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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAP 2016-08-22 Item 2A - Briefing - South King County Housing and Homelessness PartnershipCity of Tukwila Allan Ekberg, Mayor INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Community Affairs and Parks Committee FROM: Laurel Humphrey, Council Analyst CC: Mayor Ekberg DATE: August 17, 2016 SUBJECT: South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership Report ISSUE Briefing on the first six months of the South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership DISCUSSION Joy Scott, South King County Housing Planner, will brief the Committee on the attached report. ATTACHMENT Convening, Organizing, and Expanding Networks: The First Six Months of South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership Report 1 7 SK:I: i...r &rd Pia-NrIevost, . Pa°1'vrvh,p Ill HOUSING DEVELOPMENT consortium CONVENING, ORGANIZING, AND EXPANDING NETWORKS The First Six Months of SKHHP Prepared by: Joy Scott SKC Housing Planner South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership Housing Development Consortium joy @housingconsortium.org 3 4 Introduction Over the past seven years, South King County (SKC) stakeholders have met to deepen cross - jurisdictional coordination, create a common understanding for housing and homelessness needs and strategies for SKC, and move forward strategies in the SKC Response to Homelessness. However, in the midst of a rapidly growing Seattle economy, poverty and unemployment has moved to the King County suburbs, part of a national trend reported by the Brookings Institute1. This trend is particularly striking in South King County where an increase in poverty has created stark needs for human services that local governments feel ill- equipped to address alone. Although housing in SKC has traditionally been considered "affordable," regional trends related to population, wages, and housing costs are driving an increased need for affordable housing and related services. More than 35,000 SKC households are paying more than half their income for housing costs2, putting them at risk of losing their housing if faced with a household financial emergency. Furthermore, 2,869 SKC homeless students were identified in the 2014 -2015 school year alone3, and the most recent One Night Count of unsheltered homeless individuals identified 1,013 individuals sleeping outside in selected areas of South King County. While the One Night Count saw a 19% overall increase in unsheltered individuals counted across the county, South King County regions saw an average increase of 53 %, with some count areas seeing as much as 1500 of their 2015 count numbers4. In response to these trends, regional leaders committed to supporting collective impact approaches to address housing and homelessness needs in South King County. In partnership with the cities of Auburn, Kent, Renton, SeaTac, Burien, and Tukwila, the King County Housing Authority, Renton Housing Authority, and All Home as well as many local non - profit organizations, the Housing Development Consortium (HDC) officially launched the South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership (SKHHP) in the last quarter of 2015. SKHHP supports the groups that have been meeting in SKC to address these issues, including the Homelessness Action Committee and the SKC Joint Planners and Developers workgroup. SKHHP aims to: regularly convene, organize, and expand the 1 http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/ the - avenue /posts/ 2014 /12 /17- lessons- innovators - suburban - poverty- kneebone- berube 2 http: / /huduser.org /portal /datasets /cp /CHAS /data querytool chas.html 3 http: / /www.k12.wa.us/ HomelessEd / pubdocs/ StatewideHomelessReportByDistrict2015 .pdf 4 http: / /homelessinfo.org /what we do /one night count /2016 results.php 1 5 network of stakeholders working to end homelessness and address affordable housing needs in SKC; improve the alignment of county and state homeless and affordable housing interventions and funding opportunities with SKC interests; provide technical assistance to support the implementation of comprehensive plan policies; improve SKC stakeholders' understanding of promising practices and their potential for local impact; and determine and implement strategies that achieve program sustainability. In January 2016, HDC hired a South King County Housing Planner responsible for the coordination of SKHHP and the implementation of these goals. Over the course of the three year grant period, this staff person will work with stakeholders across South King County on collective impact approaches to housing and homelessness issues. Through convening, informing, and supporting these stakeholders, SKHHP hopes to catalyze the network to implement the SKC Response strategies, speak with a united voice, implement comprehensive plan policies, and develop a sustainability plan for this work. Specifically, SKHHP intends to see the following results: • County and state decision makers receive input from SKC stakeholders early in the decision making process to ensure a more effective and efficient public engagement process • South King County stakeholders are better informed of opportunities to impact regional and state housing programs and policies, including regional plans, state legislative proposals, and funding opportunities • South King County stakeholders are better able to speak with a united voice to ensure external programs and policies address local community needs • South King County stakeholders, including those in the education, employment and health sector, are more engaged in housing and homelessness activities Community and elected leaders in South King County recognize the importance of being coordinated in order to achieve results. Over the first six months of this project, SKHHP staff has worked to identify stakeholders, build relationships, and refine group priorities into actionable steps. We've seen progress in all four goal areas, and share