Homelessness Task Force
This consultation has concluded. Information about the task force's recommendations is available at https://www.fairfaxva.gov/government/homelessness-task-force(External link)
UPDATE: The Homelessness Task Force hosted a Community Feedback Roundtable from 6-8 p.m. May 16 at the Sherwood Community Center (3740 Blenheim Blvd.) for feedback on the draft of recommendations (click here to review and download). The task force presented their final recommendations to the City Council on June 25, 2024. Read the final report.
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Fairfax City has established a homelessness task force to address the impact of homelessness within the city, for both individuals experiencing homelessness and the greater community.
Led by Councilmember So Lim and Councilmember Kate Doyle Feingold, with Mayor Catherine Read, the task force is comprised of city residents and representatives from city businesses (including at least one representative from Fairfax Circle businesses). Lesley Abashian, director of the City of Fairfax Human Services Office(External link), serves as advisor and staff support for the task force.
On the task force are representatives from human service organizations connected to the Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness service continuum(External link), including the Lamb Center(External link), FACETS(External link), A Place to Stand(External link), and the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board(External link).
Key partners of the task force include the City of Fairfax Human Services Office, City of Fairfax Police Department(External link), City of Fairfax Fire Department (External link)(including a community paramedic), the Fairfax City Office of Economic Development(External link), the Fairfax County Office to Prevent and End Homelessness(External link), City of Fairfax Regional Library(External link), and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce(External link).
Task force members were chosen through an application/interview process to ensure membership reflects diverse stakeholder perspectives. The complete list of task force members is listed on the Homelessness Task Force webpage: fairfaxva.gov/homelesstaskforce.
Share Your Comments
This consultation has concluded. Information about the task force's recommendations is available at https://www.fairfaxva.gov/government/homelessness-task-force(External link)
As another citizen KK wrote, "Strategically the homelessness in FFX can be put into 3 categories." I agree. ... 1. Those that want help to get back into the mainstream, and we already have resources in place, minus low income housing options; SOLUTION 1: build low income residences with Habitat for Humanity, offering resources to homeless with two to three "accountability partner sponsors" who are established, 3-year tax-paying resident or business sponsors. 2. The mentally ill and Vets who find it difficult to integrate. SOLUTION 2: Use the trained Mental Task Force Team to get Homeless to resources without tying up police resources, and making our City inhabitable for taxpayers to live and do business in the City. Maintain laws to keep out "tent cities" or harrassive loitering and trashing in public areas. Encourage & inform & provide extra safety measures for public to prosecute local crimes to eliminate recurrence and eliminate word of mouth to bring more petty or voilent criminals into our City. SOLUTION 2b: Funnel a proportionate amount of tax resources (as in solution 1, based upon numbers of those Homeless individuals willingly sponsored by 3+year City taxpayers) to local Mental health facilities with proper longterm followups. If no willing sponsorship of accountabilty team, they can't stay, by an updated City law. Create a police-regulated volunteer entity that regulates this list of accountability for legitimate Homeless sponsorship. Enlist federal VA mental health resources where appropriate. SOLUTION 3: For those here causing trouble and arrived from DC and all over, without taxpayer sponsorship/accountability suggested above, must be shipped out to Fairfax County's or Virginia's At-large resources. To place such a load on our City's taxpayers has already started to lead to Homeless Wastelands of Voilence and gatherings of Illegal Activities where no one wants to live, work, play, do errands, or continue to pay taxes. They ARE NOT our City's responsibility if we can't provide personal accountability from within our taxpayer base. Category 3 statistically appears to be the biggest source of recent -- 3 years of -- increased voilent problems of aggressive and disruptive behavoirs stripping our City of resources which can even keep its law-abiding citizens safe. ... A thoughtful note summarized by another entry, "note to the mayor and city council: I assume your intentions are good, but many of us have significant reservations about the efficacy of such large investments, not only for the quality of life for the tax-paying voters, but also for the less fortunate constituents you hope will benefit from them. I’ve heard homeless advocates claim the primary cause of homelessness is a lack of housing, which makes for a nice sound bite, but ignores root cause issues such as poor mental health and addiction problems. The council-proposed guidelines for eligibility to receive free housing (must maintain sobriety, etc.) are not realistic in all cases for most candidates and will ensure they are tossed right back onto the street. Of course, others will apply to take their place, because- if you build it, they will come.
Mayor and city council, I am confident you are on the cusp of making a huge policy mistake. If you move forward on this effort [as currently proposed without taxpayer buy-in accountabilty], it will go sideways on you and put the city on the hook for ever-more expensive care and feeding responsibilities. Let’s find out who we are hoping to care for, first." // Bear with me if there's a minor repetition in this entry; I was trying to type this from a phone app; impossible to review my text at one glance. // Here's to acting quickly with SOLUTIONS!!
