ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque spends millions of dollars every year addressing problems surrounding homelessness, but now, a city councilor is looking for more details on who is getting that money and where exactly it’s going.
“What we are asking for in this resolution is a lot of detail,” said Councilor Renee Grout.
City Councilor Renee Grout is now asking the Keller Administration to provide a detailed breakdown of how Albuquerque spends money on the homeless population.
“Just to get clarification of what their scope of work is and just see where we might have overlaps, or there might be gaps in the services,” said Councilor Grout.
Grout’s resolution demands a report in 60 days, outlining where the city has spent money, and how much, on homelessness over the last five years.
This budget year the city expects to spend more than $8 million on several efforts tied to the unhoused including work done by at least 14 different service providers.
“The fact that we are spending a lot of money on these kinds of services – it’s important that we are getting what we are asking for,” said Councilor Grout.
The request comes just a month after the city launched this website with data on homelessness, but Councilor Grout said more information is needed.
“I drive up Central every day. I see the same people, the same situations, the same sadness, and I know I’m not the only person that sees these things,” said Grout.
The councilor wants a full list of all city service providers, how many people they serve, and details of the work they do.
“It’s not getting better, so we need to be getting people into services, into housing, into treatment, you know, whatever is missing – we need to be helping them,” said Councilor Grout.
A spokeswoman for the Health, Housing and Homelessness Department gave a statement.
We will review the resolution that was posted today for introduction. All contracts and appropriations are approved by the City Council through the annual budget process, and as part of that process, we report on the outcomes of our social service contracts. We will continue to communicate with the City Council and residents about how we are serving people in need.
Health, Housing and Homelessness Department
