Today the Seattle City Auditor released its review of aspects of the city’s homeless response related to early outreach, hygiene services, and rigorous evaluation. The report was critical of the city’s execution on all three issues.
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Fort Lawton Redevelopment Plan released
Today the Office of Housing released its draft Redevelopment Plan for the Fort Lawton site in Magnolia, moving the project one step closer to reality after a nearly thirteen years roller-coaster ride.
Continue readingSeattle and King County slowly moving toward regional governance for homelessness response
While most of the attention in 2018 was on the lackluster and fruitless “One Table” effort to drive a regional response to homelessness, it appears that quietly the stage was being set for a move to a regional governance system — or at least for the parts under the control of Seattle and King County.
Continue readingUnderstanding the Mayor’s Proposed 2019-2020 Budget: Homelessness Response
On October 3, the Mayor’s Office walked through for the City Council the parts of the proposed budget related to responding to the homelessness crisis, which span several departments. Let’s dive into the details.
Continue readingHarrell announces new Council committee on homelessness and affordable housing
This afternoon, Council President Bruce Harrell announced the newest Council committee: the Select Committee on Homelessness and Housing Affordability.
Continue readingThursday news roundup: #SeaHomeless day
Today is the day that several local news outlets team up to talk about the homelessness crisis.
Continue readingThe Human Services Department got the message
This afternoon the Human Services Department briefed the City Council on the performance of its homelessness response programs. It was the dawn of a new era in transparency and accountability for the department.
Continue readingCouncil passes Mayor’s “bridge housing and shelter” plan
This afternoon the City Council approved Mayor Durkan’s package of bridge funding for homeless shelters, her attempt at a “surge” to get more homeless people off the streets and into safer locations.
Continue readingCouncil moves suddenly and swiftly to repeal the head tax
In a sudden and unexpected move today, Council President Bruce Harrell introduced a bill that would repeal the recently-enacted employee-hours tax (aka the “head tax”) and scheduled a special meeting of the full City Council for tomorrow to deliberate and vote on it.
Continue readingUnderstanding the 2018 Point in Time homeless count
Yesterday, King County released a report with statistics from its annual “Point in Time” count of homeless people living in the county. The 140-page report is an ocean of data and charts. But if you look closely, you can see the story of what’s happening to the homeless population — as well as the city and county’s response.
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