The city needs to pool its resources and convert vacant buildings into public housing apartments and zone the public housing apartments as residential development. A good idea is getting apprentices from hvac and plumbing and electrical to work on a school apprenticeship program to convert buildings into public housing apartments!!!
A couple of questions for the audience: How many homeless people reside in Fairfax City? Of that number, how many were Fairfax City residents before becoming homeless within Fairfax City?
I would like to see a quick survey of the homeless population performed (please, not another extensive, six-figure “study”- simply a couple of questions to the folks at the Lamb Center or Home Depot parking lot) to get a rough idea of how many homeless folks are true “locals” and how many are transplants attracted by the already-generous offerings in Fairfax City.
Before we spend any more of our always-increasing personal property tax money on homeless housing, let’s see who we will actually be supporting.
Final note to the mayor and city council: I assume your intentions are good, but many of us have significant reservations about the efficacy of such large investments, not only for the quality of life for the tax-paying voters, but also for the less fortunate constituents you hope will benefit from them. I’ve heard homeless advocates claim the primary cause of homelessness is a lack of housing, which makes for a nice sound bite, but ignores root cause issues such as poor mental health and addiction problems. The council-proposed guidelines for eligibility to receive free housing (must maintain sobriety, etc.) are not realistic for most candidates and will ensure they are tossed right back onto the street. Of course, others will apply to take their place, because- if you build it, they will come.
Mayor and city council, I am confident you are on the cusp of making a huge policy mistake. If you move forward on this effort, it will go sideways on you and put the city on the hook for ever-more expensive care and feeding responsibilities. Let’s find out who we are hoping to care for, first.
This needs to be looked at Strategically and with Empathy for our residents and businesses here in the city who have had enough of this mess. A mess created by our lack of enforcing the law. Strategically the homelessness in FFX can be put into 3 categories. 1.>Those that want help to get back on their feet. We have resources in place that help people that want to help themselves and get back into the mainstream. I feel for the person or the family that lost their job and livelihood - they don't want to fail and want to survive (FACETS, LAMB, FFX County, A Place to Stand, etc.). I don't see these people harassing my family and neighbors at the library, the Safeway, The Giant, the Pop Eye's, the WAWA, the Home Depot, the Ace Hardware, the Walgreen's, our beautiful parks and trails, etc. They aren't the problem. 2.>Then we have mentally ill and vets. Our vets deserve help (FACETs and Lamb feed them) where is the VA?. And the state needs to take care of the mentally ill until then there is nothing more we can do and our local first responders know our local people and help them. 3.> We have those that are here causing trouble and more have arrived from DC and all over (DC homeless decreased as they got rid of their tent cities) you can tell some of them are not from here as they are aggressive. And most of these newbies are the problem because we have a well laid out city with the LAMB Center giving out food, showers, and tents/sleeping bags; FACETS giving out free hot meals. They line up daily and are at the circle intimidating people daily they walk Blenheim (a.k.a. the Homeless Highway). The policy of creating a special homeless court is stupid and unfair to honest citizens that make a mistake (so harsher penalties for the hardworking residents but a slap on the wrist because you are an aggressive homeless person) and they will just laugh at you for it. We should not make it more hospitable and welcoming for the ones in cat 3 and those in cat 2 sometimes need a jail cell to sleep in overnight (because there is nothing else if the shelters are full) and they don't care if they get arrested. We cannot nor should we shoulder these added costs. None of this work is free. All of these propositions are just making a money pit by hiring staff and bloating our local government to solve a problem that is not ours and we will grow this problem as these policies will amplify the magnet of services we already have in FFX City. If these people in cat 3 are not from here- ship them out. Seriously, bus them back to their city/state. They don't want our help to get mainstreamed again. I've talked to some they don't want the help. They are just here for the freebies. Examples: Our Beautiful Library had them camping outside and inside (harassing the library staff and customers grandparents, single adults, family and children). Our beautiful parks are trashed and homeless men are catcalling/intimidating (from the woods at our parks) to our young daughters and sons that play on the soccer fields or playgrounds from the wooded areas. When will a tragedy occur in our parks/trails - I lay that at your stupid feel good 11 month committees feet. Every time I go to the Walgreens in FFX City I am called names by the aggressive homeless. The CVS left, it's only a matter of time the Walgreen's closes. Sat 5/12/24 a well-fed homeless man had his pants down performing a lewd act against a signpost by the bus stop across from the Ace Hardware. I had enough - he looked at both me and another lady and knew exactly what he was doing when he could have walked 25 yards to the woods across main