Homelessness Response

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).

Port of Seattle extends Interbay Village lease additional year

October 9, 2019 by Homelessness Response

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.

Navigation Team data update

October 9, 2019 by Homelessness Response

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.

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

September 17, 2019 by Homelessness Response

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