Emergency Task Force On Unsheltered Homelessness

Emergency Task Force On Unsheltered Homelessness

Recommendations to Mayor Murray

December 2014

Table of Contents

Summary Memo........................................................1 Appendix A: Transmittal Letter from Task Force Members to Mayor Murray............................................................7 Appendix B: Final Recommended Proposals......................11 Appendix C: Task Force Meeting Notes..........................21 Appendix D: Additional Information

i. Letter from YouthCare and Mockingbird Society.......59 ii. Additional Draft Proposals from Task Force.............60 iii. Committee to End Homelessness Crisis Response

Materials.......................................................71

Mayor Ed Murray Mayor's Emergency Task Force on Unsheltered Homelessness

October ? December 2014

Since 2010, the number of unsheltered people who are homeless on the streets in Seattle has increased by 30 percent. Seattle's efforts to address this crisis must and will be integrated with regional strategies to reduce homelessness in the long-term; however, there are immediate and urgent steps the City should consider to provide short-term solutions that may help more individuals or families from sleeping on the streets this winter.

To this end, Mayor Murray convened an Emergency Task Force on Unsheltered Homelessness to bring together divergent viewpoints and experiences to identify some immediate, short-term action steps for the Mayor's consideration.

SCOPE

This Emergency Task Force is part of a three-pronged strategy Mayor Murray outlined to address the continuum of housing and homeless service needs in the city:

1) Emergency Task Force on Unsheltered Homelessness Short-term solutions requiring non-budgetary policy changes, or minimal budget-impact strategies; recommendations to be delivered to the Mayor on December 15, 2014.

2) Assessment of Investments in Existing Homeless/Human Services Analysis of current HSD investments and community landscape, to identify gaps local/national best & promising practices; Assessment and Implementation Plan due March 2015.

3) Housing Affordability and Livability Advisory Committee Recommendations focused on long-term housing financing and integrated planning strategies to increase affordable housing opportunities, including homeless housing; due May 2015.

Placed in this broader context, the Emergency Task Force was purposefully narrow in scope, focused in on the following areas:

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 Current city approach and policy towards legal encampments, including but not limited to, consideration of where they are allowed, the City's role in facilitating new siting, and neighborhood notification processes; and

"Out of the box" or "on the shelf but innovative" ideas for increasing shelter capacity that will have minimal budgetary impact. This may include, but is not limited to, exploring use of City assets like community centers or other facilities.

Additionally, during the first meeting, the group unanimously agreed that they would add an additional charge, since these short-term ideas also facilitated thinking with respect to more long-term solutions to the issue of homelessness. With that in mind, and with the Mayor's approval, they added the following third task:

Identify larger scale and/or longer-term ideas to meet needs that might be considered by members or the City in future or related efforts.

MEMBERSHIP

Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim chaired this task force, and Alice Shobe, Executive Director of Building Changes, contributed in-kind facilitation services. As directed by Mayor Murray, the membership reflected diverse perspectives with leadership from the housing/homelessness services sector, funders, neighborhood and business districts, faith community, and self-advocates.

The task force was staffed by the Mayor's Office of Policy and Innovation, City Budget Office, and the Human Services Department, with participation by the additional following departments: Department of Planning and Development, Department of Parks and Recreation, Seattle Police Department, Seattle Department of Transportation, Department of Neighborhoods, Facilities and Administration Services, and Seattle Public Libraries. City Council Central Staff was also invited to attend each full group Task Force meeting in order to provide updates to City Councilmembers.

TIMELINE

The task force met over two months in five large group meetings and several smaller work group sessions. They held a mix of public and private work sessions and met on the following dates:

Friday, October 23rd Thursday, November 6th Tuesday, November 18th Monday, December 8th Thursday, December 11th

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