street. DO NOT TELL ME HE DIDN'T"T KNOW. I called the cops. Hope they arrested him. DO NOT CONFUSE CHARITY WITH COWARDICE TO DO WHAT IS WITHIN OUR MEANS. You can't do everything for them all the time. The Cowardice is that you are not recognizing the true issue we have and actually dealing with it. The only thing we need to deal with is stopping the FACETS/LAMB Center magnets and getting rid of the category 3 aggressive and hostile to residents homeless. It's 2nd and 3rd category of homeless. For the 2nd for mental illness - we will always have to grapple with that and the current services are there for now until the State and Feds step up. For the Vets, we need the VA's help. For the 3rd category, you make it hard to live here by arresting them and putting them away. Yes, over and over and shipping them out and letting them know they are not welcome here. But the LAMB and FACETS continue to give them food. Maybe for these we need to enroll them in a plan to streamline pipeline that the county needs to shoulder. Our taxes are already out of control. People are losing their homes and can't afford to live in FFX. We need affordable housing for teachers, first responders, health care providers that contribute to our society. Those that don't want help is like pouring $$$ down the drain and is useless. Even Oregon and Washington State are bringing back their laws that they relaxed as they now know that making the laws lax didn't work. Let's not repeat others mistakes. I agree others - whey are creating a solution to solve problems for the county? Where is the revenue from the state and county for this? This belongs to the county. Ship the category 3's to Fair Lakes, Herndon, Reston, Great Falls, Centreville and see what happens then. I've had enough of these accosting my family and friends while we go about and do our errands. Seriously think about what you are trying to solve. Do not weaken our laws. That will make it harder to clean this mess up and create another useless government department. What is that Dept to prevent and end homelessness doing now? Seriously, publish their results. HOw many homeless does Fairfax now have? We need numbers. We know its increased. And is the not the homeless that want to get back on their feet - they are just wanting to live off our residents hard work. The residents that voted for you to keep them safe from this menace. I've had enough of the zero empathy for the hardworking residents that work 50+hours a week to only get to enjoy a trail or park for 30 minutes at most for a day on their time off. THink about the residents and that what they are paying for. We have 24K residents, we are not a major metropolitan city - stop these non-profits from creating unintended consequences and curtail them. Have FACETS distribute their hot meals in Fair Lakes instead of Home Depot. Stop attracting them here. Seriously the correlation of food to homeless is mindblowing. And city officials should do a better job with affordable housing instead of building condos for congestion how about condos for the first responders and maintenance people we need to serve our city. THINK STRATEGICALLY and FISCALLY!
I am resident near Fairfax Circle. I hope any further projects will be put in other areas of Fairfax City. We have enough issues in our area with homeless and we don't need any more. Having people sleeping on sidewalks does not do anything for property value. Entire Fairfax City or other close areas should considered.
With the exception of a few, all these new proposals will DESTROY the City of Fairfax. Every "service" provided becomes a MAGNET that draws more and more needy people from OUTSIDE our jurisdiction. We're already seeing that - the difference in the City from even just a few years ago is stark. WE DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO TAKE THIS ON - PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T TRY.
The City has always had a homeless population, but those were a limited number of individuals who were local, known to our first responders, and had connections here. Now it is individuals coming from as far away as California or New York, DRAWN HERE by the Lamb Center, Chris Atwood, St Leos, and the new Human Services department. These are people who need more than the City of Fairfax is capable of providing, and we're not doing them any favors by enticing them to come here.
PLEASE DON'T DESTROY THE CITY OF FAIRFAX. We're not a major city and DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES. Your heart can be in the right place, but that does not equate with REALITY. The City of Fairfax has NO BUSINESS taking on this crisis!
Crime and homelessness are increasing across the region due to a lift on covid eviction moratoriums, inflation, and increased behavioral health problems. The post ran a great article on this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/07/homeless-solutions-union-station/(External link)
Despite what many people would hope, mental illness, substance use disorder and homelessness do not decrease when laws get tougher on them. Loitering laws have generally been found unconstitutional. It may make you uncomfortable to see homeless people and their things, but they have a right to exist. There is nothing Fairfax City can ethically do to "run these people out." So the only option is to help them. Fairfax County is also looking at addressing the issue. I attended the public safety meeting last week and I heard many people complain about the increasing population of homeless people and the number one solution suggested was more mental health services. That's what the homeless task force needs to focus on - more services. A rising tide lifts all boats. So let's RISE together.
