Homelessness Response

Update: Navigation Team continues critical outreach during COVID-19

March 27, 2020 by Homelessness Response

For weeks, the City and County have deployed unprecedented resources and measures to help those experiencing homelessness during this public health emergency. The City’s Navigation Team is a part of that effort and continues to conduct critical outreach to vulnerable people living unsheltered during the COVID-19 response.

Since the first case of COVID was confirmed in King County, the team has focused exclusively on getting important public health information out to people living unsheltered and distributing hygiene kits. The team has also continued making referrals to shelter during the public health crisis, and remains one of the few groups continuing to conduct outreach in the field during the pandemic.

Over the course of the last few weeks, the Navigation Team has:

Made 341 site visits across Seattle
Talked to 1,733 people about COVID-19 and preventative measures
Distributed 981 public health flyers
Distributed 735 hygiene kits to people living unsheltered—the kits include paper towels, soap, and water for handwashing
And, made 21 referrals to shelter

(The above figures are preliminary and may include duplicative data, however hygiene kits are unique. Shelter referrals for all outreach providers, including the Navigation Team, have been impacted during the COVID-19 crisis.)

Outreach will continue to conduct outreach to unmanaged encampments and to RV encampment sites if encampments are present during the COVID-19 response. The team remains one of the City’s front-line responses and it’s continued work supports the Human Services Department (HSD) Continuity of Operations Plan, which requires efforts to support people living unsheltered to continue during a crisis. Additionally, the team has been working with HSD and service providers to support the opening of de-intensifying shelters and overall City and County efforts to create safe sheltering spaces during the outbreak. Additionally, the team will connect people to the recently announced expanded hygiene services.

As we move forward, the City will continue to work with providers, the County, and public health to help those experiencing homelessness, however, this unprecedented deployment of resources will need the continued support of the state and federal government to create additional mass shelter facilities with personnel and resource

Update: City and Northlake Tiny House Village residents reach agreement

March 19, 2020 by Homelessness Response

The City of Seattle announced it has reached an agreement with Nickelsville residents of the Northlake Tiny House Village that will allow residents to stay in place through June 1. The City and Nickelsville have agreed to continue operations of Northlake under conditions that will allow site access for the City’s public health, safety, and service providers. This builds on the City’s work to create hundreds of new spaces to both add capacity and de-intensify shelters during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This announcement follows weeks of negotiations between City departments and Nickelsville organizers. Last year, the City announced that it was suspending the Northlake Tiny House Village program out of performance and transparency concerns. Earlier this week, the City hand-delivered a letter to Northlake residents offering a June extension—which includes maintaining hygiene services during the COVID-19 outbreak—in exchange for an agreement from Nickelsville that they would leave the property in June. Today, Nickelsville organizers agreed to these terms.

“I’m relieved that—during this extraordinary public health crisis—our Mayor is able to provide more time for those experiencing homelessness at the Northlake ‘tiny home village,’ so they may remain for additional months on the property they have called home during the past two years,” said Councilmember Alex Pedersen, who represents District 4. “I look forward to the folks there – many of whom I have met personally – staying safe and eventually transitioning to permanent housing, and I commend their Wallingford neighbors for being so welcoming and compassionate.”

The City recently planned for Nickelsville organizers to leave the property by April 1, which was the original permit expiration date for the village. The City will be replacing the hygiene facilities and will return the existing hygiene facility to the owner, the Low Income Housing Institute. There will be no gaps in hygiene services.

COVID 19 Response: Update on City efforts to expand shelter, hygiene, and outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness

March 17, 2020 by Homelessness Response

The City of Seattle has been working to provide more resources for people living unsheltered leading up to and during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The City’s Human Services Department (HSD) has been in close partnership with the King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS), Public Health Seattle King County (PHSKC), and City departments to stand up critical resources and services for people experiencing homelessness.

Shelter Expansion

The City and King County have prioritized the deployment of resources that can provide critical services, facilities, and resources for people living unsheltered during this public health emergency.

The County, in partnership with the City, is moving forward on three key priorities, which could serve individuals experiencing homelessness or individuals who cannot recover at home. This includes:

Expanding all shelter capacity and de-intensifying shelters
Creating isolation (for confirmed cases) or quarantine spaces (for possible/suspected cases)
Creating spaces for recovery of individuals who do not require emergent care

Specifically, efforts over the last two weeks include expanding existing shelter capacity by at least 100 spaces at existing and new City-funded shelters, opening up Seattle Center Exhibition Hall to help relieve capacity at Seattle’s most high-use shelters, and supporting DCHS in efforts to create hundreds of spaces for isolation, quarantine, and recovery spaces for people experiencing homelessness or for individuals who cannot recover at home.

