The Highway Out of Homelessness

Our Guiding Principles

Dignity

We believe in the dignity of every single individual.

Dignity means treating every person as equal in value and worth—simply because they’re people.

This means respecting their rights and their choices while simultaneously setting common expectations for neighborly behavior.

Good neighbors treat each other with both respect and expectation.

Compassion

We choose to be rooted in compassion.

Compassion means acting on someone’s behalf with a desire to alleviate suffering or improve their situation. Compassion is ALWAYS a choice, and it is important to us that Bartlesville continue to choose to be a compassionate community.

We must work in the tension between showing compassion for individuals experiencing homelessness and individuals who are negatively impacted by the choices a homeless neighbor makes.

Agency

Agency means having the ability to make decisions, anticipate consequences, and take responsibility for those consequences. We tend to think of Agency as binary - you either have it or you don’t. But that’s not true. Not everyone has the same level of agency. It’s a sliding scale.

When we’re working with someone who has at least an average level of agency, the help we offer is more likely to work. For these individuals, our goal is to get them connected with the help they need as quickly as possible.

When someone has low agency and cannot make decisions that will help them improve, someone has to help make those decisions with them, or for them.

We want to restore agency, not punish its absence.

Externalized Consequences

If society is to function, there’s a rule that must always be kept: No one can be allowed to externalize the negative consequences of their choices onto the people around them. Each of us has freedom to choose, but that freedom ends where it begins to harm your neighbor. This is true of our homeless neighbors too.

No matter how someone became homeless, it is still right and just to have expectations that they carry the burden of their own choices, based on the level of agency they have, even while compassion moves us to try to help.

Here’s how I often explain it:
If I decide to hoard things in my house—treasures or trash—that’s my business.
But when my house fills up, I’m not allowed to start throwing garbage over the fence into my neighbor’s yard.

The same is true for public space.

If someone chooses to live outside, dignity means we honor that choice. If someone does NOT want to live outside, we are trying to honor that choice as well. But either way, that does not mean they can take over a public park, spread trash and human waste, or be drunk in public.

While we are working to help our homeless neighbors, we must set expectations of neighborly behavior that protect the safety of all the individuals who make up our community.

Our Goals, Accomplishments, and Ongoing Projects

    • Design signs

    • Create simple language of rules

    • Include web link for resources and “Call 211”

    • Determine cost

    • Current status: Installation coming soon

    • Update City website and app to Include link to community resource directory

    • Include ability to report public encampments

    • Current status: Complete

    • Suggest updated ordinances: Complete

    • Suggested delayed roll out: 6 months: In Process

    • Train officers to enforce new ordinances AND provide guidance to community resources: In Process

    • Educate homeless neighbors: In Process

      • Create educational materials: Complete

    • Next Steps: Host Helping Org Summit, 10/22

    • Create Materials for Homeless Neighbors: Complete

    • Host Helping Org Summit to update and equip helping organizations: In Process

    • Create public-facing website to aggregate helping resources in a searchable format: In Process

    • Select Sub-committee: Complete

    • Secure Date: Complete

    • Reserve Location: Complete

    • Set up Registration: Complete

    • Arrange lineup: Ongoing

    • Market to community: Ongoing

    • Identify key pain points.

    • Understand current system limitations

    • Explore options for getting our homeless neighbors to the most common resource locations efficiently and cost effectively.

    • Potentially bring churches with vehicles and volunteers if needed.

    • Next Steps: Completed. We will be communicating about City Ride to better equip helping orgs

    • Homeless neighbors can receive FREE ID through shelters.

    • How do we vet people’s stated identity?

    • How do we serve our unsheltered neighbors who do not choose a shelter?

    • Create consistent process to address challenges.

    • Ownership: Sub-Committee in process

    • Coordinate with library director to have 2-5 library staff go through SOAR training.

    • Consider other systems like VA, SSI, etc.

    • Choose days/hours when the library has lower attendance and allow signups with certified staff during those hours.

    • Ownership: City Manager

    • Status: In Process

    • Compare and recommend software to track individual’s participation across our helping orgs and service providers.

    • Understand cost and consider ways to lessen upfront cost for participating orgs.

    • Must be usable by non-profits, schools, churches, health agencies, and municipality.

    • Goals for software:

    • Enable every helper to quickly assess what resources a homeless neighbor is connected to and what other resources the person might be guided towards.

    • Enable participating orgs to know if a homeless neighbor is in good standing in the broader helping community.

    • Conserve resources by avoiding duplication of services.

    • Status: Charity Tracker has been selected. Purchase, education, and signing up helping orgs is in process. Task force recommends providing the software for free for the first year and then a 50/50 split for two additional years.

    • This will bring municipal court and helping orgs under one roof each month.

    • What is the start date?

    • Status: In Process

    • Goal: Create a long-term fund to provide grants for organizations helping our homeless neighbors.

    • Create Signs: 90% complete

    • Establish Endowment: 90% complete

    • Place signs: On hold, pending previous tasks

Goal 1: To help our homeless neighbors move from homeless to housed and stable as effectively as possible.