How did it take 11 months to create a board where the community can provide input on this matter? Do you know how moronic “public” meetings are when the public has no ability to participate in said meetings? You purposely keep these closed because you know the public strongly disagree with your ineffective solutions and you’re afraid to hear criticism.
Despite the task force's establishment and the promises made, the situation on our streets has not improved. In fact, it seems to be deteriorating. The visible increase in homelessness and the lack of tangible solutions or interventions from the task force are deeply troubling. The community had high hopes for meaningful action and innovative solutions, but so far, these expectations have not been met.
The lack of progress is particularly amazing given the fact that so many council members, City of Fairfax staff AND mayor are part of it. It's imperative to ask: What are the barriers preventing effective action? Why has there been such a significant disconnect between the task force's goals and the actual outcomes? Quite literally, the only tangible action was to place an eyesore of a portapotty–which costs the city a quarter million dollars– that no one uses onto the future low-income housing project parking lot.
While y’all dilly dally and waste each other’s AND our time; my business and the surrounding businesses in the circle are continuously being affected by this issue. There have been 400+ phone calls weekly on average and a majority of those have to deal with people of “No Fixed Address”. I had a homeless man come in the other day right after he crossed the road from the Lamb center and urinate all over my wall and floor. I had a prostitute solicit sex and money from my guests and me personally in my parking lot. How much of this do you think I or any other business is going to take before saying enough is enough and moving out to better pastures?
Do you know how frustrating it is to hear guest after guest that live right next to the circle say that they won’t patronize my establishment due to the perceived danger it is to their families due to the homelessness issue?
While I understand the complexities of addressing homelessness, it's the task force's responsibility to overcome these challenges and make a tangible difference. It's not just about policy discussions or meetings; it's about real action and results that positively impact the lives of our community.
Why not discuss what happens to all the people that are rejected by the Lamb Center? Or actually have FACETs move to the Lamb Center in the evenings when they’re closed instead of an active commercial parking lot?
Quite frankly, I think the task force should be disbanded; currently, there would be no difference between having one and not having one. The community is watching and expects more than just discussions; we expect action.
Another post implied that homeless persons commit crimes at a higher rate than others. I would like to see the evidence. Do homeless drive drunk more? run more red lights? buy more cocaine? Domestic violence is virtually impossible for a homeless person. Cyber crime would be hard, too.
When we are adding bus shelters or benches can we think about buying ones that are not comfortable to sleep on. I've seen these in other cities. Recently someone was sleeping in the bus shelter by Patient First. Also the bus stop by projects a terrible image of the city. It's hang out central there and always trashy. Maybe we need one of those cans that compacts the trash. People sit for hours. There is also a ton of trash near the food distribution spot near the Home Depot, that looks terrible. Does Home Depot officially allow this to occur? People then loiter on that corner. Just the trash caused by these folks is a gross mess and the city is going to have a rat problem if we don't already. Perhaps the food distribution organization should provide a way to dispose of the trash.
Many well-intentioned neighbors are putting time, effort, and financial resources into increasing the provision of services for area unhoused, and much of it has been concentrated in Fairfax Circle. Whatever long-term benefit those services may provide comes with a direct trade-off: Fairfax Circle has become the crime hot spot of the City of Fairfax, with assaults, sexual crimes, trespasses (including a home invasion), robberies, property destruction, and even a murder committed by persons with no fixed address. The feeling of safety that was always a hallmark of the City is eroding and residents have legitimate concerns for nearby school children who traverse Blenheim Boulevard, Lion Run, Fairfax Boulevard, and the Accotink trails near Fairfax Circle. Additional resources and services for unhoused provided in the donut hole of Fairfax City (with 24,000 residents in 6 square miles) has the unavoidable consequence of drawing in much larger unhoused populations from surrounding Fairfax County (with 1.2 million total residents over 406 square miles) and other populous areas of Northern Virginia -- and that means the burden of the care and management of correlated problems (policing, EMTs, garbage removal, mental health supports, to name a few) is disproportionately borne by City residents. Home owners and businesses have made long-term investments in the vitality and tax base of our City, and this council owes it to them to prioritize public safety. Simultaneously, the City is investing tens of millions of dollars in Blenheim Boulevard improvements, including bike lanes and sidewalks, and Fairfax Circle comprehensive plan improvements, all of which will be squandered if the neighborhood devolves into an unsafe encampment for regional unhoused. The City has demonstrated compassion -- it already hosts the Lamb Center and will soon host a 53-unit permanent supportive housing facility at Fairfax Circle. Those services are both compassionate AND PROPORTIONATE for a tiny city surrounded by a much larger and wealthier county. Please weigh any additional services against the continued erosion of public safety and resulting impact on residents and businesses.