Eastern Iowa’s Scott County is launching a program to move people experiencing chronic homelessness out of emergency care and into more sustainable treatment. They’ll be referred to an outpatient treatment program at a judge’s request, while caseworkers will make sure they follow a treatment plan, keep a medication regimen, and get a ride to appointments and services. Community services director Lori Elam (EL-um) says it’s only the second program of its kind in Iowa.
Johnson County has a similar program but it is not court-ordered. Elam says when various providers in Davenport and surrounding Scott County got together to identify their highest users of services, they came up with a list of 17 people.
Starting next month, a judge will be able to order someone into the program.
