February Government News

Concern was raised this month by the City Auditor, as the auditor's office found a disconnect to the amount of recourses dedicated to homelessness and their overall impact. Read more below:

Review of Navigation Team 2018 Quarter 2 Report

• Seattle City Auditor criticizes homelessness response in Navigation Team report

  • The auditor’s office criticized the unwieldy amount of city agencies that are dedicated to the issue, and the lack of a central communication between all of that staff.

  • It also said with the lack of such a system and oversight, it’s clear why they saw hygienic issues crop up, that other cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles were doing a better job of handling.

• Seattle’s outreach to homeless tent camps needs improvement, city audit says

  • To improve the city’s ability to prevent people who are new to the streets from staying there for long periods, Seattle should centralize and improve communication among the various groups providing outreach, according to the report released Thursday.

  • Seattle could reduce the number of people living in unsanctioned camps if the city gave the Navigation Team authority to divert people from shelters by spending money for things like one-time rental assistance and travel, which would allow homeless people to return to family elsewhere. Seattle already has adopted that strategy, but it has implemented it more slowly than Pierce County, where it has proved to be cost-effective.

Seattle mayor, HSD say investments in enhanced homeless shelters paying off

• The city increased its spending on homeless prevention and response from just over $71 million in 2017 to nearly $87 million in 2018. Half of the spending in 2018 was for emergency response, which includes things like outreach, Seattle’s Navigation Team, and shelter. In 2018, much of emergency spending went to nearly doubling the number of beds in enhanced shelters, which operate 24/7, have showers and storage, and help people connect with services and housing.

  • Enhanced Shelters

“We’re seeing that these enhanced shelters are five times as effective at connecting clients to housing as basic shelter,” Johnson said.

• Tiny Homes

Three new villages came online in Seattle in 2018 that he says really are similar to enhanced shelters, with case managers. About 650 people lived in them in 2018. There was a 10 percent increase in those people who moved on to housing — 33 percent compared to 23 percent in 2017.

• Diversion

With diversion, case managers try to connect homeless people back with their own friends or family, work out differences with landlords, or find other creative solutions. It can also provide them one-time money to help them get or stay in permanent housing. The city says diversion is responsible for the five percent increase in moving people out of homelessness than the year before, or 72 percent in 2018 compared to 67 percent in 2017.