COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) -Colorado Springs is changing how it responds to homelessness.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade announced a new Homelessness Response Team on Wednesday.

The team brings together roughly 12 to 15 city departments and divisions that already deal with homelessness in some way. That includes police, fire, housing, outreach and cleanup crews.

The goal is simple: Get those departments working together instead of separately.

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City leaders say that could mean better communication and a faster response when someone calls the city for help.

Right now, different departments handle different parts of the city’s homelessness response.

Police may handle enforcement. The fire department has outreach. Other crews clean up encampments, while housing staff work to connect people with resources.

The new team is designed to better coordinate that work.

Mayor Mobolade said the city has about 12 to 15 departments and divisions that touch homelessness.

But he said better coordination will not solve every problem.

One of the biggest challenges, according to the mayor, is helping people who may be dealing with mental health, behavioral health or substance use issues but are not ready to accept help.

“So how do you get the consent of people that need help but are not going to give you that consent?” Mobolade said. “And that still remains a challenge.”

The city says it has completed 59% of the 61 action items in its five-year Homelessness Response Action Plan. Another 25% are in progress.

The plan was released in November 2024.

The new Homelessness Response Team is still in its early stages.

Aimee Cox, the city’s chief housing and homelessness response officer, told 11 News the team has been working together for only a couple of weeks.

Some of the details are still being worked out.

For example, Cox said there is not yet a new protocol for how the team will handle a complaint about a homeless encampment.

She said more of those calls are now coming to her office.

The city plans to track where the calls are coming from, identify areas where problems happen repeatedly and decide which resources should respond.

“This is a couple of weeks old, so we don’t have a protocol for that,” Cox said.

The city’s latest point-in-time count showed overall homelessness dropped 19%.

The same count showed unsheltered homelessness dropped 41%, according to city officials.

But Cox said the city has not yet set a specific goal for how much it wants unsheltered homelessness to decrease over the next year.

She said those goals should start coming together within the next quarter.

The city also sent 11 News new information Wednesday showing people experiencing homelessness in the area were homeless for an average of 78 cumulative days during the 2025 federal fiscal year.

City leaders say they want to help people get out of homelessness faster.

Springs Rescue Mission works directly with people experiencing homelessness.

Travis with the organization said there is not one solution that works for everyone.

“One of the biggest challenges that we see is that homelessness is very complex,” he said.

He said the organization expects more than 3,000 people to stay at its shelter over the course of a year.

Travis also said better coordination could help, but there is room for improvement.

“Right now, I think there’s a little bit of a lack of confidence in how all of these things are working together,” he said.

The city will spend the next several months developing goals and procedures for the new team.

Cox said her department will give quarterly updates to Colorado Springs City Council.

The next update is scheduled for Sept. 8.

The city also plans to release an annual report showing what’s working, what isn’t and where changes may be needed.

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axios reports: https://www.axios.com/local/colorado-springs/2026/08/12/colorado-springs-mayor-yemi-mobolade-homelessness-action-plan-team

Action items achieved include:
Tougher enforcement of the sit-lie ban and more encampment sweeps.
Stronger police presence in the downtown business district, and more spending on private security and downtown ambassadors.
More rental assistance funding for those at risk of losing their homes.
The expansion of winter shelter capacity and additional behavioral health services. The development of 3,000 affordable housing units.

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