Homelessness Response Blog

Homelessness Response Blog

Homelessness Task Force progress reports

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Port of Seattle extends Interbay Village lease additional year

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The Port of Seattle Commission voted today to renew the lease agreement with the City of Seattle for continued use of the Tsubota site for the Interbay Tiny House Village. The extension is for one year and will expire in November of 2020.  The City of Seattle has leased the site since November of 2017.

“The Port of Seattle is pleased to partner with the City of Seattle and the community in addressing the homelessness crisis in our region,” said Port of Seattle Commission President Stephanie Bowman.  “We hope extending this lease for another year will help more people get shelter and the help they need so they can transition successfully into permanent housing.”

“The Human Services Department is grateful to the Port of Seattle for their support of Interbay Safe Harbor Village.  Since 2017 the partnership has made lasting, positive impacts on the lives of over 324 people served, or 277 households, as well as on the surrounding community,” said Seattle Human Services Department Director Jason Johnson.  “HSD is honored to continue this partnership and provide life-saving services and shelter to assist people in finding paths to permanent housing.”

Interbay Village Background

The Village is managed by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) in partnership with the residents of the village through a democratic self-governance structure. In addition, two case managers are on site daily to support the residents in obtaining housing, employment, healthcare, education and other services as they transition to permanent housing.

The program was first established on Seattle City Light property in November of 2015 as a self managed sanctioned tent encampment with portable toilets and part-time case management. At the end of the two-year stay, the City and community began searching for a viable option to keep this critical program open, Through the Port’s initiative and partnership, the Tsubota property was made available and allowed the next iteration of the program—Interbay Safe Harbor Village—to open in 2017.

When the program relocated to the Port property most of the tents were replaced with insulated wooden sleeping structures, commonly referred to as tiny houses. In addition to the 45 tiny houses, the village now has running water and showers on-site. A strong and transparent democratic self governance structure has emerged, A program manager and two case managers are on site daily to support the residents. The Community Advisory Council meets monthly to review operations and help connect village residents with the surrounding community.

These positive aspects have worked together to create measurable results: since opening, the village has served more than 400 households, helping at least 106 households exit homelessness. During the first quarter of 2019, 53 percent of households exiting Interbay Safe Harbor Village entered permanent housing, making it one of the highest performing tiny house village projects in the city. This success would not be possible without the Port of Seattle.

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Navigation Team data update

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Below is a brief summary about new capabilities the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) are now able to apply when analyzing Navigation Team outreach data. 

When the Navigation Team launched nearly three years ago, previous administrations did not invest in robust and consistent data support to better understand the team’s impact in the field. To address this, Mayor Durkan and City Council made critical investments to expand the team and to provide data support. Today, no other City-funded or -led outreach program has reporting mechanisms, data analysis, or data capture abilities as substantial as the Navigation Team.  

Mayor Durkan asked the Innovation and Performance team to create the Performance Seattle Dashboard to take a cross-departmental look at the City’s work in a number of priorities, one of which is homelessness. This dashboard provides a high-level overview of the outcomes of subcabinet work, and we have been responding to media inquiries about it. The Navigation Team is one critical part of the City’s larger homelessness response efforts to help unsheltered persons move to safer places. The larger homelessness response system is also producing strong indicators that efforts to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring are working. HSD’s performance metrics show that 20% more households were served, a 6% increase of households moved from homelessness to housing, and over 2,000 unique households remained stably housed in permanent supportive housing in the second quarter of 2019, when compared to the previous year. 

HSD has also improved our ability to analyze the Navigation Team’s ability to connect people to shelter. The Navigation Team has its own database called the NavApp. This system complements the larger Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS), which all other providers use.   

The Navigation Team, along with all City-contracted outreach agencies, is responsible for making the referrals to shelter. They track this in the NavApp. However, enrollment in the shelter is then the responsibility of the shelter agency, and they enter their data in HMIS.  

HSD can now match some NavApp data with HMIS data sets. The information provided below reflects individuals who appeared in both the NavApp and HMIS at a specific shelter within 48 hours of the referral to shelter. An individual will not be reflected in this data set if they: 

  • Provided different personally identifying information (such as a name) in either the NavApp or HMIS; 
  • Enrolled at a shelter beyond those first 48 hours; 
  • Opted to not share their personal information with other parties (which accounts for 24% of all HMIS data);  
  • Enrolled at a shelter other than the one they were referred to; or 
  • Accepted a referral within the two-week period of the February snowstorm.  