Goal 2: To protect the broader community against the negative effects of an unaddressed and growing homelessness problem.

The Highway out of Homelessness is an interconnected helping process designed to de-silo our helping organizations and help our homeless neighbors get back on their feet.

I call it a highway, because a highway has many on-ramps, but they’re all headed in the same direction. That’s what we want for our homeless neighbors. We want it to be easy for them to get the resources they need to get into stable shelter.

This plan has been developed by a team of leaders from non-profits, helping organizations, churches, schools, law enforcement, the medical community, local and state representatives, people who have experienced homelessness, business owners, and more.

Here’s how it works:

  • Whenever a homeless neighbor interfaces with any of Bartlesville’s local helping organizations, medical providers, or law enforcement

    • Immediate and acute (life threatening) needs are met (health, food, and water).

    • If this is a law enforcement interaction, local ordinances are explained and, if necessary, enforced.

    • Our resource site, 211, and 988 are shared with the homeless neighbor.

  • Person is voluntarily connected with a local shelter.

    • Local shelter checks for ID

    • If missing, ID is applied for (for free)

    • An ID is the essential onramp for this process to work effectively.

  • Information, including ID and picture are entered into Charity Tracker.

    • This profile will flesh out over time as they interact with our helping orgs.

    • Helping Organizations can choose what information to share between orgs.

    • Organizations can recommend complementing services for the individual, ensuring they get the help they need.

    • This process will allow us to give provide that is as close to personalized as we can make it without having a case worker for each homeless neighbor.

What is the Highway Out of Homelessness?

What about the Highway Out of Here?

During my campaign, I talked about a 3-strike policy for those who violate our ordinances. I called this policy “the highway out of here.” My thinking has evolved as I have learned more. I will clarify here.

*Please note that for the sake of accountability and transparency, I have left my original ideas at the bottom of this page. I hope it shows the ways I have developed and delivered on campaign promises, while staying open to better information and approaches.*

A lot of my early thinking came from a foundational mistake: I wrongly believed that many of our unsheltered homeless neighbors had recently moved to Bartlesville from elsewhere. This was a common assumption before the research our task force has done over the past 8 months, but we now know it isn’t true. The overwhelming majority of our homeless neighbors have lived in Bartlesville for many years.

If people were moving into Bartlesville to take advantage of our generosity while simultaneously making our community less safe, encouraging them to move on was a logical approach. But that is not the case. The more I’ve learned from our homeless neighbors and the leaders of our helping organizations, the clearer it has become that “running people off” is not the right—or realistic—approach.

To be clear, my goal was never to drive people out. It has always been to connect people with the help they need. And I’m not suggesting we should remove consequences for behavior that harms our community. That’s where our foundational principles of dignity, compassion, agency, and responsibility work in tension.

Here’s the reality: over the last 8 months of working with the Unsheltered Homelessness Task Force, the idea of a “highway out of here” has hardly come up. Every single man and woman serving our homeless neighbors wants the same outcome: lives changed for the better. That has consumed our conversations.

So has the Highway out of Here changed? Yes. It no longer means pushing people out of Bartlesville. Instead, “here” is context-specific:

  • “We have a place for you to shower, so you can’t shower in the splash pad. You can’t do that HERE.”

  • “This is a public park. You can’t camp HERE.”

  • “We have other guests at the library. If you insist on brining your machete inside, you can’t stay HERE.”

Clearly communicating a person’s options and the consequences for violating rules respects their dignity and ensures that the community does not bear the negative consequences of their decisions.

As always, our priority is compassion and helping. But there must be consequences for behavior that makes our community unsafe. Helping organizations agree, and, in fact, they want better ways to enforce consequences. Right now, one group may not know if a new client was expelled elsewhere for violence, drug dealing, or other serious issues. With a united front, they can say: “If you continue this behavior, you are not welcome here. But if you change, we are here to help however we can.”

That is a more compassionate and effective way to help our community, our helping organizations, and our homeless neighbors. And I’ll always choose to move from a weaker idea to a stronger one when the evidence points the way forward.

Everything below this line is from my original campaign. It is meant to be seen as a time capsule, and may not be reflective of our current policy, thoughts, or recommendations.

A Comprehensive Solution to Bartlesville’s Homelessness Crisis

At its core, this plan is about compassion and accountability—offering real help to those who want to improve their circumstances while ensuring that Bartlesville remains a safe, thriving community for all residents.

The Highway Out of Homelessness or the Highway Out of Here is a two-part solution designed to tackle our city’s growing homelessness problem through a coordinated effort that brings together our non-profits, helping organizations, churches, law enforcement, and the homeless community. Below, you’ll find the detailed steps of this comprehensive policy and how it works.

Step 1: Coordinating Our Resources

Bartlesville is blessed with many incredible organizations dedicated to helping those in need. However, these efforts are often siloed, meaning each organization is focused on its specific mission without coordinating with others. This leads to inefficiencies and missed opportunities to make real progress in moving individuals out of homelessness.

