After conducting a thorough analysis, the City of St. Louis is releasing an After Action Review (AAR) documenting the city's first activation of Code Blue during the 2025-2026 winter season. The Code Blue program expanded warming and shelter-related services for unhoused residents through community partnerships, and the AAR showcases successes and opportunities for improvement during future winter seasons.
Key findings from the after action review
Key findings from the AAR reveal:
- The $3.36M in funds designated toward the Code Blue effort were sufficient to shelter most of the individuals who requested emergency shelter during the winter months.
- At peak capacity, the system brought on more than 700 overflow shelter beds across most regions of the City of St. Louis.
- Rally points and pickup points placed in targeted areas were instrumental in assisting more than 500 unique persons into shelters.
- At peak capacity, the system brought online shelter beds for myriad populations, including youth, seniors, the disabled, folks with pets, and people with severe mental illness and substance abuse issues.
- Though the program was effective at sheltering, the system needs better infrastructure for data keeping and tracking of shelter residents.
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"This After Action Review confirms that the Code Blue program was a huge success at a critical time in our city and a big improvement over previous efforts," said Mayor Cara Spencer. "I'm so grateful for the work of everyone involved and, for the first time ever, am excited the City has allocated general revenue funds to continue winter support for the unhoused."
The City of St. Louis will be leveraging the findings of the report to prepare for the 2026-2027 winter season. The city's Department of Human Services (DHS) is already making headway on some of the recommendations with the launch of a Request for Proposals to establish partnerships for emergency shelter providers (day and overnight), transportation providers, and data solution providers.
"We learned so much during the first year and we want to make good use of the $2 million allocated to this program in the FY27 budget," said Dr. Adam Pearson, director of the Department of Human Services. "Taking the time to conduct this review and then using that information to make decisions moving forward not only makes us good stewards of taxpayer dollars, but also sets us up for maximum impact this coming winter."
The Code Blue analysis was led by DHS in coordination with the St. Louis City Department of Health and other Code Blue partners. Activation and weather monitoring data were provided by the City of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency.
