Petition in Support of Shelter Standards in Cleveland

To:      Cleveland City Council and Mayor Frank Jackson

Re:      Proposed Standards for the Homeless Shelters

We, the signers of this petition, request that the Shelter Standards bill for the City of Cleveland developed by the Homeless Congress be immediately introduced for Council consideration and action.

The Homeless Congress is a collection of two homeless representatives from each shelter that meets every three weeks and is organized by the Coalition for the Homeless.  Between 2006 and 2007, the Congress developed a proposed law that would set a consistent, minimum level of standards for the operation of shelters within the City of Cleveland.  Under the proposed law, organizations that receive public funds to provide shelter would have to adopt these standards in order to be able to apply for continued or additional funding.  The proposed standards would be enforced by an office within the City of Cleveland and include provisions for: grievance processes; client confidentiality; admissions policies; health and safety regulations; shelter staffing and training; and procedures for shelters serving children.

There are no existing standards for shelters in Cleveland.  We understand that there are Ohio Guidelines, but they are not enforced by the City and there is nowhere for homeless people to go to complain about the shelters within local government.  There is no penalty for non-compliance by the shelters, and homeless people had no input on the guidelines.  The standards developed by the Congress would improve all of the city’s shelters and ensure a basic level of care. The current disparity between shelters within the city and the lack of any oversight authority to which residents can go to have complaints about the shelters heard necessitate the passage of these standards.  We urge Cleveland City Council to follow the City of San Francisco, which recently passed a similar bill, to pass these standards into law without further delay.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned:

Name                                                  Signature                                             Shelter/Current Location

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