The solution starts with creating a Volunteer Action Team composed of leaders from:

  • Non-profits

  • Helping orgs

  • Churches

  • Law enforcement

  • Members of the homeless community

This team will work together to un-silo our efforts, ensuring that all resources—from food assistance to mental health support—are coordinated in a way that moves people from homelessness into stable housing as efficiently as possible, supporting people as they navigate their unique challenges. The team will create a system where individuals enter a structured pathway with clear steps for improving their situation, referred to as the highway out of homelessness.

3. Accountability and the Three-Strike Rule

Accountability is crucial for this system to work. In addition to the new ordinances, we will implement a three-strike rule for individuals who refuse to engage with the system. Here’s how it works:

  • Tracking Non-Compliance: A reporting system will be developed that allows non-profits and other service providers to check if an individual has unresolved citations for violating the new ordinances (such as illegal camping or panhandling).

  • Three Strikes: If an individual receives three or more citations for failing to comply with the ordinances, they will no longer be eligible to receive services from non-profits or other helping organizations. This will effectively cut off free resources for those choosing not to participate in the highway out of homelessness.

This rule is designed to encourage individuals to choose the path of recovery and stability, rather than remaining stuck in a cycle of homelessness. It ensures that our resources are directed to those who are committed to improving their lives.

4. A Holistic Approach: The Carrot and the Stick

This policy balances compassion with accountability, often referred to as the “carrot and stick” approach:

  • The Carrot: The highway out of homelessness is the support system that helps individuals access the resources they need—whether it’s housing, job training, mental health services, or addiction recovery. We are offering every opportunity for those willing to take it.

  • The Stick: For those who refuse to engage or continue to break the law, there’s the highway out of here. By cutting off access to resources and enforcing these ordinances, we will encourage those who do not want to improve their situation to move on.

5. Legal Precedent and Community Support

This plan isn’t just theoretical—it’s been proven in other cities. Austin, Texas, has implemented similar policies with success, and our proposed ordinances are legal under Oklahoma law. We are not reinventing the wheel, but adapting a solution that works.

I have already spoken with non-profit leaders, church pastors, police officers, and even members of the homeless community who support this plan. They recognize that it’s a compassionate way to help those in need while also protecting the safety and integrity of our city.

6. Moving Forward: A Call to Action

This isn’t just a policy—it’s a solution that I’m ready to implement. The volunteer team is ready to be assembled, and with the support of city officials, non-profits, and our law enforcement, we can get to work immediately.

If you believe in this plan and want to learn more, please email me at Aaronforward4@gmail.com or watch the video for further details. Together, we can create a future where Bartlesville is a compassionate city that provides real solutions and remains a safe place for all its residents.

This policy is not about punishing people—it’s about giving them the freedom to comply with the law or take responsibility for their actions. These ordinances are designed to help our homeless neighbors by guiding them toward the services they need, while maintaining the safety and cleanliness of our public spaces.

Here’s how the ordinances will work in three phases:

Phase 1: Education and Outreach

In the first phase, law enforcement and community outreach teams will focus on education. This phase is all about helping individuals understand the new rules—like where they can and can’t camp—and encouraging them to voluntarily comply. During this phase, police will issue verbal warnings, and individuals will be directed to local resources such as shelters or service providers.

Phase 2: Written Warnings and Community Service

As the ordinances take effect, those who continue to camp in public areas or engage in aggressive panhandling or dumpster diving will receive written warnings. However, this isn’t about handing out fines or putting people in jail. Instead, individuals who receive warnings will be offered community service options to fulfill their obligations and work toward participating in the healthy life of our community.

Phase 3: Citations and Legal Action

If individuals fail to comply after receiving warnings, they will receive citations, but even at this stage, the goal is to avoid harsh penalties. Citations will only become misdemeanors if the person refuses to comply not just with the police, but also with court orders. This gives individuals multiple opportunities to correct their behavior and engage with the system. Even if a misdemeanor is issued, it’s not about jail time or fines—it’s about cutting off access to free city services.

Misdemeanors Roll Off After Six Months

To ensure this policy is fair and compassionate, misdemeanors will roll off an individual’s record after six months, provided they’ve complied with any court-ordered community service or other requirements. This means that individuals who engage with the process and work toward improving their situation won’t be penalized long-term. It gives them the freedom to reset and rebuild their lives without carrying a permanent mark on their record.

Step 2: New Ordinances

While Bartlesville is known for its generosity, we have seen a growing number of individuals choosing homelessness as a lifestyle. This is where accountability comes in. We will propose new ordinances to address specific issues related to homelessness, such as:

  • Prohibiting public camping in non-designated areas to keep parks, sidewalks, and streets safe and accessible for everyone.

  • Restricting aggressive panhandling, particularly in sensitive areas like near schools, businesses, and busy intersections.

  • Prohibiting dumpster diving behind businesses and private residences.

These ordinances will be modeled after successful policies in cities like Austin, Texas, where public camping and aggressive solicitation are classified as misdemeanors. This gives law enforcement the legal authority to engage with homeless individuals and guide them to the appropriate services.