Arvada Police Department Restores CORE Homelessness Data After Eight Weeks of Reporting Gaps

Over the past several months, Arvada Voices has closely monitored the Arvada Police Department's weekly activity reports as part of our commitment to community transparency. When we recently noticed that Community Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) homelessness data had disappeared from these reports, we raised this concern to ensure our community maintains clear visibility into how we address homelessness.

We are grateful for the swift response from both Councilwoman Sharon Davis and the Arvada Police Department (APD), who worked collaboratively to restore this essential reporting. Their responsiveness demonstrates the kind of accountable governance that strengthens our community's ability to evaluate and improve vital public programs.

APD has now provided comprehensive CORE data for the majority of weeks between May 19 through July 13, demonstrating their commitment to public accountability and evidence-based program evaluation.

May 19 – July 13 CORE Data

The restored data provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of current outreach strategies. Over the eight-week reporting period, there have been significant changes in the trends surrounding resource acceptance and disciplinary action in the community.

Resource acceptance rates varied dramatically across reporting periods. Most weeks recorded 0% acceptance rates, indicating that while outreach efforts were consistently made, connections to services were not achieved during those periods. However, two weeks demonstrated notably different outcomes: June 23-29 achieved a 25% acceptance rate, and July 7-13 reached 33.3%—our most successful periods for connecting individuals with needed services.

During this timeframe, officers offered various forms of assistance including mental health resources, substance abuse support, shared One Small Step program information, housing assistance, navigator services, employment resources, and vital document recovery. The data shows that while resources were consistently made available, acceptance of those resources remained challenging in most instances.

Concurrent enforcement data shows calls for service related to homelessness ranging from 38 to 73 per week, with homeless-related arrests representing between 6.58% and 19.35% of total arrests.

The Essential Role of Data in Effective Governance

Consistent data collection is fundamental to responsible governance and effective program management. Transparent metrics enable our community and city leadership to make informed, evidence-based decisions about resource allocation and program effectiveness.

The data presents both challenges and opportunities. Those weeks showing 0% acceptance rates, for example, are learning opportunities that help us understand what approaches need refinement. The more successful weeks of June 23-29 and July 7-13 could provide valuable case studies for identifying effective practices that can be expanded and replicated.

These metrics allow us to ask the right questions: What factors contributed to higher acceptance rates during successful weeks? Are current service offerings aligned with actual community needs? How can outreach timing and approach be optimized to improve outcomes?

This kind of analysis is only possible through consistent, comprehensive data reporting. Moreover, sharing this data with residents can improve community understanding and support of programs like CORE and APD’s Co-Responder Unit (CRU), which consists of two behavioral health clinicians who respond to on average four behavioral health calls for service per day.

Opportunities for Enhanced Reporting

While celebrating this restoration of transparency, there remain significant opportunities to strengthen our data collection and better measure the success of our homelessness outreach efforts. APD has not yet resumed reporting total numbers of contacts with homeless individuals—a metric that provides important context for understanding the full scope of program reach. Additionally, data for June 2-8 and June 9-15 remains unavailable, creating gaps in our comprehensive understanding of this period.

We could also enhance our measurement of program effectiveness through several additional metrics (or, if they are already measured, share them publicly), including:

• Follow-up Tracking: Measuring whether individuals who accepted resources actually received services and remained engaged beyond the initial contact. A 30-day and 90-day follow-up rate would provide insights into sustained engagement versus one-time interactions.

• Service Completion Rates: Tracking how many individuals who accepted referrals completed intake processes, attended appointments, or finished programs. This would help identify barriers in the service delivery pipeline.

• Repeat Contact Analysis: Documenting how frequently the same individuals are contacted, which could indicate whether interventions are preventing repeated interactions or if different approaches are needed for frequent contacts.

• Geographic and Temporal Patterns: Mapping where successful contacts occur and analyzing what times, days, or conditions correlate with higher acceptance rates. This could optimize deployment of outreach resources.

• Outcome Measurements: Longer-term tracking of housing stability, employment gains, or treatment completion for individuals who engaged with services. While more complex to implement, these metrics would measure actual life improvements rather than just initial service acceptance.

• Resource Gap Identification: Documenting what services individuals request that aren't currently available, helping identify unmet needs in our service ecosystem.

• Quality Indicators: Measuring factors like time spent per contact, who is approaching individuals (police vs. case workers) and what are their techniques and methods in contact, officer training levels, and collaboration with community service providers, which may influence the effectiveness of interactions.

Complete data sets incorporating these expanded metrics would enhance our ability to conduct meaningful analysis and identify trends that might otherwise be overlooked. These additional measurements would provide a robust foundation for program evaluation, resource allocation decisions, and strategic improvements to our community's homelessness response.

A Foundation for Continued Progress

APD's responsiveness in restoring this reporting demonstrates Arvada's commitment to transparent governance and evidence-based policy making. A data-driven approach would position our city well to address homelessness effectively and efficiently.

Moving forward, Arvada should continue exploring opportunities for our community to engage constructively in addressing homelessness through informed dialogue and evidence-based solutions which are clearly defined, measured, and outcomes are publicly available in its entirety. Through these efforts, we can continue evaluating current approaches and developing enhanced strategies that better serve both our homeless population and the broader community.