‘We don’t want to criminalize homelessness;’ Wilmington launches new social work initiative

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY-TV) — As the city of Wilmington sees a continued rise in its homeless population, city leaders are introducing a new strategy.

During Tuesday night’s council meeting, members announced four new social workers will be embedded within the Wilmington police department to help address the issue.

The decision comes on the heels of a no public camping ordinance, which would ban people from sleeping or camping on city property overnight.

Mayor Bill Saffo said the addition of social workers is meant to provide help, not punishment.

“The last thing we want to do is criminalize homelessness; the last thing we want to do is make these people suffer any more than they are currently suffering we want to get them services, we want to get them into places where they can feel safe, where they can get back on their feet,” he said.

Mayor Saffo pointed to the city’s previous success with social workers during the opioid epidemic

“We found pretty significant success with that, 1,800 contacts with clients and 1,500 people who said we would love to have recovery and so we’ve seen this model work,” he added.

The approach mirror’s one in place through New Hanover County’s Getting Home Street Outreach program which reported 5,800 client interactions including 1,200 in downtown.

In a statement, New Hanover County Officials said:
“Since its establishment in late 2022, the Getting Home Street Outreach Program, a partnership between New Hanover County Social Workers and the Wilmington Police Department, has made great strides in helping unsheltered individuals in the community access resources and get connected to available services. In Fiscal Year 2024-25, the program reported more than 5,800 total client interactions, including 1,122 which took place in the downtown Wilmington corridor. The ongoing partnership between county social workers and WPD has proven effective and continues today. The recent addition of city social workers to provide more support will bolster efforts to help those in need and we look forward to strategizing with our municipal partners on how to collaboratively help the unsheltered here in our community.”

The mayor said the goal is to connect people with services and long-term resources.

“I think this is a great model, a great first step and we will continue to build from that but we are also going to be looking for partners be involved with us on this, this is not just a Wilmington problem but a eastern North Carolina problem”