Yorkville city officials confirmed they are considering amending their recently approved ordinance to fine and possibly imprison the city’s homeless if they repeatedly refuse social services.

The city said it’s aiming to begin City Council discussions at the Sept. 9 meeting. Community members are anticipated to voice their opinions during the Aug. 26 meeting at City Hall.

The city and the Yorkville Police Department posted that they have met with community members to hear their concerns and discuss the availability of social services. Before unanimously approving the ordinance, aldermen discussed the ordinance for less than a minute, with minimal public notification and zero public input.

The posting comes as several community church leaders sent a letter to Mayor John Purcell on Aug. 23 urging the city to repeal the ordinance, including the Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ.

“Homelessness is not solved by creating faster paths into the criminal justice system,” Pastor Corey Ashley of Wellspring United Methodist Church in Oswego writes. “It deepens the very cycles of poverty, despair, and harm that our community longs to overcome.”

The letter argues for investment in sustainable and affordable housing, accessible mental health and addiction resources, supportive services and strong community partnerships.

“Please act with love for our neighbors and repeal this ordinance,” Rev. Tedd Steele of Trinity Church United Methodist in Yorkville said in the letter.

Crisis intervention training

In the city’s and police department’s first public communication since approving the ordinance on Aug. 22, the city wrote the meeting with community members was productive and “participants agreed to partner with the city to identify solutions that support our unhoused individuals while also addressing broader community needs.”

The city’s Aug. 19 meeting between city and police officials, a few community members, and an attorney from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, was closed to the public, including the media, and not permitted to be recorded.

The post states the city and police will provide an “informative presentation” at a future unspecified public meeting.

“The city’s focus is on training staff in a compassionate application of the ordinance and exhausting all social service options before considering enforcement,” according to the post. “This ordinance was enacted in response to repeated calls for service over the past several years such as trespassing at businesses, disorderly conduct toward citizens, and disturbing the peace in public settings.”

City Administrator Bart Olson said the majority of recent issues stemmed from calls about four individuals experiencing homelessness. The police department said they each have repeatedly refused social services provided to them by their officers. Deputy Chief Garrett Carlyle confirmed one of the individuals has since accepted some of the services.

Carlyle said the department’s Crisis Intervention Team, established in 2021, was created to train officers how to approach individuals facing mental health troubles, substance addiction and behavioral health concerns.

It also trains officers in autism awareness, LGBTQI+ assistance, suicide prevention, veterans assistance and senior assistance. The training also focuses on homelessness prevention, street outreach and emergency shelter placement.

“CIT is not just telling somebody there’s services, it’s also reducing that stigma and trying to build a relationship,” Carlyle said. “We’re not here to punish you or look down on you on your situation currently in life, we want to try to help you along. Our officers learn how to de-escalate to better help and understand the mental issues some of our residents face.”

Currently 85% of the patrol force is certified in CTI, according to the department.

Officers are trained to connect community members with a range of assistance programs facilitated through partnerships with the Kendall County Health Department, Kendall County Senior Services, Mutual Ground of Aurora, Daybreak Center by the Catholic Diocese of Joliet and the multi-county Continuum of Care community action program.

“Our folks who are unhoused deserve to make sure they’re valued in the way they’re treated,” Carlyle said. “At the same time, we’ve got 25,000 residents who deserve a certain quality of care and protection from their police department.”

Filling in the gaps

Following news of the city exploring ways to possibly amend the ordinance, resident Alicia Castillo broke down her tents outside City Hall she had lived in for eight days in protest.

In an online post, Castillo said the city expanding accessibility to resources is key because so many in the community face difficulties receiving the help they need.

“Many mistakenly assume there are only about four unsheltered people living in our city,” Castillo writes. “In reality, there are far more people living on couches, in cars, or at the edge of losing their homes than are visible around town. You work with them, shop with them, dine with them, and all without knowing the deep struggle they face day-to-day.”

Castillo said homelessness will continue increasing as residents are priced out of their hometown, especially with Yorkville’s pricey new housing developments and lack of affordable and low-income housing options.

She said she’s optimistic that the city is looking to form a “working group” of representatives from city hall, the police, advocacy groups, the health department and those with lived experiences. We will be looking into gaps in services and what services those in need in our community actually require.”