In the coming days, HSD, DCHS, and City partners will have more announcements regarding expansion of additional resources. If new state and federal staffing and financial resources become available (which is anticipated ), the City and the County can continue to significantly expand efforts to serve more individuals experiencing homelessness.

HSD is closely monitoring service levels at shelters and is working with PHSKC to ensure safe operations for clients and staff. HSD and DCHS have bulked ordered sanitation and hygiene supplies for service providers and is distributing materials to providers.

Hygiene and Sanitation Services

In addition, the City has been working on a series of efforts to increase hygiene facilities and sanitation services citywide in partnership with City Council and PHSKC.

The City, through HSD and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), will deploy portable toilets, hand-washing stations, and four hygiene trailers at locations across Seattle. These facilities will be staffed and provided with garbage and needle disposal services. These hygiene and sanitation resources will be deployed in locations across Seattle in consultation with PHSKC. The City will have more details about these resources in the coming days. For current guidance for effective sanitation and hygiene practices as well as preventive measures, please click here.

Additionally, SPU has also deployed more resources to do additional litter services and serve encampments with 12 sites receiving encampment trash program services with the goal of serving 16 sites continuously in the upcoming days.

Outreach and Navigation Team

The Navigation Team will continue to play a critical role in connecting individuals who are at risk for COVID-19 with expanded shelter resources, referrals to testing and medical treatment, and hygiene services. The Navigation Team is Seattle’s only program that mitigates the impacts of hazardous encampments that pose public health risks, while providing offers of shelter, services, and support to individuals who are impacted.

The Navigation Team’s outreach services supplement the work of over 10 City-funded and independent outreach providers who specifically address broader needs of Seattle’s unsheltered community. Outreach providers are receiving guidance from PHSKC for providing safe services to encampments.

Since the beginning of March and in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Navigation Team has primarily focused on conducting outreach and eliminated scheduled encampment removals. Since March 2, there have been limited Navigation Team removals. As of March 13, the team has visited 172 sites, handed out 462 COVID-19 Public Health flyers, and distributed hygiene kits to 126 people. Hygiene kits include paper towels, water, soap, contact cards with information regarding services and shelter resources. The team is asking individuals basic symptom-screening questions and is providing information on community-based hygiene resources.

All encampment removal operations have been suspended. This includes Community Police Team and Parks efforts. Exceptions will be made under extreme circumstances. An extreme circumstance may be living structures completely blocking the entire sidewalk, living structures prohibiting safe entry and exit from a building or use of a facility, or is a public safety danger to occupants and/or greater community. Here are some examples of what could be considered an extreme circumstance:

A living structure on a ramp or roadway
A living structure blocking an entire sidewalk or bike lane
A living structure that presents fire or safety hazards to infrastructure (i.e. freeway supports/bridges)
A living structure blocking an entry/exit to a building
A living structure in a play area

The City and HSD will provide further updates regarding shelter, hygiene and outreach as it becomes available.

Navigation Team data update

February 3, 2020 by Homelessness Response

The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) has released Quarter 4 (Q4) performance metrics for the City of Seattle’s Navigation Team, which is comprised of contracted outreach workers, System Navigators (City outreach workers), Field Coordinators, and police officers that work to connect our neighbors experiencing homelessness to shelter and support services, while removing unsafe encampments with public health risks from public property.

Q4 represents the first quarter in which System Navigator data was fully available, which helps understand the impact City outreach workers have in connecting people to resources. These new positions were added in-mid 2019 and an additional System Navigator will be brought on in 2020. For many people living unsheltered, factors such as time spent outdoors, behavioral health needs, past history, their sense of community, all play a role in weighing shelter options offered to them by the Navigation Team’s System Navigators, police officers, and contracted outreach workers.

The Q4 data showed a continuing trend of the team contacting more individuals living outside and connecting people to shelter throughout the year. Contacts are many times informal conversations, initial efforts at relationship building with people living outside. Q4 data also shows the team continued to operate at a higher operational capacity, removing more unsafe encampments from public property and also cleaning up more than a thousand tons of garbage, waste, and debris.

For people experiencing long-term homelessness, repeated contacts reflect an important first step in developing relationships that will assist with an accepted offer of shelter. Although recording the number of informal contacts is not a standard data point collected from Citywide outreach service providers, the City believes that this number is important to understand trends month-over-month to better serve individuals living unsheltered. It is important to note that no other City outreach program, contracted or City-staffed, captures and reports data at the level of the Navigation Team.