highlights below, as well as case studies from SKC cities that are addressing housing and homelessness in innovative and effective ways. 6 Initial Progress County and State decision makers receive input from SKC stakeholders early in the decision - making process to ensure a more effective and efficient public engagement process. In initial meetings with South King County stakeholders and county decision makers, both expressed a desire to be more connected. South King County stakeholders felt that there wasn't a strong SKC presence at the right tables and that their voice was often overshadowed by other regions when presenting input. At the same time, county staff expressed that they hadn't been as present in the region as they'd like and that they were unclear which meeting spaces in SKC were the most strategic to attend to ensure full regional input. Additionally, many stakeholders mentioned the challenge of staff turnover and the subsequent loss of institutional knowledge and established relationships. Individuals in both groups agreed that consistent and clear communication with such a geographically diverse group is challenging when there is no overarching regional body with which to communicate. After the SKC Housing Planner was hired, work immediately began to build relationships across sectors in SKC and continue to engage folks in the two established South King County stakeholder groups: the Homelessness Action Committee and the Joint Planners and Developers workgroup. Equally important was engaging in discussions from which SKC stakeholders felt excluded, including All Home (formerly the Committee to End Homelessness) and King County. A SKHHP webpage and mailing list were created, and the Housing Planner worked to establish a visible physical presence in SKC, including in existing community meeting spaces. In the first six months of this funding, SKHHP facilitated feedback being provided to county and state decision makers in multiple settings. The following are examples of these key decision makers in our region and how SKHHP has facilitated greater engagement with them. All Home 3 7 All Home is a community -wide partnership to align public and private efforts to make homelessness in King County rare, brief, and one -time. All Home develops and implements data driven strategies to respond to the crisis of homelessness and, as the Seattle -King County Continuum of Care (CoC) agency, receives federal funds and is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of Coordinated Entry for All (CEA). Coordinated Entry for All is an expanded system for accessing housing services in our county that aims to ensure that people experiencing homelessness can get help finding stable housing by quickly identifying, assessing, and connecting them to housing support services and housing resources. As our community has moved towards fully implementing CEA and elements of a housing first model, service providers and city staff are faced with significant changes in how programs in our community are funded and operated. In order for this countywide system change to be successful, stakeholders from all regions need to participate in the change process rather than outside of it. Over the past six months, members of the Homelessness Action Committee have worked to identify key stakeholders who are responsible for implementing this change and better engage them in dissemination and discussion of potential changes. SKHHP has hosted regular meetings with representatives from All Home to provide a stronger SKC perspective in their decision making process and has facilitated engagement of SKC stakeholders in All Home county -wide meetings. As a result, All Home staff became more aware of the unique challenges facing this region. Five SKC stakeholders were a part of the All Home Vehicle Residency Solutions workgroup, which developed a policy statement and direction for vehicle residency in King County. That statement was formally adopted by the All Home Coordinating Board in April 2016, and provides policy direction for cities across the county in addressing the unique challenges faced by individuals sheltering in their vehicles. King County Board of Health The Joint Planners and Developers (JPD) workgroup engages SKC city staff from economic development, land use, and human services departments as well as affordable housing developers and providers across South King County. In January 2016, this group provided feedback to Nicole Thomsen of Public Health Seattle -King County on the King County Board of Health's Healthy Housing 8 Guidelines and Recommendations prior to their being brought to the Board for adoption. South King County has faced significant challenges with substandard housing, and city staff and service providers are aware of the specific barriers facing our SKC communities. The JPD workgroup was able to provide their unique perspective on healthy housing challenges in suburban cities of South King County in order to ensure that the document reflected healthy housing needs across the county. Continued opportunities exist to collaborate with department of health on our joint interest in quality condition of housing. State Legislature In February of 2016, SKHHP members had the opportunity to engage with state legislators on housing issues during multiple advocacy days. Because of the work done by the Joint Planners and Developers workgroup at the end of 2015 to develop a set of goals for the group, including state legislative priorities, SKHHP members were able to speak with a united voice on policy issues impacting housing in SKC. These policy priorities included the support of funding for the state Housing Trust Fund and a Preservation Tax Exemption to support the preservation of affordable housing. The group hopes to create a joint set of legislative recommendations for cities to consider for the 2017 legislative session. Case Study: Building Community Support to Create Local Solutions In November 2015, Mayor Nancy Backus of Auburn announced the creation of a Task Force on Homelessness. This