The data shows that In Q1 of 2019, 53 individuals were successfully matched back between NavApp and HMIS data. In Q2, 75 individuals were successfully matched between the systems (the data matched between the two systems is ultimately baseline data and more referrals are likely enrolling in shelter, but we are unable to verify additional enrollments at this time).  

When compared with all other City-funded outreach providers, this data shows the Navigation Team accounted for 50 percent of all shelter enrollments in quarter 1 and 45 percent in quarter 2 of 2019 when all outreach provider data is included. Here is a breakdown of the Navigation Team’s performance compared to our partner outreach programs:  

Quarter 1

  • Nav Team Q1 Referrals: 203 
  • Nav Team Q1 HMIS/Matchback Enrollments: 53 
  • All Outreach Programs Q1 Referrals: 99 
  • All Outreach Programs Q1 HMIS Enrollments: 54 

Quarter 2

  • Nav Team Q2 Referrals: 224 
  • Nav Team Q2 HMIS/Matchback Enrollments: 75 
  • All Outreach Programs Q2 Referrals: 137 
  • All Outreach Programs Q2 HMIS Enrollments: 93 

These data sets show the Navigation Team and outreach providers are seeing success in connecting vulnerable people to shelter.  It is also important to note that this analysis is specifically for referrals to shelters, which is the result of relationship building, time, conversations, and matching an individual (or sometimes groups of individuals) to a unique shelter resources.

The Navigation Team remains the City’s leading response to the unsheltered crisis. Prior to the launch of the team, the City did not have a centralized, coordinated response to address hazardous living conditions and to connect vulnerable people to shelter, let alone methods to measure these efforts. The progress from where the City stood in 2015 to where the City’s efforts stand would not be possible without the continued support and investments in both the team and in shelter resources by the Mayor and City Council.  

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Human Services Department releases performance data for first six months of 2019

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The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) released the first half of 2019 performance outcomes of programs that received funding from the City of Seattle to serve people experiencing homelessness. Investments are focused on programs that help households move to permanent housing.


Highlights

Programs that receive funding from the City of Seattle are supporting more unique households, and individuals, in leaving homelessness programs for permanent housing compared to the same time periods in 2017 and 2018.

When compared to the same time period in 2018, The City of Seattle’s investments have continued to do more:

The City of Seattle aims to make the experience of homelessness rare, brief, and one-time:

Rate of Exit to Housing – Program Specifics

In this section, HSD provides data on program performance.  Program performance looks at how effective programs are at supporting movement into permanent housing. This data looks at household enrollment, which is the number of times a household comes in and out of a program, showing total activity within that program. This information assists HSD in determining whether its investments in the homeless services system are effective in connecting people experiencing homelessness to housing.  Data is compared for the same time period in 2018 as in 2019.  A link to program descriptions can be found by clicking here.

HSD’s homeless services investments seek to address racial disparities, to ensure that all people, regardless of race or ethnicity, have paths out of homelessness.  Data shows an increase in the number of households exiting to housing and the rate of exit for all racial identities compared to the same time period in 2018 and 2019. 

Conclusion 

Programs that receive funding from the City of Seattle are supporting more unique households, and individuals, in leaving homelessness programs for permanent housing compared to the same time periods in 2017 and 2018.


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Updates for Othello Village, Camp Second Chance, and Georgetown Village

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Tiny House Villages – One Part of the City’s Emergency Strategy

The unsheltered crisis presents many challenges to the region’s homelessness response system. Traditional programs and shelters remain a critical frontline resource for the thousands of vulnerable people living unsheltered. However, the City of Seattle continues to explore innovative programs that can meet the complex needs of some of the hardest-to-serve populations.  

In 2015, the City opened three permitted encampments that were on City property to provide safe places for vulnerable unsheltered communities to set up tents. Seattle was one of the first cities in the nation to use public property in this way, providing people a safer space that was self-managed by individuals, had basic sanitation services, and provided part-time case management.

Since then, the City learned these programs could be more successful in connecting people to housing with additional support and investments. Resources provided through Mayor Jenny Durkan’s Path to 500 and the support of the community made these enhancements a reality. The tents have been replaced with insulated, wooden sleeping structures, referred to as tiny houses, and the program has expanded from three encampments to eight villages that provide 283 safe spaces for people across the program.

The villages today have full-time case managers working with residents, running water or hygiene trailers, enhanced supportive services, and expanded kitchens. Villages are now recognized by regional and federal agencies as shelter units within the homelessness response system.

