How Much Does it Cost NOT to have a Permanent Comprehensive Day Center? I got the official numbers on Thursday at the Human Services Board meeting.
2013 DIRECT COSTS FOR 2 MONTHS
County
$30,000 Bethel Day Services (10/31/14)
$8,000 Shine 608 Library Case Management (11/1/13 – 3/31/14)
$4,500 Porchlight van
? County porta-potty (7th floor of Dane County Parking Ramp)
$42,500 + ?
*Some of these funds carried forward to 2014
2014 DIRECT COSTS SO FAR
County
$30,000 Bethel Day Services (1/1/14 – 12/31/14)
$17,500 Porchlight van
$4,000 Shine 608 Library Case Management (4/1/14 – 6/31/14)
$4,000 Shine 608 Library Case Management (7/1/14 – 8/15/14)
$1,000 Shine 608 Bus Passes (4/1/14 – 6/31/14)
$2,500 Supplies for Storage
$2,000 Renovation of the ONE shower at Catholic Multicultural Services
? – Portapotty – now TWO paid for by county (second one outside City-County Building)
$61,000+
City
$10,000 Porchlight van service
$4,000 Shine Library Services (4/1/14 – 6/31/14)
$1,000 bus tickets for Shine 608 (4/1/14 – 6/31/14)
$2,000 Shine Library Services (7/1/14 – 8/15/14)
? Two portapotties
$17,000+
So, in 10.5 months the city and county have spent $120,500+ for a bubble gum and duct tape
plus, I’m pretty sure that the city also contributed $8,000 to the laundry program, but that wasn’t listed on the sheet so who knows what else is missing
GAPS
(This is likely missing items, this is just a quick off the top of my head listing)
There is still only ONE shower
There is very little transportation money to get to the ONE shower or to get to other services people need
Services 8/15 – end of the year?
The storage has no paid staff support so it relies 100% on volunteers
A warm place to go on holidays (Christmas, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Thanksgiving and the Friday after)
A warm place to go before 1:00 on Sunday’s in the wintertime
A place to go during inclement weather in the summer – tornadoes, etc
Transportation between shelters at 6:00 in the morning during -20+ degree days
Plus, don’t forget
A teen shelter sitting empty because we don’t have money for staff.
A place for more the 32nd+ woman to sleep at night
A place for families to sleep for emergency shelter (you have to call each day to see if you won the lottery and if you slept there the night before, you likely won’t get in to the warming shelter)
A place to sleep for people who work 2nd and 3rd shift jobs
Housing that doesn’t have a waiting list of 4 months to a year or longer
INDIRECT COSTS
Extra ambulance trips to the hospital because medical needs were not identified and intervened in sooner
Extra injuries and medical needs due to physical toll from lack of transportation
Extra trips to detox because there were not more constructive things to do and/or people drank less while at a day center facility
Extra police calls to mediate and intervene in disputes
This is the definition of insanity, right?
Insane = “utterly senseless”. Yes, it does meet that definition.
I’m sure I’m missing several items, but this is utterly senseless enough.
