TenHaken administration seeking money to fund homeless outreach program

Two-year pilot study would try to build relationships with homeless

Jenna Harris, a policy adviser to Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, and Police Chief Jon Thum, background, were among the officials who asked the City Council Tuesday to fund a pilot project for a homeless outreach program. (Jonathan Ellis/The Dakota Scout)

Mayor Paul TenHaken’s administration will ask the Sioux Falls City Council for a supplemental budget appropriation of $250,000 a year for the next two years to fund an outreach program for the city’s homeless population.

Members of the administration pitched the City Council on the idea Tuesday afternoon.

As of a 2022 count, the city had 387 people identified as “sheltered homeless,” said Jenna Harris, a policy adviser to TenHaken. Another 20 were counted as “unsheltered.”

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