Strategic Plan DRAFT January 2015

The Pivot 2015 is the final year of King County’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, A Roof Over Every Bed In 2015, we will adopt a new plan, building on successes, and learning from challenges, of that plan

A BRIEF HISTORY

10-Year Plan Summary Successes -5,700 more housing dedicated for homeless -36,000 exited homelessness -System targeting improvements -Strong programs -New funders -Data improvements Ongoing Challenges -Growing number of people experiencing homeless -Funding/program misalignment with needs and strengths -System accountability -Engaging full community

Nationally Positive trends: Strong federal direction (USICH plan – 2010) More data on what works More funding for veterans ACA/Medicaid National decline in homelessness Negative trends: Recession Growing inequality Sequestration and continued declines in safety net funding More veterans returning from war

Locally Positive trends: Resources for homeless housing and services – State Housing Trust Fund – Document recording fees Local levies ACA implementation Negative trends: Regressive tax structure Declining state expenditures on safety net Rising rents Growing income inequality, especially among African-Americans

THE (DRAFT) PLAN

Vision Homelessness is Rare Brief, and experienced only One-time.

Homelessness is Rare, Brief, and One-Time Data-driven governance and accountability Person-centered, collaborative, compassionate, equitable Goal 1: RARE: Address the causes of homelessness Goal 2: BRIEF, ONE-TIME: Improve and expand existing programs and processes Goal 3: COMMUNITY: Engage the entire Community to End Homelessness CEH Strategic Plan: CEH’s vision Outcomes The goal and strategy for achieving our vision (for all populations) How we work together Our values Fewer homeless Fewer days Reduced disparity More housed Fewer returns Increased support

We can Achieve these Goals Our vision and goals are achievable. We must address the causes of homelessness, to make homelessness more rare. This requires local action but is also a state and federal responsibility. To make homelessness brief and one-time, we must shift funding and programming to meet needs and strengths of people experiencing homelessness. Other communities have made more progress than us, and data suggests a different approach than ours.

We will need to work Collectively, in Alignment We need to work collectively, across sectors, to hold ourselves accountable to make changes and accomplish these goals. Strong governance and clear decision-making processes are essential to aligning ourselves in the same direction. We must commit to common values: person-centered, collaborative, compassionate, and equitable

GOALS AND STRATEGIES

Goal 1: Homelessness is Rare To make homelessness Rare, we must address the causes of homelessness. Key Strategies: – Stop exiting people to homelessness from other systems, including foster care, mental health, chemical dependency, and criminal justice. – Change policies that criminalize living on the streets – Increase access to mainstream supports – Create more affordable housing – Prevent people from becoming homeless Accountability: Federal, State and local government, voters Advocacy partners, CEH staff

Goal 2: Homelessness is Brief and One-Time To make homelessness Brief and One-time, we must align funding and programs to support the strengths and address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. Key Strategies: Address crisis as quickly as possible. Assess, prioritize and find housing Realign housing and supports to meet needs of people experiencing homelessness in our community Create employment and education opportunities to support stability Accountability: Local government, philanthropy, and nonprofits

Goal 3: A Community to End Homelessness Solving homelessness will take more than a Committee, it will take the entire Community to End Homelessness and provide a home for all. We must change our approach to decision-making Key Strategies: Establish effective decision-making body and formal agreements to guide collective action among all partners Formalize roles for elected officials, business leaders, and faith community leaders Strengthen engagement of King County residents, including those housed and those experiencing homelessness Solidify and sustain infrastructure for system Accountability: Local government, philanthropy, and nonprofits Business and faith community Residents, housed and those experiencing homelessness

CURRENTLY

Homelessness is a crisis

In Every Zip Code in King County

Causes of Homelessness Are Real Research of 300+ cities and states found statistical correlation between these factors and rising homelessness: Resource: Byrne, T., Culhane, D., et. al., “New Perspectives on Community-level Determinants of Homelessness” (2013): Article and SummaryArticle Summary Increase in rent of $100 associated with 15% increase in homelessness in metro areas Housing market Areas with high poverty and unemployment rates associated with higher rates of homelessness Economic conditions Areas with more Hispanic, baby boomer, and single person households associated with higher rates of homelessness Demographic composition States with lower mental health expenditures associated with higher rates of homelessness Safety net Areas with more recently moved people associated with higher rates of homelessness Transience

We have some capacity to address it Shelter/Housing Type# HouseholdsAvg Length of StayIndividuals we serve each year Emergency Shelter2,11880 days9,616 Transitional Housing2, days1,750 Permanent Supportive Housing 3,6576 years3,657 Permanent Housing, with Supports 4762 years476 Rapid Re-housing and Rental Assistance 1, months1,505 Total System Capacity17,004 Source: Capacity and total exits in Safe Harbors, 2013 (2014 for rapid re-housing/rental assistance)

We have the data Typology: the types of needs and strengths of people experiencing homelessness Effectiveness: the outcomes that different types of programs achieve Resources: the current funding and program capacity To develop a better Future

OUR FUTURE

Realignment of our Current System to Meet Strengths and Needs # of Households …

Realignment Would Make a Significant Impact  2600 fewer people without shelter  Reduce average stay in crisis response by 35 days  Reduce number of people who return to homelessness with two years by 50%

Performance Improvement will require more Permanent Housing, and result in No Unsheltered Homelessness Performance improvement goals – 10% annual improvement in: Average length of stay Number of people exiting shelter to permanent housing Proportion of people returning to homelessness within two years Results this would achieve: Dramatically increase the population we could serve in the “crisis response” system Effectively reduce the unsheltered population to zero Reduce the average time an individual spends in shelter/ transitional housing from 141 days to 40 days, with 25% fewer returns to homelessness within two years Metric1/20161/20171/20181/2019 Unsheltered population 5,0753,0001,0000 Sheltered population 8,0497,1097,0727,039 Avg. length of stay54 days49 days44 days40 days Exits to permanent housing 1,9102,3002,810 Returns to homelessness 10.0%9.1%8.3%7.5%

With Realignment, and 2015 Improvements, Gap Remains # Households 2015 Improvements underway already: 150 new Emergency Shelter beds recently approved 300 more units of Permanent Supportive Housing, moving long- term shelter stayers out (pending HUD grant) 500 more Rapid Re-housing slots available After matching existing housing to the people’s strengths/needs and improving overall performance, we still have a gap of 10,000 beds/units to address, when accounting for newly homeless each year

Homelessness is Solvable: It will take: – Prevention and diversion – Realignment of funding and programs – More housing – Engagement and accountability