Pierce County Aims To End Street Homelessness By November

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — The Pierce County Council is considering a plan that could end street homelessness inside the county by the end of the year.

Tuesday morning, the county council's Human Services Committee forwarded a proposal to dramatically expand access to emergency shelters by Nov. 1, enough to provide shelter for every single person struggling with homelessness in the county, getting them off the street and safe indoors.

As Pierce County Council Chair Derek Young stresses, that doesn't mean the plan will fix all problems surrounding homelessness in the county, but it will give homeless residents somewhere safe to stay where they can access important services.

"What you're looking at is the beginning of the process," Young said.

The proposal explains that one of the biggest challenges facing their plan is a lack of data surrounding homelessness. According to the 2020 Homeless Point-In-Time Count, there were about 1,897 people experiencing homelessness in Pierce County. Of those, just 17 percent, around 322, were living outdoors.

Finding shelter for 322 people in six months time seems feasible, but the pandemic and resulting economic fallout has likely boosted those numbers. Unfortunately the pandemic also severely undercut the scope of the 2021 Point-In-Time Count, which did not account for unsheltered residents — leaving some big questions about how much shelter the plan will need to provide.

Luckily, there's still time to find those numbers. One recommendation suggests hiring a data analyst to better determine the full scope of the problem. Other ideas include pulling data tracked by school districts, prisons, jails and health care providers to get a more accurate headcount.

"My hunch is that we'll be ready around mid-to-late summer to come back to [the council] and say 'okay here is what it would take to end street homelessness'," said Heather Moss, Pierce County's Director of Human Services.

There's also time for community input. If the council approves the proposal as is, starting May 17 they will begin creating focus groups with representatives from shelters, clients and neighbors to further refine the plan. Following that, there will be a period of public input from June through early July, at which point the shelter plan will be finalized. The actual expansion of shelters is set for August through October, with that ultimate goal of having all contracts in place by Nov. 1.

During Tuesday's meeting Young said the November goal may be a "stretch", but expressed optimism in the plan at large, forwarding it to the full council for consideration.

The proposal to extend emergency shelters and end street homelessness is running concurrent with another, longer-term plan that aims to end homelessness outright. That program is still in the early phases, but will be developed over the coming months and presented to the county council for review on Nov. 4.

>> Read the full housing plan as presented to the Pierce County Council's Human Services Comittee.