Tulsa Mayoral Debate: Housing First Or Treatment First Homelessness Approach?

The Tulsa mayoral debate between candidates Karen Keith and Monroe Nichols is currently underway. Monroe Nichols, a Democratic representative for Oklahoma House District 72, is vying for the mayor's seat.

Karen Keith, also a Democrat, is the Tulsa County Commissioner for District 2. Her jurisdiction includes Sand Springs, Tulsa, Jenks, and Glenpool.

There are several model plans for addressing homelessness in Tulsa. One is a "housing first" approach, which means providing permanent and supportive housing for people without preconditions. Another is a "treatment first" approach, which believes that homeless people must first address any mental health or substance abuse problems before a permanent housing solution can be reached. Which model would you support, or do you have another plan to address homelessness?

Nichols: Look, we have a crisis now. Homelessness has gotten 8% worse. Almost every year, family homelessness is up 34% since 2020. I don't think that we have to choose one or the other. The fact is, we have to have an all-in approach. You have to ask yourself, if somebody is suffering from a mental health or substance abuse issue and we choose not to house them, is Tulsa safer because they're on the streets, or is Tulsa safer because we've chosen to find them a place to be where we can serve them better? I think Tulsa is a little bit safer if we can get them off the streets. That being the case, I think it's also critical, as I said before, that we coordinate these services to make sure that we put folks on the track to get better. I do believe that most folks sleeping on the streets today, we prefer not to be sleeping on the streets. I spent time with folks who are sleeping under bridges and on sidewalks and in these encampments, I've talked to them about their stories. We have to meet this moment with compassion, and I think it's an all-in approach. I'm looking forward to leading that approach.

Keith: So I think you have to have wraparound services for many of our folks coming off the streets. I've worked with our family shelter, and I'm so excited about the work we do, because every week, we are housing families, and we work with the housing authority to get them into homes. So we're moving the needle there. And we just opened Good Samaritan joined us as a health provider there, and that's making a big difference. And we have this pharmacy that is helping individuals who are on the street and need some of the pharmaceuticals that they cannot afford. In addition, I do want to point out also that I helped find the dirt so that Irongate would have a place to go. Those are just a few of the things that I've worked on and been successful doing. And, I mean, there's I've and I've done the Point-in-Time Count. This is an area where I'm highly engaged and I'm just ready to continue to move the needle on this because I've already got plans in place.