Advocates have pushed officials to create a city-wide ID to lower barriers for the homeless in accessing resources.
by Stefania Lugli/The Journal and Kylie Cameron/The Wichita Eagle
The Wichita City Council is scheduled to vote at its Tuesday evening meeting on implementing a city-wide municipal ID program to lower barriers for Wichitans who lack standard documentation for a state-issued ID, such as the homeless.
If passed, IDs will be issued at the Multi-Agency Center starting sometime in April. The IDs, also called Air Capital Cards, will display a person’s name, photo, address, date of birth and ID number, making it I-9 compliant to verify an individual’s identity for employment.
Lacking ID prevents many homeless people from establishing residency and applying for jobs or housing. It is also harder to apply for benefits, fill prescriptions or open a bank account without any photo identification.
Officials committed last May to establishing a municipal ID after Justice Together, a grassroots coalition of interfaith communities in Sedgwick County, lobbied city and county officials on homelessness policies.
“We are so pleased with the city making this come to fruition. When we proposed a local ID, it was based on the fact that just about everybody connected to trying to solve homelessness in Wichita talked about how an ID would be very beneficial,” said Lory Mills, co-chair of the Justice Together Steering Committee on Homelessness.
The group hosted hundreds of people at its inaugural Nehemiah Assembly last year, where they brought Mayor Lily Wu and City Manager Robert Layton on stage to assert their commitment to creating the Air Capital Cards.
“This is an opportunity for them to verify who they are and have a physical ID so that they can continue to have the services provided by social services here in our community,” Wu said.
If passed, IDs can be given to any person over 18 who can establish proof of identity and residency within city limits. Minors who are at least 14 years old can apply with a legal guardian’s help.
The IDs will only be valid within Wichita city limits, adhering to a 2022 state law that prohibits municipal IDs from being used as state identification, including at polling locations. All city departments will accept the Air Capital Card as valid ID and proof of residency.
“It’s going to be very clear in the card that this is not one of the methods to vote,” Wu said. “It also is just really to help our individuals facing homelessness have that opportunity to then get their next form of identification.”
No application fee for the Air Capital Card has been set. But the draft ordinance suggests that residents who can’t afford the cost will be offered a full or partial waiver.
According to a city agenda report, the IDs will only be distributed at the Multi Agency Center and City Hall.
City ID applications still require paper trail
Justice Together identified IDs as a problem for homeless people after months of research and interviews with officials, service providers and people experiencing homelessness. Proof-of-citizenship documents required for state IDs, such as birth certificates or social security cards, can be difficult to attain.
According to a draft Air Capital Card application reviewed by reporters, a wide range of documents could validate someone’s proof of identity. They include: an immigration visa, a homeless ID from other municipalities, department of corrections release documentation or a baptismal record. Documents can be in other languages as long as there is a translated, certified copy in English.
To establish residency, Wichitans experiencing homelessness can provide records from a homeless shelter or social services agency to confirm their lack of permanent address.
Mills said she still holds some concern for the documentation requirements necessary to obtain an Air Capital Card.
“I know in other cities like Kansas City, Missouri, they were accepting applicants who could bring their high school yearbook, things like that,” she said. “As long as the city is willing to work with people that may have trouble producing (records), I feel like that’s fair.”
Matt Lowe, the community impact manager at The United Way of the Plains, said the Coalition to End Homelessness in Wichita/Sedgwick County was also a stakeholder in the creation of the program.
“We’re all very excited about these municipal IDs. It’s something we have been in conversations with the city of Wichita for quite a while,” he said.
Lowe said the Coalition offered to use their homeless management information system to help with the roll out. One service provider, United Methodist Open Door, already has photo IDs for clients. The cards are kept on-site for security to scan as clients come into the resource center.
“It does have a picture but really basic information. Not enough for a municipal ID. No address,” he said. “The municipal ID is meant to be bigger. It’s an intermediate step between having nothing or being able to get an official Kansas ID card.”
This article was co-reported by The Journal and The Wichita Eagle as part of the Wichita Journalism Collaborative (WJC). The WJC is a partnership of 10 media and community partners, including the Eagle. The WJC is dedicating its coverage to shed light on the pressing issue of housing in Wichita.
This article was republished here with the permission of: KLC Journal