10 Year Plan to End Homelessness in King County (Seattle)

[mondo joe]

With much talk on GD about homelessness and the efforts (or lack thereof) to do something about it, I thought I'd share the news about the efforts in King County (which includes Seattle) to make big changes:

http://cehkc.org/highlights-3-9.shtml

What are we doing about homelessness?
For the first time in our community’s history, we are coming together to end homelessness. The Committee to End Homelessness in King County - made up of representatives from nonprofit organizations, business, local government, homeless advocacy groups, and the faith community - has developed the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness in King County. This plan will end homelessness, not merely manage it. It will do so through prevention, by creating permanent housing, and by providing supportive services to help those in need prepare for and maintain long-term housing. Ending homelessness requires that we build the public and political will to resolve our most visible social issue.

What is in the Ten-Year Plan?
The plan lays out a series of specific strategies and actions, with clear goals and measurable outcomes, for local leaders and their organizations to pursue over the next decade. It guides investment of limited local resources to services that serve homeless people most effectively. The plan works to ensure alignment and coordination among all the entities in our community that are engaged in meeting the needs the homeless, and builds on local and national best practices for resolving homelessness. The key strategies are to:

1. Prevent homelessness
Work together to make sure an adequate supply of appropriate housing and supportive services are available to help people stay in their homes. These services include rent and utility assistance, job training, employment and education assistance, health care, mental health counseling, foster care and chemical dependency treatment.

2. Move people rapidly from homelessness to housing
Place homeless people as quickly as possible in permanent housing and then help them to stabilize and function independently by providing them with the supportive services they need to be successful in their homes.

3. Build the public and political will to end homelessness
Expand our community’s commitment to ending homelessness by educating the public, tracking our successes and building on them, and establishing steady funding.

How will the plan be implemented?
As of the fall of 2005, the following groups have been or are being formed:

A Governing Board made up of more than 20 influential leaders will provide high-level oversight. They will help to sustain the vision and leadership of the plan. More specifically, they will guide planning, coordinate current funding, and work to create additional resources.

A Consumer Advisory Council will be comprised of people who are currently homeless or who have experienced homelessness in the past who will represent the broad interests and needs of homeless people countywide.

An Interagency Council will include partners working to end homelessness in King County. The Interagency Council will work to sponsor changes to current programs; coordinate data collection, analysis and reporting; recommend policy direction to the Governing Board; and create ways to better serve people experiencing homelessness.

Five Committees will focus on implementation strategies. Three will integrate housing and services solutions for the target population groups (Single Adults, Families and Youth) and create new approaches and efficiencies in keeping with the Plan. Two other committees will focus on overarching strategies. Communications, Public Awareness and Legislative Advocacy will focus on day to day communications, legislative advocacy and creating long term pubic will, and Resource Development and Alignment will focus on creating new resources and maximizing the use of existing resources while being sensitive to other community needs. The Resource Committee will also recommend priorities for funds generated under the Homeless Housing Assistance Act (“2163”).

Staff support for implementing the plan will be provided by the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) and funded in collaboration with the City of Seattle, United Way of King County and others.

[Danieljay]

1. Better idea. Take half the cars off the road, park them in a huge lot and

let them live in the cars. This will also help solve the awful traffic problem in the city.

:sarcasm:

[The2ndWheel]

2. Wow that's complicated

Which isn't surprising, since complicated solutions caused these complicated problems. These complicated solutions outlined in the article will also cause more complicated problems in the future. We'll deal with those with increasingly complicated solutions though. Then we'll have the resulting problems....

And for the people that are homeless until the fall of 2015, or 10 years after the project actually starts, tough luck.

"creating long term pubic will"

I know it's for a good cause, but that's a tad creepy.

I'm not saying don't do it, and I don't really have an alternative.

[mondo joe]

3. While I have some mixed feelings about the plan and its feasibility,

I don't know that it's fair to suggest a "tough luck" attitude in it.

There is considerable money and influence and attention on the 10 Year Plan, and a lot of resources are being used right now to effect change.

[The2ndWheel]

4. I said that because

How do they choose who to help first? I'm not trying to say that they sit in a room and don't care about everyone they're trying help, and some people just don't luck out before the 10 year period is up. Just to get involved in something like that would mean you give a damn.

It's just that something like homelessness, why over 10 years? Just get it done now if it's such a problem. If we have to wait 10 years for everyone to need an iPod, fine. But 10 years, with 4 committee's here, and 3 committee's there, this council, that council, 20 members meet over here, some more over there, for everyone to have a home, seems a bit much.

Again, I have no real alternative, so...

[mondo joe]

5. I'd suggest it's because it's a complex problem involving not only

getting people into housing, but helping them remain in housing, and preventing additional homelessness.

It's not as simple as just giving people a place to live. That said, Item 2 on the plan is to move people into permanent housing as quickly as possible.