Commissioner Coleman Clarifies Statements About Unhoused and Recovery Research
Community Conversations on Recovery and Homelessness Continue
Scioto County Commissioner Cathy Coleman clarified a statement made last week about having conducted research on the unhoused and recovery populations in Scioto County, walking back the implication that formal data had been collected.
The statement was made after residents voiced frustration about local treatment centers at last week’s meeting of the Scioto County Board of Commissioners. Coleman appeared to agree there was a problem. She suggested previous research demonstrated recovery nonprofits brought many people seeking treatment from outside the region to Scioto County, who later left services and became unhoused, contributing significantly to the number of people living outside without shelter.
“I do believe they come here, and then they are released from their program and they stay here. They don’t go back where they come from,” Coleman said at the meeting. “A few years back we did the research — we couldn’t get a definite answer — but the number of [out-of-town] residents receiving treatment way outnumbered the amount of [local] residents receiving treatment.”
Abby Spears, who heads the Portsmouth Coalition for the Unhoused and recently led a months-long but unsuccessful campaign to secure support for local service nonprofits, pushed back online.
“Last week Commissioner Coleman referenced data about the unhoused community being made up of predominantly folks from outside of Scioto County. What report was this information pulled from?”
“It’s hard to get that information in a document. I am basing that on conversations,” said Coleman. “It’s not the entire reason for homelessness, but it is a contributing factor.”
Commissioner Bryan Davis weighed in, explaining that conversations with first responders shaped the board’s understanding of who is utilizing local services.
“Like Commissioner Coleman said, it’s not everybody, but a lot of the time the response they get is, ‘I came from Dayton,’ or, ‘I came from Columbus,’ or Toledo, or over in Kentucky,” Davis said. “Unfortunately, some people drop out of recovery and they find themselves either squatting homeless in a house somewhere or they are in the streets — and nobody likes it, nobody likes it at all.”
Others in the community have pushed back as well. Joshua Lawson, executive director of Recover Appalachia and a writer who focuses on treatment and recovery, commented on the April 3 livestream.
“Yes, there are problems that need to be addressed. The SUD treatment industry needs better regulation, and hopefully the new bill, along with other constructive initiatives, will contribute to positive solutions. But we need leaders who can discuss the issue without contributing to public ignorance and stigma against returning citizens, many of whom are contributing to our communities in positive ways.”
The board has not indicated whether it plans to pursue formal data collection on the issue.