Through these investments, the village program is performing well overall, seeing a 32% exit rate to permanent housing in the first quarter of 2019, comparable to the exit rate of other enhanced shelter programs funded by the City. (Second quarter data is being finalized and will be published later in September.) The City’s Navigation Team—a group of outreach workers and specially-trained police officers who connect people living unsheltered to safer spaces—reports villages are some of the most sought-after shelter resources for people living unsheltered. Because of these results, the City is committed to keeping this type of shelter capacity available in programs across the Seattle. 

Three villages, Othello, Camp Second Chance, and Georgetown all reached the end of their respective permits in March 2019 and each were extended six months. These extensions expire in September 2019.

LIHI announces faith partner for Othello Village

The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), operator of the Othello Village, has notified the City of Seattle that Truevine of Holiness Missionary Baptist Church (Truevine) will sponsor Othello Village. This village, located on LIHI property in the Othello neighborhood, is a critical shelter resource to the City’s homelessness response effort. This new partnership between LIHI and Truevine allows the village to remain in its current location until LIHI develops their property into affordable housing in 2021.

Background

During the original six-month extension, LIHI was approached by faith groups to explore avenues to keep the village on LIHI property. This type of use is allowed under City code, which provides for a faith group to sponsor a program like this village. True Hope Village in Seattle’s Central District also operates under this permitting structure.

Othello Village provides 40 units of shelter to residents and has seen a 53% exit rate to permanent housing in the first quarter of 2019.

Next Steps—Othello Village

LIHI and Truevine will hold a public meeting in September or October to allow community and residents to learn more about the village. LIHI will continue its practice of hosting monthly Community Advisory Council (CAC) meetings, with Truevine members taking an active role in engaging with the neighborhood. 

Georgetown Village and Camp Second Chance permits extended additional six-months

The City of Seattle will extend the permits for Camp Second Chance and Georgetown Village through March 2020, allowing these programs to continue sheltering vulnerable populations through the winter months and to provide more time to identify best next steps for both programs. City representatives have already been engaging with community leaders regarding the future of both villages. The City will be meeting with broader communities in both neighborhoods in September and October.

Background

Camp Second Chance and Georgetown Village are both operated and managed by LIHI. While both programs enjoy community support, each village has operated at their current locations longer than originally anticipated.

Georgetown Village provides 45 units to people recently living unsheltered and has seen a 17% exit rate to permanent housing in the first quarter of 2019. Camp Second Chance provides 48 units of shelter and has seen a 20% rate exit to permanent in the first quarter of 2019.

Next Steps—Georgetown Village

The City will be attending the Georgetown Community Council’s September 16 meeting to discuss all possibilities for the village, which may include shifting shelter capacity away from the village and ramping down operations, similar to the effort to safely ramp down the Licton Springs Village once it reached the end of its permit. LIHI has been approached by a faith group to sponsor the village, but such discussions are in the early stages and a faith sponsorship is not anticipated in the near-term.

Representatives from the City’s Seattle Human Services Department, Seattle Police Department, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the Department of Neighborhoods will attend the public meeting, details below:

Monday, September 16, 2019

Georgetown Community Council General Membership Meeting

7:00-8:30PM

Georgetown Old City Hall (Tentative)

6202 13th Ave South

Next Steps—Camp Second Chance (Myers Way)

City representatives have engaged with community groups regarding a meeting to discuss Camp Second Chance. Community members have informed City representatives that they would like a public meeting to occur once a formal plan for Camp Second Chance is ready to be released. While LIHI has been approached by a faith group to sponsor Camp Second Chance, no final agreement has been reached at this time.

The City plans to host or attend a public meeting in October 2019 to discuss all options for the village, which may include a plan to keep the village beyond March 2020 with a faith sponsorship or to begin the process of shifting capacity to a different program and ramping down operations at the village.

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas you would like to share with City, please email homelessness@seattle.gov.

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Update regarding Tent City 3

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September update: Tent City 3 moved to a new location, on property owned by a religious entity, in early September.

August 27 update: SHARE/WHEEL & Tent City 3 have informed the City they have reached an agreement with a religious entity to host Tent City 3 and will move on September 7. The City will continue to monitor the situation. From our conversations with SHARE/WHEEL leadership and Tent City 3 residents, we are hopeful for a resolution by September 7. In the interim, the City’s Navigation Team will continue to visit the site to offer outreach services and alternative shelter options. We are also exploring ways to bring more outreach providers to Tent City 3 and are working with our partners at the County to make that happen.

Information below was published August 22:

Background

Historically, Tent City 3 is hosted by non-profits, churches, and community organizations on location for 90-day durations under SHARE/WHEEL policy. Tent City 3 reached the end of its stay at the University Congregational United Church and did not have a confirmed host site to move to.

