East King County Plan to End Homelessness

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East King County Plan to End Homelessness
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Did you know?

• Since 2005, the estimated homeless population has
  decreased slightly for King County as a whole,
  but has increased on the Eastside.
• Approximately 17 of homeless single adults are
  from the Eastside.
• In January 2007, 223 households living in
  emergency shelter or transitional housing
  reported that their last address was in East King
  County.

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Background

• 2000 Religious leaders began a grassroots
  effort to end homelessness in King County
• 2002 The Committee to End Homelessness in King
  County was formed
• 2003 Plans to end homelessness become required
  for certain federal funds

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Background

• 2004 Hopelink convenes a Community Conversation
  on Homelessness for the Eastside
• 2004 Eastside Homelessness Advisory Committee
  begins to meet
• 2005 Plan to End Homelessness in King County is
  completed

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Background

• 2006 Plans to end homelessness become a
  requirement for certain state funds
• 2007 EHSF, with the support of CEH and United
  Way, adopts the East King County Plan

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Key Strategies
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Why create a plan specific to East King County?

• The County-wide Plan provides overarching
  direction
• The need for housing and services varies between
  each sub-region of the county
• The East King County plan provides focused
  direction on local need

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Why is it important to end homelessness in our
community?

• Aside from being the humane thing to do, there
  are several practical considerations in East King
  County
• Early intervention prevents more difficult
  problems
• Homelessness is expensive
• Existing homeless housing in East King County is
  limited

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Two Focus Areas

• Prevention of Homelessness
• 2. Availability of Permanent Supportive Housing
  for
• Single Adults
• Families
• Domestic Violence
• Youth and Young Adults

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Importance of Prevention

• Costs of rent, utilities, childcare escalating at
  a higher rate than wages
• Unforeseen illness, loss or work or major expense
  (car repair) enough to jeopardize housing
  stability
• One-time or short-term financial assistance can
  prevent homelessness

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Permanent Supportive Housing

• Current Model
• Cycles people
• through shelter
• and transitional
• housing first

• New Model
• Promotes moving people into permanent housing as
  quickly as possible
• Services provided along with housing until
  services no longer needed
• Housing assistance maintained until no longer
  needed

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Single Adults

• Current Inventory
• 30 overnight shelter beds and 6 units of
  permanent housing
• Need 820 more units of permanent supportive
  housing
• Goal includes need for 50 units of interim
  housing for individuals not ready for permanent
  housing placement

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Families

• Current Inventory
• 122 units of transitional or permanent
  housing
• Need 930 additional units of permanent
  supportive housing

• Service providers estimate that five families are
  turned away for every one housed.

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Domestic Violence

• Current Inventory
• 30 units of transitional or permanent housing
• Need 75 more units of permanent supportive
  housing for single individuals and families with
  children

• The housing and services needs for those
  experiencing domestic violence are unique,
  requiring special consideration for security and
  confidentiality.

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Youth and Young Adults

• Current Inventory
• 21 units of transitional or permanent housing
• Need 96 more units of supportive housing

The greatest economic and social costs in not
addressing the homeless youth population are
long-term. Once youth begin to see homelessness
as a way of life, they virtually "drop out" of
society. The hope of getting an education is
lost. The potential increases for incarceration,
emergency hospital and long-term care, and
welfare assistance. Early intervention approaches
are clearly an investment worth the cost.
Susan Levine, City of Seattle Human Services Dept.
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Goals of the Plan

• Secure all needed units from new and existing
  housing stock by 2015
• Build community awareness regarding East King
  Countys unique housing and service needs
• Create solutions so that those who work on the
  Eastside are able to afford to live on the
  Eastside.

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How? Key strategies include

• Provide critical assistance before people become
  homeless.
• Relieve the burden on transitional housing in
  East King County with increased permanent housing
  supply.
• Create housing that can serve more than one
  population group.
• Provide coordinated entry into housing and
  services.

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Resources
To download the East King County Plan to End
Homelessness and The Face of Homelessness in
East King County, please visit
www.eastsideforum.org
For more information on local efforts Committee
to End Homelessness in King County (CEH)
www.cehkc.org Seattle/King County Coalition for
the Homeless (SKCCH) www.homelessinfo.org United
Way of King County www.uwkc.org