The Seattle City Council’s Housing and Human Services Committee will be briefed Wednesday on the organizations handling some $6.1 million in city funding to perform outreach work hoped to help connect more of the thousands living on the city’s streets with shelter and services.
The city says in 2025 it is deploying a new “District Outreach Model.” In District 3 covering Capitol Hill and the Central District, the Salvation Army will handle both street-level and vehicle-based outreach.
The Downtown Emergency Services Center is handling behavioral health outreach in D3 and across the city.
The Salvation Army’s street work will also cover downtown and the rest of District 7.
CHS reported here in 2023 on the Salvation Army’s outreach work around Capitol Hill. In June 2023, the Salvation Army’s “Street Level” program received a $1.2 million contract to expand its efforts to Central Seattle including the Central District and Capitol Hill. The team consisted of five individuals; a behavioral health specialist, a resource coordinator, and three outreach workers equipped with one van.
Evergreen Treatment Services REACH and University Heights Center will handle street and vehicle outreach in the rest of the city’s districts.
The morning briefing (PDF) comes as the city has clawed back much of the administration of resources including outreach from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, to ensure, the Seattle Human Services Department says, “services align with City needs, focus on unsheltered homelessness, and are coordinated with the Unified Care Team,” the city’s effort linking together its own resources dedicated to combating homelessness.
In the briefing, the city says five organizations are also handling “Population-Specific Outreach” including YouthCare’s focus on youth and young adults.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration has emphasized metrics and fiscal responsibility in pulling back power from the regional authority. HSD says it will “measure agency performance across three areas” and “evaluate impact to ensure the model best serves all Seattle’s communities” as it considers program funding.
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