deaths, including a double homicide.
Homeless since 2018, Dwayne Peterson says he faced racial harassment and physical safety threats — including a threat with a gun — during his two-year stint at Beloved Community Village micro-community. Police records reveal a litany of issues, from noise complaints and trespassing to violence and burglary.
Peterson laments the rejection of personal accountability and standards for behavior inherent in Denver’s “housing first” approach. The strategy doesn’t address underlying issues through resident screening measures, sobriety requirements, or treatment for substance abuse and mental illness.
“I think there’s a lot of enabling going on,” Peterson told me in January.
Meanwhile, “open-air” drug use — predominantly fentanyl and meth — plagues the streets, forcing businesses to take their own action to combat overdoses and public drug use daily. As Common Sense Institute fellow and former Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen notes, so-called “harm-reduction” strategies fuel addictions by enabling rather than encouraging treatment.
Residents complain that Denver’s apparent attempt to push homelessness away from affluent areas and downtown creates “containment zones” in poorer neighborhoods, exacerbating preexisting problems.
Denver property managers recount the devastating harms of persistent crime and open drug use upon the low-income, public housing residents they serve: People using meth as children play at the park; overdoses inside and outside their buildings — the list goes on.
Let’s be real: By clustering diverse populations with complex needs without ensuring and mandating treatment pathways, City Hall’s low-barrier housing strategies create increasingly unsafe environments where problems go unresolved and safety risks abound.
This inevitably leads to more danger and instability — turning communities into hotspots of lawlessness and endangering vulnerable groups.
The urgency of the homeless mental health and substance use crisis is real. City Hall must prioritize treatment for homeless individuals, especially those with serious drug addiction or mental health conditions like schizophrenia, as they transition to permanent housing.
The Johnston administration’s efforts to provide temporary shelter and permanent housing are laudable, but they can’t come at the expense of neglecting vital treatment services for vulnerable homeless individuals.
It’s good that Denver’s leaders are finally talking about the need for expanding treatment, but actions speak louder. It’s time for some tough love.
As Arfsten suggests, following the model in Alberta, Canada, “Mayor Johnston should declare Denver a recovery city and make a serious attempt at recovery and treatment.
For permanent supportive housing to make a genuine difference, residents must be required to pursue the treatment they desperately need. After all, this isn’t just about giving them a roof. It’s about giving them a chance.
Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.
