Tempe will try to help the homeless — by providing temporary jobs.

The city is working with a local staffing agency and nonprofit on the two-year pilot program. It's modeled after a program in Albuquerque that has given more than 900 homeless people jobs that led to long-term employment in less than a year. The Tempe pilot will begin far smaller, helping an estimated eight people in the first year.

"Homelessness is a crisis in Tempe," said Councilman Randy Keating, who pushed for the program.

A 16-week effort by city workers to examine homelessness in Tempe made contact with 629 people who are homeless.

That's far higher than the 202 homeless people counted during Tempe's annual point-in-time count, a federally required headcount done in a single day each January, which critics say undercounts the population. But even those counts have risen in recent years.

Problems have followed, including a fire caused by a homeless encampment at Papago Park that damaged a state-owned museum last year. The state is going after Tempe to pay the damages.

The situation led to an outcry from residents who demanded that the city address the problems.

Keating and others are hopeful the jobs program might eventually expand and create opportunities for the city's homeless population and lead to long-term solutions.

A 'job pipeline'

In late September, the City Council unanimously approved the pilot, which will cost the city no additional money.

Rather, it is redirecting money such as $38,500 the city had set aside to pay Corporate Job Bank to find temporary workers for the city's works programas well as jobs with companies Corporate Job Bank represents.

The staffing agency will screen homeless or near-homeless candidates and train them for the jobs. For now, the city jobs will be in the its solid waste division.

"These are jobs that have sat unfilled for a long period of time," Keating said.

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But the jobs are not permanent. Keating describes the program as a "job pipeline" to help people get on their feet and build their resumes.

The program will help two to four people at a time. After about six months, the idea is that they will move on to a new position within the city or with other employers Corporate Job Bank represents, allowing others to come in and take their place.

The full-time jobs pay $10 an hour with benefits. Keating said he wished there was room in the budget to pay more than minimum wage, but he said that is something to pursue later.

Jobs are only one part of the program.

Beyond jobs: A 'holistic approach'

"At first it seemed like a really simple idea," Keating said, "but then we realized we wanted to do more."

He calls it a holistic approach.

The nonprofit Tempe Community Action Agency will help screen candidates and provide other services such as education, transportation, health and personal hygiene assistance, nutrition assistance and basic life skills.

"We are completely excited," Deborah Arteaga, executive director of the Tempe Community Action Agency, said.

TCAA will also help find housing for those who land the jobs. The agency will use about half of the $50,000 already allocated in the city's budget for emergency assistance and housing.

The housing assistance, in the form of vouchers to help pay rent, can be more challenging with today's rising rents.

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City and community leaders are hopeful about the pilot but some residents remain skeptical about how the city is handling homelessness.

The Papago problem

Homeless encampments in Papago Park continue to be a contentious issue.

As the council approved the Tempe Works program, as it's called, it also authorized spending $140,000 to add three new positions that will focus on the homeless encampments at Papago Park.

The city is adding a second full-time park officer and two part-time positions in its' homelessness outreach programs.

READ: Cities, churches and others try to solve homeless problems

The city's crisis response group, CARE 7, has seen a 230 percent increase in calls regarding homelessness since 2014. The calls range from a person reporting a homeless person they believe is in trouble to a homeless person seeking help.

CARE 7 is a collaboration that includes Tempe Fire Medical Rescue, Public Works, Tempe police, Tempe Human Services Department, the City Attorney’s Office, Community Services and Tempe Municipal Courts.

Part of the group's mission is to assist the homeless in the park and clean up the encampments there.

“We quickly realized we needed to work together,” said Tempe police Cmdr. David Humble, who is part of a team the city pulled together in early 2016.

So far, the city has spent $35,000 to clean up encampments, which has resulted in 40 tons of debris, and $140,000 to remove non-native plants from former encampments.

But Tempe resident David Twohig is not so impressed.

Twohig said he used to walk at Papago Park daily, but now he tends to avoid the area.

Twohig has lived in the area for 12 years and said he recently encountered a pair of homeless people with pitbulls. He said one of the men told him to "get the hell out of my park" as he walked by. Twohig said he has also counted numerous used needles in the park, some near the playground.

Twohig wants the city to more strictly enforce the no sleeping in parks policy and hire more than one park resource officer. The city has now funded two, but he'd like to see double that.

Hope for long-term fixes, instead of short-term gains

The city recently finished a 16-week project that examined homelessness in Tempe parks.

Of the 629 individuals contacted by city employees:

10 percent refused help.

39 percent agreed to an intake assessment and accepted assistance.

61 percent accepted some form of assistance but refused to participate in any survey or intake assessment.

Of those who agreed to provide some information, most fell between the ages of 45 and 61.

Nearly half had been homeless for one to five years and were considered "chronically homeless." Substance abuse was the most common reason, followed closely by mental health issues and evictions.

Despite the numbers, Keating and others hope the new program as well as the collaborative approach to Papago will help create long-term fixes instead of short-term gains.

Twohig isn't convinced.

"You're not going to solve the problem," he said. "All you can do is try to control it."

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