The property Tent City 3 moved to is public property that is owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and maintained by the City of Seattle.

Tent City 3 is not managed, operated, or funded by the City of Seattle.

Status

The City’s priority is to ensure residents of Tent City 3 are safe and have access to services, including shelter.

The Navigation Team observed that Tent City 3 is currently operating as organizers intended. The team estimates there to be at least 40 people living within the site. SHARE/WHEEL has set up portable toilets, a hand washing station, and a kitchen. Tent City 3 residents told Navigation Team members they do not wish to stay at this location for an extended period of time and are seeking the City’s assistance in identifying a new location.

The City’s Navigation Team has been on site and has informally met with Tent City 3 organizers and residents, who expressed interest in seeing more resources and services at Tent City 3. The Navigation Team’s outreach workers, called System Navigators, will continue to visit the site to offer alternative shelter options, case management connections, and to discuss bringing more resources to residents. The City’s contracted outreach providers and service partners will also visit the site and offer services.

At this time, the Navigation Team is not considering an immediate removal of Tent City 3.

Next Steps

The City is seeking a speedy solution that accommodates both Tent City 3 and the surrounding community.

The City’s Human Service Department is working with service providers and SHARE/WHEEL to assist them with identifying new partnerships to host Tent City 3.  Representatives from the Human Services Department have begun these conversations with SHARE/WHEEL. The City is exploring all avenues towards assisting Tent City 3 in finding a new, more suitable location, and urges any organization–including faith communities, non-profits, private entities–that would consider hosting Tent City 3 to please contact the Human Services Department (Homelessness@seattle.gov).

The Navigation Team and outreach providers will continue to visit the site and engage residents, offering services and alternative shelter options. WSDOT, which also owns property Tent City 3 occupies, will continue to be engaged by the City and informed of developments.

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Data shows Navigation Team successful in connecting more people to shelter, services while increasing clean-up capacity

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The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) has released Quarter 2 (Q2) performance metrics for the City of Seattle’s Navigation Team, which is comprised outreach workers, field coordinators, and police officers that work to connect people living unsheltered to shelter and support services. The Q2 data shows the team working at a higher capacity, connecting more people to shelter when compared to the first quarter of 2019, and increasing operational capacity to better address unmanaged encampments posing public access, health, and safety concerns.

“I’m incredibly grateful to the members of the Navigation Team for their life-saving work. This new data shows that our Navigation Team is doing more than ever to connect people with the services and housing they need and help them come inside. The investments we have made are having an impact. We will continue to invest in the strategies we know are making a positive difference – like our Navigation Team and enhanced shelters that provide services and a better path to permanent housing,” said Mayor Jenny Durkan. “With improved data, we can now better measure our progress each quarter and ensure that we improve on what is working. We know our Navigation Team is connecting more people with services and we are looking for ways to improve their work. I hope that the City Council will continue to support our investments expanding the Navigation Team.”

When compared to Quarter 1 (Q1), the Navigation Team saw the following increases in Q2:

  • 16 percent increase in unique individuals engaged by the Navigation Team;
  • 10 percent increase in unique individuals referred to shelters;
  • 47 Navigation Team reserved beds available daily, rising from 17 beds available in Q1
    • More beds available in basic shelters, tiny house villages, and enhanced shelters; and
  • 79 more referrals to enhanced shelter and tiny house villages than in Q1.

This increase in outreach results in Q2 occurred during a period when the Navigation Team also expanded its operational capacity, removing 18 more encampments under 72-hour notice protocols and 36 additional obstruction removals from the public rights-of-way when compared to Q1. The team also removed 405 tons of garbage, waste, and debris from Seattle’s streets during this time, a 14 percent increase over the previous quarter. The team also completed 160 more site inspections in Q2 than Q1 (Note-Operational figures are subject to change as data entry is completed and updated by partner agencies).

“The recent data shows investments made by Mayor Durkan and City Council are working in concert, connecting vulnerable people to shelter while making sure public health, safety, and access is improved in Seattle,” said Jason Johnson, director of HSD. “From investing in over 500 more shelter spaces last year, to the hiring of System Navigators to increase outreach and increases in data support this year—changes to the Navigation Team and the homelessness response system are creating positive results.”

The full report includes detailed metrics on several data sets and can be found here.  

