Addressing homelessness

Priority Action Steps to Prevent and End Youth/Young Adult Homelessness

As a result of the Ten Year Plan Mid-Plan Review, local philanthropies and investors, public funders and service providers came together to create a plan to end youth and young adult homelessness focused on prevention, intervention and best practices. The April 2012 final report centers on these recommendations:

1. Coordinated engagement of youth/young adults to connect them to the right resource as soon as possible – before they become enmeshed in street culture or exploitation
2. Prevention programs that preserve family connections and engage runaway youth/young adults in healthy supportive relationships with family- or mentor-relationships
3. Data coordination that enables funders and providers to work together to address needs, evaluate programs, and assess community progress toward shared goals

Single Adult Shelter

As a result of the Ten Year Plan Mid-Plan Review, a Single Adult Shelter Task Force was convened to explore how to transform the current adult shelter system towards one that emphasizes placement into permanent housing. On April 23, the Task Force presented their final report. Highlights include:
1. 1,704 individual adult shelter beds are available every night. Shelter capacity expands in the winter (adding 450-700 beds).
2. The vast majority (91%) of these beds are in Seattle.
3. In 2011, about 7,500 individuals accessed adult shelter beds in Seattle and King County.
4. The majority of shelter residents stay briefly - 60 days or less. A much smaller group (less than 10%) is staying much longer. They are older with higher rates of disability.
Recommendations:
1. Increase shelter capacity in order that shelter can act as a point of engagement.
2. Target resources to assist long-term stayers into housing, freeing up beds and increasing capacity within the existing shelter system.
3. Increase investment in affordable and homeless housing appropriate to this population. The full report can be found here.

2011 Annual Report – Steady Steps Forward

A Roof Over Every Bed In King County. It’s not just the title of our Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness; it’s our community goal.
Seven years ago, we adopted an ambitious plan to end homelessness in King County. It called for the creation of 9,500 new housing units, an increase in prevention programs to keep people from becoming homeless, and treatment and support services to break the cycle between hospitals, jails and the streets. Read more..