With Q4 data now available, preliminary year-to-date are also available. Here are some of the key takeaways:

Number of contacts with unique individuals increased 10% over the course of the year; from 737 in Q1 to 810 in Q4.
973 total (unduplicated) referrals to shelter were made in 2019
On average, the team made 215 unique shelter referrals per quarter
Average reported enhanced shelter availability increased over the course of the year
1,578 tons of garbage, waste, and debris were removed from public property, which is a 19% increase between Q1 and Q4
833 unsafe encampments were removed from public property throughout 2019

With the addition of System Navigators, the team’s outreach capacity has increased. System Navigators enter data in the NavApp and can transport people directly to shelter, which previously was the responsibility of the team’s contracted outreach operator. Stronger data and shelter connections helps the team ensure more people are ultimately enrolled into shelter. As previously reported, verifying who the team contacts and refers to shelter in the field versus who is then entered into a shelter database by a shelter provider is an incomplete analysis due to privacy opt-outs and differing data entry. HSD will continue to explore avenues for improving this analysis in the year ahead.

This post will be updated as more data from 2019 becomes available.

Recap: January Severe Weather Response

January 27, 2020 by Homelessness Response

Earlier this month, the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) put into action its severe winter weather response plan to create safe and warm places for people in need during the cold weather and storms. This action, in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation, created 450 additional beds for people living unsheltered. HSD opened or expanded emergency shelter at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, City Hall, Seattle Municipal Tower, King County Administrative Building, and Bitter Lake Community Center. The Bertha Knight Landes room at City Hall served as an early morning warming shelter as well. Mary’s Place provided shelter for families with children, and all City-funded sheltering programs were asked to expand and provide shelter so that no one would be turned away.

Additionally, the Navigation Team focused on outreach services in efforts to connect people to shelter and resources. The team made 196 site visits during the severe weather, making over 550 contacts with people living unsheltered. The team transported 44 people to shelter and made 77 referrals to emergency shelters during the course of the week.

As the weather conditions improved, emergency resources were ramped down to allow for programs and buildings to return to regular daily use. The following data visualizations illustrate the availability and resources used during this period:

*Note that figures are subject to change.

Navigation Team & Storage

January 23, 2020 by Homelessness Response

The causes and solutions to homelessness are complicated, but our goals are not. We want to bring every person inside. Get them the services, help, and support they needs. And connect them with permanent housing.

In the last two years, the City of Seattle and King County have been working towards those goals. We have devoted more resources to prevention, to keep people from falling into homelessness, and to diversion to try to rehouse people quickly.

The reasons people lose their home are as varied as the life stories of those individuals. We must craft solutions to these challenges. Different life events can push a person to the place where they no longer have a safety net and home — a sudden life change or illness, loss of a job, the need to escape domestic violence or behavioral health challenges. Far too many individuals experiencing homelessness are disproportionately Native American, African American, LGBTQ youth and from communities of color. Each person or family require a different set of solutions to get them housed.

A key part of bringing people inside is to do repeated outreach and to try to connect people with services and shelter. Because 24/7 enhanced shelters and tiny homes are at least five times more effective than basic shelters, the City has largely remade our shelter system to have more 24/7 shelters with case mangers, housing navigators and nurses.

Helping individuals who are living unsheltered in tents or doorways is the first and most important step towards the transition to permanent housing. The Navigation Team, which consists of specially trained Seattle Police officers, Field Coordinators, and outreach workers, have the critically important job of connecting people experiencing homelessness to services and shelter and removing dangerous encampments that have public safety or public health concerns. When launched, the City recognized that storage of personal belongings would be an important step both to recognize the potential importance of that property to the people involved and to remove a barrier to shelter acceptance.

As the City works to bring people inside, it must be done with compassion and dignity and to get people the services they need. In each large encampment removal, the process is documented carefully — from notice, to outreach, to removal of hazardous materials, to storage of property. The process, which typically can occur over several days or weeks, is documented publicly online through site journals, which document the safety, health and environmental risks, including proximity to highways, garbage, human waste, bio-hazards, and syringes.

Since 2018, the City has added staff to the Navigation Team to increase capacity and improve operations including in storage management. Since 2018, Mayor Durkan has added 24 members to the Navigation Team including 10 members, field coordinators (6), data analysts (3), and an administrative specialist (1) who was added to assist with the storage and retrieval on personal belongings. The City collected and stored thousands of items last year,  and each encampment removal documents property stored at request or because it was abandoned. These logs are also available on line. A full description of the process is below, With that said, the City continues to evaluate and seek improve systems for collecting, storing, and the timely return of items to their owners.