group, comprised of representatives from city staff, police, community members, business owners, service providers, the faith community, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, and school district staff, was directed to meet once monthly for seven months and tasked with the creation of a set of recommendations to be presented to the Auburn City Council. The Task Force was facilitated by a neutral outside party and led the group through a framework for systemic and individual causes of homelessness and the strategies and services that existed in the community to address these challenges. The group intentionally engaged outspoken opponents of homelessness services within the city as well as the providers who worked with those populations. This model is a strategic fit for cities that are strong proponents of finding unique and local solutions for their community in order to better serve their community members. The visibility of the group and its work, along with the community conversations led by Task Force members, has shifted the conversation among many Auburn residents from individual blame to systemic solutions. The Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness presented 43 recommendations to the Auburn City Council in May 2016. These recommendations, having been developed by recognized community leaders, likely come with a greater level of legitimacy than if they had been presented solely by service providers and homeless advocates within the community. 5 9 South King County stakeholders are better informed of opportunities to impact regional and state housing programs and policies including regional plans, state legislative proposals, and funding opportunities. Bridging the gap between SKC stakeholders and regional and state decision makers is a key goal of SKHHP. Individuals working in housing and homelessness issues in South King County are often filling multiple roles in spaces that are frequently understaffed. The ability to impact policies and proposals is hampered by the enormous amount of information these stakeholders are presented with on a daily basis, due to the many intersecting issues and systems related to this field. Materials presented at meetings of policy makers, such as King County and All Home, are often high -level and challenging to contextualize quickly. Additionally, due to the urgency of the homelessness situation in our region, individuals in these groups are often asked to make decisions immediately upon receipt of the information. This does not correspond well to the need for thorough communication and official buy -in from city leaders. For representatives in a region as diverse as South King County, the inability to process with peers across the region can create challenges, as there is not yet a unified perspective on best practice in addressing regional housing and homelessness issues. South King County stakeholders identified a need to address the capacity gap of identifying opportunities for funding, policy proposal input, and program development. In response, the SKC Housing Planner created an email mailing list of stakeholders and developed a bimonthly newsletter with information on resources, upcoming meetings, opportunities for feedback, action alerts, and highlights of work being done in SKC. The newsletter, which has grown from 124 to 195 subscribers, has released eight issues and highlighted opportunities for SKC stakeholders to provide feedback on Coordinated Entry for All, King County funding streams, state legislative actions and bill proposals, transit - oriented development priorities in the region, and healthy housing initiatives. In addition to highlighting and disseminating regional information, the SKC Housing Planner is able to assist cities with providing technical assistance on policies to positively impact affordable housing and homelessness issues. During the initial six -month period, SKHHP staff worked with South King County cities on exploring the development and implementation of policies such as Rental Licensing and Inspection, Source of Income Discrimination (SOID) protections, 10 and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance. As cities explore opportunities to change their housing policies impacting low- income community members, SKHHP hopes to develop a toolkit of easily accessible resource pages to explore policy options and their impact in similar communities across the state. Due to widespread support and examples of local implementation, SKHHP has started with initial resource pages on SOID protections and Rental Licensing and Inspection programs. In spring of 2016, HDC engaged students from the Evans School of Public Affairs to review cities' status towards implementing the housing components of their comprehensive plans. The students compiled detailed information on cities across King County, including seven cities in SKC. At the May meeting of the Joint Planners and Developers workgroup, the students presented their South King County findings, along with a "snapshot" one -page overview of each city's goals and status. Their report provided an accessible framework for understanding what housing actions and policies cities prioritized in their planning process and what next steps those cities could take to continue to move those policies and actions forward. HDC and SKHHP will continue to work with cities to provide ongoing progress reports on cities implementation of their comprehensive plans. South King County stakeholders are better able to speak with a united voice to ensure external programs and policies address local community needs. In interviews conducted during the first six months of this project, South King County stakeholders consistently identified a goal to speak with a united South King County voice. The lack of this voice is seen as a significant barrier to stronger funding and political influence across the county. At the same time, key decision makers outside of SKC also expressed a hope for a stronger SKC voice to ensure that they are hearing