The Q2 data allows policymakers and the public to effectively compare the Navigation Team’s performance over a period of time. Many of the resources and strategies utilized by the Navigation Team today were not yet developed when the team launched in 2017. Over time, it became clear that more robust support was necessary to sustain the Navigation Team’s long-term mission to connect vulnerable people to shelter and services and to better measure the team’s output.

To address these realities, Mayor Durkan made historic investments to create over 500 new shelter beds in 2018 and added staff to the Navigation Team. Between 2017 and 2019, the team expanded to 38—which includes police officers, REACH outreach workers, additional Field Coordinators, data analysists, and System Navigators to expand outreach —the latter beginning work in June 2019.

While the new data capacity strengthens understanding of the team’s impact, it also highlights an evolution in how outreach data can be examined. The way outreach data was collected and measured between 2017 through 2019 differs. For example, 2017 data was manually collected by various groups and entered manually by a single individual. 2018 data provided by the City’s contracted outreach provider included duplicated information. Also, in 2018, the team’s operations moved to HSD, which created challenges and opportunities for improvement. Now—thanks to the addition of HSD staff dedicated to data collection and protocols—the outreach and operational data is more robust and can now be more easily measured quarter-to-quarter moving forward.

The Q2 data was submitted as part of a quarterly report to the Seattle City Council. Data from the Q1 report is available here.

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Navigation Team: 10th & Dearborn Encampment Removal

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Following a Seattle police investigation and subsequent operation on Thursday, May 16 the City of Seattle’s Navigation Team will remove unmanaged encampments in the area along the northside of Dearborn Ave S, between I-5 and 13th Ave S starting Monday, May 20. Shelter will be available for every person living unsheltered on-site and the Navigation Team will offer storage of suitable items.

The area has been prioritized for removal due to several conditions present within the encampment such as criminality, presence of biohazardous waste, difficulty in extending emergency services to the site, and damage to the natural environment—all of which present serious and ongoing risks to both occupants of the encampment and the surrounding community.

The population living unsheltered at this encampment could be considered vulnerable and have likely been exposed to criminality and trauma. The Navigation Team takes these observations into account when engaging vulnerable individuals during outreach.

Efforts to Date

This area has frequently experienced negative impacts from unmanaged encampments and the Navigation Team and partners have been working to reduce impacts and connect vulnerable people to shelter for some time.

Since the beginning of 2019, the team has visited this site multiple times, engaging 48 individuals and referring 15 people to shelter. Some of these referrals occurred during the heaviest snows in February, when the Navigation Team worked around the clock to transport people to severe weather shelters.


Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has provided intensive, ongoing garbage and biohazardous mitigation services to this site to reduce public health concerns and to provide more opportunities for individuals to engage in outreach services. Since December 2018, SPU has extended purple-trash bag service to 10th and Dearborn, with twice weekly collection. SPU also conducted twice weekly litter picks—where workers canvass the area picking up garbage, waste, and debris. Further, SPU installed a sharps container on-site to collect biohazardous materials such as hypodermic needles. Despite these efforts, garbage, biowaste, and debris continued to accumulate at frequent and high-levels.

Recent Outreach & Shelter

As of this Friday the team believes less than 30 people are living on site. The team will be conducting outreach and offering shelter throughout the clean-up operations, which are anticipated to take several days during the week of May 20.

  • Thursday, May 16-The Navigation Team was on-site following the conclusion of the SPD investigation, connecting 2 people to shelter while clearing the few tents associated with the SPD investigation.
  • Friday, May 17-The team inspected the site and posted notices of removal for the following week. During the day on Friday, the team referred an additional 5 people to shelter.
  • Saturday, May 18-Outreach
  • Sunday, May 19-Outreach
  • Monday, May 20–Navigation Team observed 24 people living on-site. The team has 58 shelter beds available, including spaces in enhanced, 24/7 shelter and tiny house villages.

Clean-Up

This will be a large clean-up effort including storage of belongings, bio-hazard clean-up and removal of garbage and structures from the property.  Community members can expect some traffic impacts during the clean-up.  Beginning on the week of May 20, parking will be restricted on 10th Avenue S between S Weller and S Dearborn and the street will be closed to all traffic to accommodate vehicles and heavy equipment needed for the clean-up operation.

Additionally, lane restrictions and bike lane detours along S Dearborn will be in place during the cleanup. Motorists may notice safety flaggers directing traffic along S Dearborn.  Parking restrictions, street closures, lane restrictions and bike lane detours will remain in place through Thursday, May 23rd.

To accommodate these actions, the area will be made an active work-zone and temporary fencing will be installed around the property to discourage re-camping of the area while restoration efforts are underway.

