Ministers Demand Changes To Oak Lawn's Homeless Shelter Ordinance

OAK LAWN, IL -- Oak Lawn trustees are poised to vote on a proposed ordinance that will regulate the village’s overnight homeless shelters during their regular board meeting on Tuesday. The proposed ordinance received the endorsement of the village’s planning and development commission following a 2-½ hour public hearing last week. Ministers claim that the ordinance would make it difficult to replace a church that drops out of the faith-based network of overnight shelter providers.

LaGrange-based BEDS Plus Care works with local faith-based communities to provide professional counseling and other support to help homeless guests find permanent housing. The organization took over management of the southwest suburban overnight homeless shelters from South Suburban PADS in August. BEDS Plus claims to have placed 44 households in permanent housing since taking over management of the southwest suburban shelters from PADS. Oak Lawn has maintained a network of church-based homeless shelters since 1997.

Although Oak Lawn’s six existing shelters are exempt from some of the requirements, they will still be required to obtain a license by Oct. 1, 2018 (an earlier draft gave a deadline of Jan. 1, 2018), renewable each year. New shelters would be required to obtain a one-time, special-use permit. There are no fees attached to the licenses or special-use permits, the village said in a joint statement.

Worrisome to the ministers and homeless advocates are other requirements and language contained in the proposed ordinance. These include restrictions on the placement of shelters near schools and daycare centers, preference for homeless guests with former permanent addresses in Oak Lawn, and maintaining lists of names of overnight homeless guests and their dates of stay. Oak Lawn Village Attorney Kevin Casey maintained last week at the plan commission’s public hearing that shelters would not have to turn the lists over to police or to the village. Police, however, can obtain the name of a guest accused of criminal activity through a warrant, provided under the law.

While it remains to be seen if Oak Lawn trustees will approve the ordinance, ministers and advocates are demanding changes, as presented by BEDS Plus, to the proposed ordinance before it is codified in the village’s municipal code:

• Change the date to apply for a shelter license to October 1 so that renewal does not fall in the middle of a cold shelter season.
• Remove the requirement that the shelters give preference to homeless persons from Oak Lawn. This is impractical and does not respect the way that all of BEDS shelters operate as one system
• Remove the requirement that the shelters report to the [Village of Oak Lawn] the names of all persons who stay in the shelter and the dates of their stay. This is a violation of the Illinois Homeless Bill of Rights, the Illinois Board of Education “McKinney-Veto” policy and HIPPA. It also puts at risk the many victims of domestic violence who stay in [BEDS] shelters.
• Provide more flexibility in the hours of operation so that churches can admit guests early on nights when they also have evening religious services. This is not to allow guests to attend services though they are welcome to do that. This is a safety concern so that we do not have homeless guests lined up in our parking lots while church members are pulling into the lot to park for a service.
• Remove the restriction on locating a shelter within 500 feet of a school or child care center. Since many of our churches include schools this is very restrictive. We think the church can and will determine whether the shelter location poses a risk for the children. Many of our current shelters are within 500 feet of schools and/or preschools.

The village attempted to address some of the advocates' concerns in a list of FAQs submitted to Patch. Shelter occupancy levels, for example, would adhere to Illinois State Fire Marshal regulations. BEDS Plus caseworkers are permitted to provide substance abuse treatment and counseling to overnight guests, but medical treatment, such as flu shots, would be administered at other BEDS Plus shelters in Worth, Chicago Ridge and Palos Hills. Village officials have also stated that opening shelters to homeless guests with former permanent Oak Lawn addresses is a “preference” and not a requirement.

One of the pastors will lead a short, ecumenical prayer service at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 14) in front of the Oak Lawn Public Library, across the street from the village’s municipal center at 9446 S. Raymond Ave. The Oak Lawn Village Board meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. People who wish to speak during the public comments portion of the meeting must sign in before the meeting starts.

RELATED:

• Oak Lawn Ministers Oppose Proposed Homeless Shelter Ordinance
• Plan Commission Recommends Approval of Homeless Shelter Ordinance
• Village of Oak Lawn Addresses FAQS on Homeless Shelter Ordinance
• An Oak Lawn Resident's FAQ on the Proposed Shelter Ordinance (Reader submitted)
• What the Proposed Ordinance on Homeless Shelters REALLY Means (Reader submitted)