clear input on proposed systems and policy change. In order to effectively present a unified position on housing and homelessness issues in South King County, city staff, service providers, and developers had to come together to develop an agreed upon set of priorities and policy positions. Joint Planners and Developers Workgroup In November 2015, the Joint Planners and Developers workgroup met to identify their 2016 goals. During the meeting, which was facilitated by an outside party, 7 11 the group identified six goal areas to prioritize for the South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership in the coming year. These goals, finalized in January 2016, are: • Maintain and improve healthy affordable housing • Increase funding for affordable housing (federal, state, and local) • Address barriers to housing development • Provide emergency homeless services • Build public awareness to address housing and homeless needs • Increase awareness and connections between housing and other key issues The group identified 3 -4 specific strategies or policy priorities under each goal to focus on in 2016. This goals document can serve as a basic framework for cities to explore local opportunities to positively impact housing and homelessness in their community. The SKHHP goals document has also served as the first step towards a united South King County voice for housing and homelessness issues. Homelessness Action Committee The first iteration of the South King County Homelessness Action Committee (HAC) originally formed in 2008. The group of SKC stakeholders from county and local governments, non - profit housing and service providers, and funders published the South King County Response to Homelessness: A Call to Action (SKC Response). The report highlights eight strategies designed to respond to the unique factors that cause and perpetuate homelessness in South King County. Using the work plan outlined in the SKC Response as a guide, SKC stakeholders organized and began making coordinated progress on tackling some of the issues specific to the region. Due to subsequent funding loss and staff turnover, the group lost momentum toward achieving those local goals and connection to countywide priorities and planning. In refocusing on this body of work, it was necessary for the group to reexamine and refine these eight strategies. Through a series of meetings, the HAC identified the following SKC Response strategies as the highest priorities: • Develop the political and community will to prevent and end homelessness. • Build on existing promising programs in South King County, both geographically and quantitatively, to provide appropriate solutions for the unique needs of all cities in South King County. 12 • Provide services and support to prevent homelessness, rapidly re -house those who have lost their housing and increase permanent supportive housing resources to prevent and end chronic homelessness. • Prevent homelessness by supporting local and regional plans to create and expand job training, job supports, and living wage jobs so that South King County employees are able to maintain their housing. After identifying their priority strategies, the HAC identified actions under each strategy, and participated in a heat - mapping exercise to focus in on a top action in each strategy. The immediate actions that this group has decided to move forward on are: • Better coordinate efforts between workforce investment activities and housing and human services. • Work to increase tenant protections and increase access to tenant rights information. • Provide additional outreach to business and chamber groups, civic clubs, elected officials, faith communities, the public, education, and public safety. • Create a gap analysis of need vs availability of homeless services in South King County. Through facilitated conversations and activities, members of HAC will continue to meet over the next few months to dive into these actions and create measurable progress on their prioritized strategies. The group has started to move forward in these actions with the help of partners such as Solid Ground, the Tenant's Union of WA, the South King Council of Human Services, and All Home. SKC stakeholders, including those in the education, employment and health sector, are more engaged in housing and homelessness activities. Multiple community and professional groups across South King County work to positively impact regional outcomes related to health, financial wellbeing, housing access, education, and employment. A few of these groups have clear cross - sector engagement with an overarching focus on homelessness issues, such as the South King County Forum on Homelessness and City Vision. However, the most active groups drawing from different fields in the area seem to be primarily comprised of direct service staff. Key components of these meetings are resource sharing and networking, which fill a clear and specific need in such a large region with comparatively few co- located services. The lack of 9 13 engagement across sectors from higher level nonprofit and city staff and elected officials, however, keeps these meetings as information sharing rather than intentional and strategic policy and program change. Silos within these fields of work can start to be broken down through increased collaboration and communication, which requires additional staff capacity. The lack of connections between the committees and groups doing strategic work in these fields can frequently be attributed to the need for staff to prioritize their time. As the SKC Housing Planner has added some capacity to the groups doing housing and homelessness work, the SKHHP staff has made an effort to connect with these groups over the past six months and provide support for stronger collaborations. The staff has provided technical support for cross - disciplinary grant applications to community based organizations as well as facilitated meetings between housing developers and other groups interested in lending support or land to