Olmsted County has a new plan to address homelessness. Some officials are skeptical.

ROCHESTER — There’s a new vision to reduce homelessness here, though local elected officials appear skeptical.

Rochester and Olmsted County housing officials say there are too many holes in the current system to serve the homeless population. They want more funding, as well as more cooperation from area nonprofits to make homelessness “rare, brief, and non-recurring.”

Local elected officials “cautiously support” the idea, but some say they have concerns over the new approach to strengthen safety nets, based a national program called Built for Zero.

“I don’t know how you’re going to get providers to all do the same thing,” City Council Member Shaun Palmer said Wednesday during a joint meeting between the council and the County Board on homeless strategies.

Some elected officials say they’re concerned the new strategy won’t do enough to address mental health or substance abuse issues. Others were confused by housing staff’s proposed “functional zero” policy — in essence, to ensure that anyone who becomes homeless can immediately seek help rather than linger on waitlists for housing or other services.

But housing officials say local governments need to rethink how they address homelessness.

“I don’t agree that people are causing their own homelessness, whether it’s mental illness or substance use or trauma,” said Mary O’Neill, Olmsted County’s associate housing director. “I simply don’t believe that. I believe that it’s the system, and we don’t have the housing to support people with those types of challenges.”

Olmsted County typically estimates about 200 unhoused adults and 400 unhoused children live in the area, though homeless counts have increased in recent months. Rochester Public Schools officials have identified about 570 students who are “in transition,” or without permanent housing, this school year.

The area has made strides in recent years partnering with other nonprofits such as the Landing daytime shelter, the Dorothy Day house and the local Salvation Army. The groups formed a steering committee in 2022 to build a new homeless shelter to address a lack of overnight beds — there are about 80 in the county.

Rochester housing officials last fall tried to get state money to renovate the Residences of Old Town Hall, a low-income apartment building east of downtown. But Olmsted County wasn’t selected to be part of a $100 million pool for new homeless shelters.

Olmsted County Housing and Planning Director Dave Dunn said in hindsight the proposal was flawed — it lacked solid plans on how a new shelter would fit in the community.

That would change under the Built for Zero model, a data-driven approach to help communities connect their services for better efficiency. More than 100 communities across the U.S. including Hennepin County have used the model; 14 communities have achieved “functional zero” for certain categories such as veterans or homeless families.

“We need to bring the community along as a whole,” Dunn said.

Housing staff will work with elected officials throughout the year on goals and strategies. The council and County Board will come back together in August to hash out further plans and 2025 budget items.

Council Member Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick said it was past time Rochester, known as a prosperous community thanks to Mayo Clinic, addressed its homelessness problems.

“Our system is set up, the economy we have here is set up to meet the needs of our most privileged,” she said. “I wonder if we have been striving for that privilege for so long that we are unable to help those that are most in need.”