Homeless Outreach Team (H.O.T.)
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The Homeless Outreach Team (H.O.T.) is responsible for responding to all 911 calls regarding homeless individuals or calls for service. H.O.T. focuses on trying to keep the homeless out of jail if possible and divert them to services or shelters. The H.O.T. works in partnership with homeless service providers and businesses to refer the homeless to their resources or programs.
They also work to help make the homeless successful whether it's helping them get back on their medications if they have mental health issues, referring them to substance abuse centers if needed, assistance in resume building, job referrals, and building partnerships with them to get them the resources they need to make them successful. The "Finding A Way Home" program reunites the homeless with their family to get them stabilized in a home.
The program utilizes four full-time officers, Officer Nate Schwiethale, Officer Brittney Thomas, Officer Ryan Doshier, and Officer Mariah McCrea, and the team is supervised by Sergeant Erik Guzman.
The H.O.T. was recognized by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness as being a best practice in law enforcement. Officer Schwiethale was recently added to the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration advisory board to draft training materials for police agencies across the nation that want to adopt a H.O.T. program.
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H.O.T. has been nationally recognized by NBC News and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
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Recognized by SAMHSA with the federal government as the best H.O.T. model in the nation. Wichita was hired as a "content expert" to produce training modules on HOT for the Criminal Justice Sustainable Implementation Guide (CJ SIG).
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National recognition by the Department of Justice and another featured article on their "COPS" website.
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Listed as a best practice and researched by the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services.
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State recognition by the Kansas House of Representatives in the State Capitol.
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Listed as the best practice in Police Homeless Outreach Teams by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI).
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Wichita H.O.T. has been a Consultant for the Center for Court Innovation on numerous projects.
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The National League of Cities listed Wichita as a best practice in dealing with homelessness.
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Recognized as a best practice by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
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