increase affordable housing in their community. In addition to holding extensive individual stakeholder meetings and attending community gatherings, the SKC Housing Planner has also presented to community groups and city councils on the South King Housing and Homelessness Partnership and the state of housing affordability in their community. In future months, we aim to support and inspire stronger partnerships and more holistic and effective community solutions to housing affordability and livability by working more collaboratively with workforce development, education, and health sectors. In May 2016, the Housing Development Consortium led a countywide Affordable Housing Week to bring community members, non - profit agencies, businesses, and elected officials together to highlight the need for increased affordable housing in all of our cities. Twenty cities, including seven in South King County, declared the week of May 16 -22, 2016 to be Affordable Housing Week and included an item on their city council agendas to highlight the issue and its impact on the local community. With the support of SKHHP, events during the week showed a strong SKC presence with multiple elected officials, city staff, and SKC agencies participating. Affordable Housing Week engaged SKC stakeholders from varying sectors through events, council meetings, local media coverage, and community conversations on housing and homelessness. Efforts like these create a foothold with which to further the conversation and engage 10 14 people across sectors in developing creative and effective solutions for their community and the larger region. Over the past six months, the SKC Housing Planner has worked to ensure that there is a voice for SKC housing and homelessness issues across sectors both in and out of the region. The newsletter, email blasts, and coordination at SKC meetings have highlighted opportunities for engagement to stakeholders. However, there is more work to be done to ensure that SKC stakeholders show up to these spaces and provide the consistent engagement that will bring a SKC perspective to the forefront. Case Study: Using Innovative City Partnerships to Address Local Service Needs Three years ago, the City of Renton entered into an exciting and unusual partnership with the Renton Ecumenical Association of Churches (REACH). The city offered the old jail space in the city hall building for use as a day center, if REACH could fund and make the required renovations to re- purpose it. REACH held a successful fundraising campaign, and in May of 2013, the Center of Hope opened. The day center, which offers showers and laundry, cooking facilities, clothing, housing and employment services, case management, and youth and children's services for families and children experiencing homelessness, has served 439 families since its opening. Renton's Human Services Manager Karen Bergsvik says about the program, "City of Renton elected officials and city staff have embraced the Center of Hope since it has opened, and it has been a great way to educate people about homelessness in a very non - threatening and caring way. The Management Association provides presents for their annual holiday party and a donation to their budget, leftover food from city meetings is donated to the center, and individuals donate blankets, toys, toiletries, and children's books." This model helps to shift city staff perspective and address the stigma of homelessness while engaging in a program of harm reduction and trauma informed care. Key Observations • Stakeholder engagement from external decision makers in South King County is varied; at times, the engagement is more focused on informing them of the process rather than bringing them in to inform the process. Relationship building between stakeholders and regional decision makers takes time but is essential to ensure that regional policies are not shaped by any one city's unique need, or by the loudest voice at the table. 11 15 • In order to effectively engage a diverse set of stakeholders in regional housing and homelessness policy information, it is vital to increase accessibility and reduce barriers in how and when that information is presented. • City Human Services staff in South King County, when empowered by city leaders, are uniquely suited to provide perspective on homeless service systems and city policy, as they operate from the unusual overlapping role of direct service, policy, and administrative oversight. They see how policy decisions impact the most vulnerable members of their communities, and can act as the bridge between intention and impact. • Even though there is wide SKC stakeholder involvement in regional committees, communication between SKC groups is murky between the points of discussion and action. SKC representatives on these committees should develop a mechanism for reporting out to the broader stakeholder network, and they should feel empowered to speak to the unique issues facing SKC while in those discussions. • Cities with an elected official as a champion for housing and homelessness issues seem to be making progress on creating greater buy in from the community by creating explicit processes for discussion and community education, and exemplifying clear, consistent leadership and commitment to action. Next Steps In the coming months, SKHHP will continue to move forward on these four overarching goals. The SKC Housing planner will work with the Homelessness Action Committee and Joint Planners and Developers workgroup to develop a set of specific actions for 2017 and create a legislative agenda to share with cities. As the time frame of this program is limited to 3 years, discussions within the group have begun to focus on sustainability planning. SKHHP has been working with SKC cities to explore potential long -term frameworks for a more united South King County voice, and will continue to discuss the possibilities for developing an inter -local agreement and promoting stronger engagement from across sectors, including from city elected officials. 16 12