PHX Reporter

The Phoenix City Council voted to continue a contract with a local nonprofit housing provider to serve the homeless in the city, unanimously approving the contract during their June 14 meeting.

Phoenix has held a contract with Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS) since 2007 to provide shelter and serve the homeless population, according to a video of the meeting posted on the City Council’s YouTube page. The facility can serve up to 600 adults and offers shelter, storage for personal belongings, and case management services. The organization also has its own security service.

According to the agenda from the meeting, the contract with CASS is not to exceed $4,390,190 for the year.

“This coordination is critical to serving people experiencing homelessness in the area and to regional efforts to end homelessness,” the document stated. “CASS is a large provider of shelter services for adults in Phoenix and Maricopa County and is the only facility that has the capacity to serve this large number of homeless individuals.”

Ann O’Brien, a council member, told the board she was concerned about the lack of progress made in fighting homelessness since she joined the council. She said CASS has come to the council with unexpected damage bills and "overestimated their available budget and came to us asking for more operational funds, threatening to shut down if we didn't provide them."

She said if the city is going to commit a large amount of funding to CASS, the city should have more of a voice in the organization’s operations.

"If we're going to be renewing a contract or give them another contract that is close to $4.4 million, I believe the city of Phoenix deserves a nonvoting seat on their board and a well thought out budget plan that we are aware of to ensure that the money is being spent in an appropriate manner," O’Brien said.

Rachel Milne, director of the Office of Homeless Solutions in Phoenix, said there have been many improvements in the city's relationship with CASS over the past nine months.

She said through monthly meetings between city and Maricopa County officials, the Department of Economic Security, the CEO of CASS, as well as the organization’s chief operating officer, they’ve been able to go over “line by line the goals and outcomes and indicators in their contract.”

Despite some concerns, the council voted unanimously to approve the contract.

“I will be voting yes,” said Phoenix Vice Mayor, Yassamin Ansari. “But I just hope that in the future, given that this is an issue that I deal with day in and day out in the shelter, as in District 7, I would hope that we could have a conversation in advance about this to be part of the process."