The Navigation Team will continue to monitor the area to discourage re-camping following the clean-up of the site.

Next Steps

Following outreach and the removal of the encampment, City departments will be engaging the surrounding community to develop strategies to encourage uses of the site that are safe and accessible for all members of the public. The City’s Homelessness Response Activation Committee will be briefing International Special Review District Board in June, following community outreach in the CID and Little Saigon.  At that time the City will detail short-term plans and collect feedback on possible mid and long-term activation plans for the site.

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Update regarding Camp Second Chance, Georgetown and Othello Villages

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The City of Seattle’s Human Service Department (HSD) has announced Camp Second Chance, Georgetown Village, and Othello Village will be temporarily re-permitted for an additional six months. During this time, the City will develop a long-term strategy for these sites with community input that will serve residents of villages and the surrounding community.

Homelessness remains a crisis in Seattle and the City’s responsibility is to provide services and shelter resources that are effective in helping people transition from homelessness to housing—tiny house villages have proven to be one solution within the City’s overall response. In 2018, villages City-wide served 658 unique households and exited 135 households to permanent housing, an increase of 32 percent from 2017. Tiny house villages are also one of the most accessed resources by people contacted by the Navigation Team, which is comprised of specially-trained police officers and outreach workers. moving people out of unsafe encampments and into tiny house villages that provide supportive services that help vulnerable people stabilize and find a path to housing.

Camp Second Chance, Georgetown Village, and Othello Village all reached the end of the respective permits, which can be granted under City ordinance or by temporary-use permits. As these three villages approach the permit expiration, the City began working with community stakeholders and service providers to learn about their experiences, outcomes, and impacts with the villages. During this process, the City learned that more time is necessary to include more community feedback in developing a long-term strategy for the villages.

The City’s decision grants monthly temporary-use permits to these sites for the next six months. During this time, the City will develop a long-term strategy for these specific villages, considering all options for the future of these programs and sites. In order to develop these strategies, the City will work with communities to organize meetings in neighborhoods hosting villages to learn more about how the City can be responsive to community needs and how to best serve residents of the villages. Community Advisory Councils for all villages will continue to meet on a regular basis, providing a platform for village residents, community, service providers, and City planners to address topics relevant to the villages.

Temporarily re-permitting Camp Second Chance, Georgetown Village, and Othello Villages allows for residents of these villages to continue to receive the care and stability they need to exit homelessness and keeps people from returning to living unsheltered on Seattle’s streets.  Under Mayor Durkan’s leadership, the City has opened over 500 safer spaces and HSD is committed to maintaining shelter capacity. Under Mayor Durkan, the City has transitioned all sanctioned encampments to tiny home villages. The City has also added four additional case workers and behavior health specialists.

The City has also learned that siting, developing, and relocating tiny house villages remains an ongoing challenge given property logistics, costs, and program needs of serving people experiencing homelessness. The City has also learned that providing 24/7, enhanced shelter is one of the best solutions to help people off Seattle’s streets and into safer living situations.

The extension of these villages does not impact the status of the other six City-funded villages.

Please see the Frequently Asked Questions section for additional details. If you have any questions, please reach out to Homelessness@Seattle.Gov for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What does this mean for Camp Second Chance, Georgetown Village, and Othello Village?

The City will allow all three villages to continue to operate under temporary-use permits for the next six months. During this time, the City will work with community to host meetings in Highland Park/West Seattle, Georgetown, and Othello to better engage area residents and to address questions from community. During the next six months the City will develop a long-term plan for these sites. The Community Advisory Committees for each of the programs will continue to meet and provide input around operations.

What is current situation regarding LIHI and Nickelsville and how does this temporary extension play in to this?

The announcement to extend these permits does not impact daily operations of these or any tiny house village sites. The City contracts directly with LIHI to operate tiny house villages. Since 2018, the City has included a number of measures—including case management—as a requirement of our contractors to operate these villages. Additionally, transparency into how villages are managed, including resolution of conflicts among residents and staff, is a priority for the City.

LIHI’s and its subcontractor, Nickelsville, have been unable to reach an agreement to provide case management on site and measures to improve transparency into daily operations of the few villages Nickelsville manages. Further, the City has learned of concerning reports pertaining to Nickelsville’s practice of barring people from the program for minor infractions. We share LIHI’s concerns and we support their efforts to provide case management and transparency at these locations. LIHI will be taking over daily management at Othello, Georgetown, and Northlake.

Why did the City wait for these permits to approach expiration?