2019 Storage Utilization

Storage of belongings occurs both when the City does a 72 hour encampment removal and when it clears obstructions and hazards. Storage was utilized by individuals in nearly 50% of all 72-hour encampment removals and in 20% of all obstruction/hazard removals. Obstruction/hazard utilization is lower due to the majority voluntarily complying with moving their items.

The City collected and stored items for individuals experiencing homelessness in 343 instances accounting for:

More than 500 bins of storage;
More than 60 bikes;
More than 25 large luggage items; and
More than 40 large items such as furniture, equipment, musical instruments, and other objects that cannot fit in a storage bin were stored.

The City tries to keep people connected with their medicine, important papers, and other personal belongings. Records show that among the thousands of items, medicine was logged only eleven times (medicines, vitamins, canes, EpiPens) and personal identification two times (IDs). Papers and paperwork were logged 18 times, and personal items were logged 25 times.

Item Verification: Navigation Team Field Coordinators are responsible for identifying, collecting, cataloging and creating a log number for storage, leaving contact information, physically storing items, and delivering items found in an encampment back to owners after verification. Last year, hundreds of contacts were made to offer services like shelter as well as storage.

While much of the property left behind is abandoned, the City understands it might be the last possessions a person has. The Field Coordinators document possessions at each remaining tent or structure, which can be found in the site journal. By both guidelines and practice, the Navigation Team collects individuals most personal belongings – this includes medicines, personal papers, identification or medical devices.

Following an encampment removal, the Navigation Team leaves physical notices at a site that include the phone number for people to call or text to retrieve their belongings. A card is issued to any party who self-packs their property. The phone number is staffed by the administrative assistant with the Navigation Team. Incoming calls and/or messages are recorded, and staff will establish a dialogue with an individual to verify the requests. To maintain the security of items in storage, log numbers are not provided to the public in order to prevent individuals from improperly obtaining items that do not belong to them.  

Storage: When conducting an encampment removal, of the items secured for storage, all belongings in one tent or structure would be recorded on one inventory log with a unique identifying number. Inventory logs list a description of the items stored and the location from which they were obtained. In many instances, the log may include the name of an individual who requests storage (or self-store), or other relevant details such as “Found in Debris,” indicating the item logged was found in debris (not within a tent or structure) but identified as a storable item. Individuals who self-store are provided a phone number for recovery/delivery of items. When storable items are left behind and have not been identified by people camping as garbage, those items will also be secured with notice posted at the site that the property was removed from the location and stored. The post includes the contact number for recovery/delivery.  

It should be noted that the City makes every effort to return items especially personal belongings at the location where collection and storage takes place. Once collected, items are taken to the storage facility and held until individuals call to retrieve them or a minimum of 70 days has passed.  

Delivery: When individuals call with inquiries about stored belongings, the Navigation Team’s administrative assistant notes details to assist with connecting the proper owner with their belongings. 

The Navigation Team received 106 incoming phone calls or text messages pertaining to approximately 70 instances of storage.

Once deliveries are coordinated with the owner, the Team attempts to make deliveries. If the delivery is not successful, which means an individual is not able or does not make the arranged meeting, follow-up efforts are made to reschedule and successfully deliver the items requested.  If an individual is in active contact with the Navigation Team, the team will extend the time items are in storage to accommodate the persons need. If no one attempts to recover the items within 70 days or if a request is not able to be properly verified, those items are discarded. Of the thousands of items collected and stored, only a small number of calls are made to reclaim items.

Severe Winter Shelter Availability

January 11, 2020 by Homelessness Response

Winter Response: 8pm Jan.12 – 7am Jan.20

SEATTLE – The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) will open a Severe Weather Shelter at Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall this Sunday, January 12. The shelter will be open between 8pm and 7am the following day. The shelter will operate through the morning of Monday, January 20. The Salvation Army will staff this shelter and accommodate roughly 100 adults and their pets. The Seattle Center Armory will continue to be open during regular hours (7am to 9pm Sunday through Thursday and 7am to 10pm Friday and Saturday) to serve as a warming center.

Bus routes to Seattle Center include: #1, #2, #3, #4, #8, #13, #32, and Rapid Ride D Line; service is also provided by The Seattle Center Monorail running from Westlake Center, accessible by stairs and elevator from Downtown and the Westlake light rail station.

