Red Tape Is Getting in the Way of Housing Lawton's Homeless

When Cryslynn Barnes and Stephanie Risenhoover pull up to a homeless encampment, they’re doing what feels like the easy part—connecting people in crisis with a pathway to stable housing. The hard part? Navigating a bureaucratic maze that can stretch a 30-day housing goal into 90 days or more.

At an encampment on SW 21st and Western in Oklahoma City, 65 of 75 people moved into permanent housing through Key to Home, Oklahoma City’s collaborative effort to combat homelessness. But here’s the catch: while most landed homes in a month to two months, seven residents got stuck in a slower lane due to housing inspection failures. That delay matters more than it sounds. As Jamie Caves, Key to Home’s strategy implementation manager, puts it plainly:“As the time you experience homelessness grows, so do the barriers.”Every extra week outside isn’t just inconvenient—it deepens the slide toward chronic homelessness.

The culprit? The rental property inspection process. The Housing Choice Voucher Program requires federal inspections under HUD protocols, and there’s no wiggle room. Deborah Jenkins, executive director of the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, is clear on this:“We can’t ignore HUD’s inspection protocol.”Common failure points include missing smoke alarms, non-functional air conditioning, pest infestations, broken windows, and electrical hazards. These are serious safety issues. But then there are the nitpicky ones—cracked light-switch plates, for example—that landlords say get flagged, requiring repairs that delay moves and cost money while units sit vacant.

The tension is real. Joel Wilson, CEO of Simple Property Management, acknowledges the bind: landlords face unexpected repair costs, unhoused people languish in encampments, and the system moves slower than the crisis demands. Property owners hesitate to participate when they’re uncertain about costs and compliance. Yet Stephanie Newman, the street outreach and rapid response coordinator for Mental Health Association Oklahoma, argues that small issues shouldn’t disqualify a unit when sleeping outside remains the alternative. She’s also pushing for landlord accountability—if they’re accepting subsidies, they should know what to expect.

The bigger picture? Oklahoma faces an 84,125-unit shortfall in affordable housing, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. That scarcity makes every available unit precious and inspection standards harder to waive. Shannon Entz, Oklahoma City’s housing strategy implementation manager, sees a path forward: rehabilitation programs that help landlords upgrade aging properties, combined with new development like the Crossroads at NE Grand Blvd, which recently opened with support from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency. The goal is simple—more units, faster housing.

The system works. Key to Home’s record proves it. But between resource constraints, affordable housing scarcity, and inspection bureaucracy, the machine moves slower than the crisis permits. Getting to“yes”on housing takes longer than it should, and every day counts.