Over the last few months, the City has been working with community groups, village residents, community members, and service providers to learn about their experiences, concerns, outcomes, and impacts from the village program. What the City learned is that more community voices, relationship building, and time is necessary to develop a long-term strategy that best serves all interested parties.

How will the City work with the residents of these villages?
Over the course of six months the City will work with the operator of the villages to meet with residents regularly and discuss the next steps and their concerns.

What does this mean for other villages?

The City’s village program is permitted through multiple permitting avenues, including temporary use permits. The City and its partners will continue operating these villages under existing permitting authority. There are no new updates for the other villages currently.

Does this mean all villages are staying indefinitely?

No. The City is extending permits for six months at three village locations while developing a long-term plan. Other villages will continue to operate as is. The City has made adjustments at the termination of a 2-year stay as demonstrated by the decision to shift capacity away from Licton Springs—which will no longer operate by April 1 of this year.

 Is this permitting process supported by City code?

Yes. The City has multiple permitting avenues for granting uses of property for tiny house villages. The City allows villages to exist by different means including temporary-use permits. Camp Second Chance, Georgetown Village, and Othello Village will be permitted by temporary-use permits for the next six months.

What about the other villages that have permits which will expire in the future?

The other six villages are in various stages of permitting and no changes have been made in status to these sites. During the next six months, the City will be working with community, service provides, and residents in developing a long-term strategy for all tiny house villages.

What happens next with the three villages?

The City will lead a community outreach process by hosting meetings with neighborhoods that are currently home to tiny house villages. These meetings will be ongoing the next six months. During this time, the City will be developing a long-term plan for these and all villages.

 What happens during the next six months and what does a long-term plan mean?

City will work with community to host meetings in neighborhoods hosting the villages to better engage area residents and to address questions from community. A long-term plan will examine all options moving forward for the villages, which could include phasing out some sites, like Licton Springs Village, shifting capacity to existing sites, expanding existing locations, or developing new community-based partnerships.

Have the residents of villages been informed about the process and have they provided feedback?

Yes. The City has been working with LIHI to inform residents of the temporary extension of the permits. LIHI and City representatives have organized in-person updates at the impacted villages and will be working with village residents over the next six months to ensure an inclusive and robust engagement strategy regarding the future of tiny house villages.

Is the City exploring religious sponsorship for villages?

The City will consider all options, including religious sponsorship, during the six-month extension for these villages. True Hope Village is a religiously sponsored program and the City has seen early, positive results from this relationship that has served dozens of people experiencing homelessness since opening in the fall of 2018. The City has been approached by additional religious organizations to explore ways to better support the village program. Other non-City funded tiny house villages are religiously sponsored and have operated within Seattle for a number of years.

Why does the City use tiny house villages?

Villages play a critical role in the City’s response to people living unsheltered on Seattle’s streets. Tiny house villages offer 24/7 access, services, individual living spaces, communal areas, and case management on-site—all of which are some of the most requested types of shelter from people living on Seattle’s streets and have shown success in housing people.

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City Update on Severe Weather Resources

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The City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) has expanded emergency resources in response to the winter weather event that is impacting the Seattle region, opening over 550 emergency beds during the snowstorms. The City strongly encourages all individuals living unsheltered to utilize these shelter resources during these storms. HSD has activated the following resources for people living unsheltered:

Shelter and Warming Resources:

  • Ernestine Anderson Place (2010 S Jackson), which is operated by Low Income Housing Institute, has opened its lobby as an overflow emergency shelter. This resource will remain open through Monday, February 18.
  • Bitter Lake Community Center (13035 Linden Ave N) opened Monday, February 11 at 3pm and will operate as a shelter and warming center through Monday morning, February 18. This shelter has space for 120 people.
  • Seattle Center Exhibition Hall (301 Mercer St) severe weather shelter has been extended through Monday morning, February 18. No one will be turned away from this shelter. Medical services are available at the nearby Seattle Center Armory, which is serving as day-time warming shelter.
  • Garfield Community Center (2323 E. Cherry St) has been opened as a warming and overnight emergency shelter for all populations including families with children, and people living in vehicles. This shelter will operate 24 hours a day through the morning of Monday, February 18. People may access shelter at any time.  Referral forms are NOT required. Medical and case management services are being provided throughout the week.
  • Mary’s Place Family Shelter (312 Dexter Ave N) Open 24 hours. Call the King County Coordinated Family Intake Line at 206-245-1026 or drop in at 312 Dexter Ave N. 
  • King County Administrative Building (500 4th Ave) is open for emergency overnight and daytime shelter for adults 18+ through the week. Please check here for updates on King County emergency resources.