Additional Shelter

King County Administration Building will offer 50 additional emergency shelter beds Sunday, January 12 through Wednesday night, January 15. The shelter is located at the King County Administration Building located at 500 4^th Avenue in downtown Seattle. The shelter serves people who identify as men, age 18 and older, from 7:00pm to 6:00am.

Mary’s Place also has activated winter protocols and can accommodate those with children experiencing homelessness. Mary’s Place has expanded their intake hours and are partnering with Lyft and Uber to provide transportation to families. Please call Mary’s Place at 206-245-1026 for more information.

All existing City-funded shelters have been asked by HSD to expand capacity to accommodate all people in need of safe shelter during this severe weather event.

Outreach and Resources

The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department has communicated with all City-funded service and outreach providers to open any additional spaces for increased capacity during severe weather and to connect with those living outdoors to encourage them to seek shelter. The Navigation Team will focus efforts on outreach and storage services during this time and will be available to transport vulnerable individuals living unsheltered to shelter.

The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department has connected with 211/Crisis Clinic to inform them of additional shelter capacities such that they may provide this information over the phone and through social media. The City’s Parks Department and HSD will be monitoring the weather and shelter capacities to determine if additional resources or long-term shelter accommodations for the public will be needed and will provide this information as necessary.

For additional information, please visit HSD’s website, Twitter, and Facebook.

More information can also be found at HSD’s Human Interest Blog.

Statement by Mayor Jenny Durkan Celebrating Seattle City Council’s Passage of the Interlocal Agreement Creating the King County Regional Homelessness Authority

December 16, 2019 by Homelessness Response

On December 16, 2019, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued a statement thanking the City Council for the passage of the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) to create the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) and improve outcomes across our region for people experiencing homeless.

“Today is a historic day. After many years of talk, today we act as a region to move forward together to provide comprehensive services using evidence-based practices and centering people with lived experience of homelessness, to bring more people inside. In 2020, we set forth on a new path to consolidate services that are too fractured and don’t serve individuals experiencing homelessness.

“I’m grateful to the City Council, especially Councilmember Bagshaw, who has been laser-focused on serving our most vulnerable neighbors. After months of engagement and careful deliberation, we must act with urgency to address the complex challenges of forming a new agency. We know that homelessness is a regional crisis that knows no borders. Today we begin a new chapter to address our region’s most difficult challenges.”

To read more, please visit the Mayor Durkin’s Blog Post by clicking here: Mayor Durkin Blog – Statement Celebrating Interlocal Agreement Passage Creating the King County Regional Homelessness Authority

Update: Camp Second Chance/Myers Way Village

November 22, 2019 by Homelessness Response

In September 2019, the City announced the permit for Camp Second Chance/Myers Way village would be temporarily extended through March 2020 and all options were being considered for the long-term status of the village. Options considered included closing the village or exploring partnerships to continue sheltering people at the site.

Background

Camp Second Chance/Myers Way Chance provides 48 tiny houses for people living unsheltered and during the first six months of 2019, 44% of households exiting the village moved into permanent housing.

Earlier this year the City’s program operator, the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), added a shower trailer on site to improve access to hygiene resources, and implemented a strong and transparent democratic self-governance structure, with people living in the village partnering with LIHI to manage day-to-day operations.

These outcomes make Camp Second Chance/Myers Way one of the highest performing villages in Seattle and one of strongest performing shelters in the homelessness response system.

Permitting Background

The most common option for permitting villages is through the City’s sanctioned encampment ordinance (23.42.056). A second is through temporary use permits — what Camp Second Chance/Myers Way has been operating under – that is scheduled to sunset in March.

Under City of Seattle land-use code (23.48.054), a third option allows for a religious organization to sponsor a village with a range of contractual and oversight requirements in place. Currently, two villages, Othello and True Hope, are funded by the City and sponsored by local churches using this permitting option.

New Developments

The Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce that on Monday, November 18, 2019 Fauntleroy Church notified the City and the village operator, LIHI, that they would like to enter into a formal agreement to sponsor the village. This agreement helps the City and the community continue to provide a critical and successful service to people living unsheltered while preserving the Myers Way property for future use.

The agreement between the City and Fauntleroy Church will be for one year and prohibits religious services, activities, and symbols on site. It requires Fauntleroy Church to contribute to the well-being and support of the clients, with LIHI remaining in place as the manager and operator of village.

