Homelessness: Addressing the Immediate Crisis and the Path Forward

I frequently meet with neighborhoods to talk  about what we are doing to end homelessness.  This post -- albeit lengthy -- offers  updates you can share with your neighbors.  If you read this to the end and follow the hyperlinks, you may be surprised at how much is really happening and the scope of the efforts to solve the problem.  For starters, keep this regularly updated website Homelessness Response Blog close and you’ll be in the know about the latest actions.

In most neighborhoods in our city, the vast majority of us are housed and we are eating well.  In some parts of our city, however, pockets of poorly sheltered people are constant reminders that we are living the Tale of Two Cities.  Most of us live in relative comfort, and over 3000 of us are just trying to survive.  In tents.  In RVs and cars.  In shelters.   Seattle is home to both great opportunity and real despair.

So, what’s being done?

We are building residential units in unprecedented numbers across the city, yet demand for affordable housing is outpacing supply.  In our all out effort to address the crisis of homelessness, we’ve connected with other cities across the nation to learn what they have done that is truly working to address homelessness.  We’ve consulted with national experts including Barb Poppe who authored our Pathways Home recommendations.

I’m quoting myself here: there’s no silver bullet to eliminate homelessness, but there is silver buckshot.  This buckshot approach is what we are doing and we’ve seen progress in 2017.

Here’s what’s changed:
 

1. Emergency Operations Center Activation and Homelessness Response

Beginning in February, the City took a new approach to responding to unmanaged tent encampments,garbage, and abandoned debris.

Five days a week, Monday – Friday, at 8:30 in the morning, police officers, outreach workers, city staff from the Human Services Department, Facilities Management, Transportation, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle City Light, and King County staff from corresponding departments gather in the same room to actively problem solve around Seattle’s emergency homelessness response.   This is a “person-centered” approach designed to implement the Pathways Home recommendations, and identify individuals on our streets.

In the past ten weeks, city, county, and social service providers have made significant progress on the following goals.

I have frequently written about building tiny homes and how we can offer people experiencing homelessness a dry place out of the mud, out of tents , and into a secure place they can call their own – for now.

Tiny homes are one step toward a longer-term solution.  They are not the final stop along the way.

What they offer is an 8x12, insulated, dry space with a door and windows.  A space where a couple can stay together, their pets can join them, and they can lock their possessions indoors too.  These homes provide stability while we are building and acquiring more permanent units.

In Seattle’s new managed encampments, primarily dominated by tents, more tiny homes are being built. At the Low Income Housing Institute’s managed encampments at Othello, at 86^th and Aurora, and in Georgetown these tiny home villages provide a modicum of safety and respect. An article in the Wall Street Journal acknowledged these tiny home communities are expanding in other cities as well.

3. Homelessness Needs Assessment: Surprising Results

I have heard a version of the following statements over and over again:   “This is Free-attle, the police say their hands are tied, and people on the streets are molly-coddled.  They should just get a job.”

Our best data does not support these assumptions. These beliefs distract us from creating solutions because they are frankly wrong.

Last fall, we surveyed over 1,000 individuals living both unsheltered and living in our shelters and convened six population-specific focus groups. We wanted to know why people were homeless and what they needed to locate and stay in housing.  We hired Applied Survey Research, which has completed social research across the country, to do the work.  Data collected confirms that people experiencing homelessness in Seattle are largely from Washington State, they were living paycheck to paycheck, and with the loss of a job or a rent increase, they weren’t able to maintain their housing.

Briefly,

• 93% of those surveyed said they would accept an offer of safe and affordable housing if it were available,
• 41% are employed in some capacity,
• 35% have graduated or completed some college,
• 28% are aged 30 or younger.
• 1 in 4 have history in the foster care system
• 73% were last stably housing in Seattle or King County

4. Looking Forward: Pathways Home

Our focus for the remainder of this year is to create a homelessness services system that prioritizes connecting clients with stable housing.  This is the proven and data-supported “housing first” model.  It is imperative that people are able to obtain housing so they aren’t stuck in emergency shelter or encampments. Under Pathways Home, Seattle has identified six priority actions, listed below, and this year we’ve made progress.

Sally Bagshaw

Email: Sally.Bagshaw@seattle.gov
Phone: (206) 684-8801
Online: Council Website