HSD and King County Department of Community and Health Services are coordinating with human services providers to provide housing and supportive services at emergency shelters and warming centers this week. Services include housing assessments, flexible funds to help people connect to housing and medical services.

Additional warming centers and emergency centers are open throughout the City. Please see the list for more detailed information on locations and contact information. If you are concerned about an individual living unsheltered, or in need, call 2-1-1 a resource line that can help connect an individual to resources. When the 2-1-1 line isn’t open, the 24-hour Crisis Line 866-427-4747 can provide information that the City provides on warming shelters.

Aging and Disability Services:

  • HSD staff members and community partners are calling approximately 200 “high-risk” Aging and Disability case management program clients and their caregivers to ensure that they are safe, have access to a 5-day food supply and a back-up plan if their caregiver is unable to get there.
  • All scheduled Meals on Wheels are being delivered to clients.
  • Pike Market Senior Center and Food Bank is open normal operating hours and serving meals at 8:20 a.m. and noon every day.

If it is an emergency, contact Seattle Police by calling 9-1-1. SPD has transport vans to take people to warming centers and shelters.

  • The City of Seattle’s Navigation Team and Seattle Police are contacting individuals living in unmanaged encampments throughout Seattle, connecting people to shelter. SPD has two large transportation vans and can bring people to shelter.  Over the last four days, the Navigation Team has helped 137 people come inside.

 

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Update: Mayor Durkan’s plan to increase shelter capacity by 25 percent

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Following Mayor Durkan’s announcement to increase the City of Seattle’s bridge housing and shelter units by 25 percent by creating 500 safer spaces, the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) has worked with partners to bring resources online and available to people experiencing homelessness. With Seattle’s shelters operating at or near capacity on a nightly basis, new shelter meets a critical need to create more safe spaces for people sleeping unsheltered throughout the city.

As part of Mayor Durkan’s path to 500 new safe spaces, HSD provided funding to Virginia Mason’s Bailey Boushay House to open its doors this past November as a new shelter serving HIV positive men. The shelter serves 50 individuals 365 days a year and paired with Virginia Mason’s day medical center which provides critical life-saving treatment for HIV positive individuals. (Read local media coverage on the opening of Bailey Boushay House here).

Additionally, through a partnership with King County, Harborview Hall opened in December, serving up to 100 people living unsheltered. The overnight shelter at Harborview Medical Center allows pets and possessions, creating an important new shelter resource on First Hill. Further, the City began enrolling individuals in a new pilot program to provide housing and stability services for 40 low-income people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. The pilot, which is managed by Bailey Boushay, is designed to help clients confidentially access housing by leveraging HOPWA resources with local agencies such as the Chief Seattle Club, Seattle Indian Health Board, Center for Multicultural Health, and others.

With the opening of Harborview Hall and launch of the new HOPWA pilot, the City opened a total of 516 safer spaces in 2018, serving approximately 540 people experiencing homelessness. This increase in shelter capacity is the largest expansion of City-funded shelter resources in Seattle’s history. The following shelter resources are now available:

  • Whittier Heights Women’s Village– 16 new tiny houses, serving 22 women experiencing homelessness (Opened May).
  • City Hall Shelter– 80 new basic shelter beds at Seattle City Hall (Opened July).
  • YWCA Late Night Motel Vouchers– 40 beds through motel rooms for families experiencing homelessness, which can serve between 40-60 individuals and children each night (Opened July).
  • Salvation Army William Booth Center– 8 additional enhanced shelter beds (Expanded in July).
  • Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets – 5 additional beds within existing young adult shelter (Expanded August).
  • True Hope Village – 35 new tiny houses in Seattle’s Central District, serving 58 people experiencing homelessness (Opened September).
  • YWCA’s Angeline’s Center for Women– 35 new beds within YWCA’s existing day center for women (Opened August).
  • Navigation Center– 10 additional beds within the City’s first 24/7, enhanced shelter (Expanded in September).
  • Haddon Hall-75 enhanced, 24/7 shelter beds operated by Catholic Community Services and Plymouth Housing (Opened October).
  • Lake Union Village – 22 tiny houses serving 37 adults experiencing homelessness (Opened October).
  • Bailey-Boushay House– In partnership with Virginia Mason, this shelter will serve 50 HIV positive men experiencing homelessness (Opened November).
  • HOPWA pilot – In partnership with Bailey Boushay, serving 40 people living unsheltered and with HIV/AIDs find housing (Opened December).
  • Harborview Hall – 100 overnights shelter spaces at Harborview Medical Center.