The City will continue monitoring performance and contract compliance on-site, ensuring religious activities or symbolism are not present on the property. LIHI’s City contract for operating the village will remain in place. The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will continue to meet monthly to review village operations and identify opportunities for neighbors, faith communities, and businesses to support the people in the program.

Next Steps

A second agreement will be executed between LIHI and the Fauntleroy Church to further define roles, responsibilities and partnership expectations. Fauntleroy Church will also be required to file a site plan with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) establishing its presence on the property. This is for informational purposes and is not subject to City review or permitting requirements.

Update: Northlake Village

October 30, 2019 by Homelessness Response

The City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) will not renew the contract for the Northlake Village in 2020 due to compliance and performance concerns. The City contracts with the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) to operate the village on Seattle City Light property. LIHI has not been able to operate the village as specified in their contract throughout 2019 due to ongoing interference in camp operations and client services from its former subcontractor, Nickelsville, which has prevented LIHI staff from effectively engaging residents of the village.

The safety and long-term well-being of residents remains the City’s priority. As with other program closures, the City is working closely with LIHI to find new shelter or housing resources for all interested program participants at Northlake Village. There will be no net loss of shelter capacity with Northlake’s closure, with new shelter space at existing villages and other shelter resources offsetting the loss of Northlakes’s 19 beds.

The village will no longer operate after December 31,2019, and the property will be returned to Seattle City Light.

Background
The goal of Northlake Village, like all City funded village programs, is to provide safe, 24/7 shelter that offers supportive services and case management to help formerly unsheltered people find permanent housing.

Northlake Village opened on City Light property in the spring of 2018, providing shelter through 19 tiny houses. Previously operated as a sanctioned tent encampment in Ballard, LIHI continued onsite management for the Northlake program through a subcontracted arrangement with the Nickelsville.

In the spring of 2019, LIHI notified HSD that its partnership with Nickelsville was dissolved due to the inability to execute a mutually agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). At that time, LIHI requested Nickelsville to relinquish control and allow LIHI to resume site management at the Northlake property. To date, people who identify as Nickelsville staff and supporters refuse to recognize LIHI as the contracted operator of the program and have actively blocked LIHI’s ability to meet its contractual obligations of moving people on to permanent housing.

Compliance Concerns

HSD and LIHI staff have observed concerning behavior throughout the 2019 contract year at Northlake Village. Residents associated with the former subcontractor, Nickelsville, have harassed LIHI and City staff, tightly controlled site access although no longer recognized as the subcontractor, and have actively interfered in LIHI’s ability to meet the contracted objectives of the program.

The following specific concerns were observed and documented by LIHI and HSD staff:

Restricted access to site, including padlocking the village gate and refusing entry to LIHI and HSD staff;
LIHI case managers prevented from engaging participants in programs designed to access housing;
Practice of arbitrarily barring individuals from the village for minor infractions that include not participating in political activities;
Noncompliance in reporting vacancies to HSD; and
Blocking LIHI staff from completing standard program procedures including intake documentation and an inconsistent enrollment in the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS).

Low Program Performance

In 2018 and 2019, Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Council made key investments to help villages become more effective in moving people into permanent housing. HSD increased critical on-site resources and contracted with LIHI to operate the entirety of the village program. Through these investments and key partnerships, the village program has seen a 37% exit rate of moving individuals in a village household to permanent housing in the first six months of 2019, which is 17% higher when compared to the same time in 2018. While most villages saw strong improvement, Northlake Village lags behind with only a 11% exit to permanent housing in the first half of 2019. Additionally, other programs formerly managed by Nickelsville—Georgetown and Othello Villages—saw rates to permanent housing increase by double digits once LIHI assumed case management oversight. These clear results underscore the need for villages to offer full-time case management and housing connections, such as those that LIHI provides.

*Note: True Hope, Whittier, Lake Union, Licton Springs are not included because they were either new programs in 2018 or were ramped down—we don’t have the same windows of time to compare.

Next Steps

In August of 2019, HSD staff monitoring the village operations found the program was not in compliance with the 2019 contract. HSD created a performance improvement plan for LIHI. The plan detailed specific steps to be taken for the program to be in contractual compliance. The plan called for the improvements to be completed by October 7, 2019.

On October 7, 2019 LIHI communicated to HSD they were unable to meet the requirements necessary for the program to come into compliance. On October 29, HSD informed LIHI that it will not extend the contract into 2020 and the village will close at the end of this year. HSD has requested LIHI produce a phase out plan that ensures a safe exit for all program participants well before the end of the 2019 contract period (December 31, 2019).