King County gets new, five-year plan to address homelessness

It took some revising but King County’s Regional Homelessness Authority has a new, five-year plan. The Authority’s Governing Committee unanimously approved the plan Thursday after months of public input.

The plan includes steps like improving severe weather shelters and outreach to get people inside, partnering with Public Health Seattle – King County to help people with medical needs, and expanding emergency housing for trans and gender non-conforming individuals.

Overall, the goal is to reduce unsheltered homelessness as much as possible.

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority says it can achieve these steps with its current budget of about $250 million a year. They'll also work to get more federal funding through programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

The Authority's Governing Committee, made up of elected officials and people who have lived unsheltered before, approved the plan unanimously.

The original plan said it would take up to $12 billion over the next five years to end homelessness in the county. Some elected leaders were shocked by that number and were not on board.

The new plan, approved this week, is much smaller and focuses on goals the Authority can accomplish with its current budget.

Interim CEO of the Authority, Helen Howell, said they’ll know they’re successful when, “we see that we have more shelter beds and housing options, people have the services they need and can move through the system quickly, fewer people returned to living outside after shelter, and more people are permanently housed.”

The Authority is funded by the city of Seattle, King County, the state of Washington, and also gets money from the federal government and private donors.

The group estimates that about 53,000 people in the county experienced homelessness at some point last year.