Tacoma sets goals to end homelessness. Here’s the city’s plan for the next 5 years

More than 1,850 people are homeless in Pierce County, and Tacoma wants to reach “functional zero” with its homelessness response by supporting permanent housing and providing supportive services for those who are homeless.

The City of Tacoma’s Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness, which was released this week, outlines five goals to create immediate access to shelter and for those who are experiencing homelessness to access shelter, services and a pathway toward stable permanent housing.

“We recognize that homelessness is a complex situation and as such we want to make sure that we are able to fund traditional approaches to addressing homelessness and be ready to work on innovative options to meeting people where they are in their journey,” said Caleb Carbone, City of Tacoma Homeless Strategy, Systems and Services Manager. “This plan represents a lot of work that is ongoing by both the City and our amazing community partners who are providing direct services daily.”

The city has proposed $34 million in homeless services in its 2023-2024 biennial budget. Almost $16 million is one-time resources that will allow for the stand-up of expanded permanent shelter and more temporary and emergency shelters.

According to the Pierce County Homeless Point-In-Time Count, between 2017 to 2022, homelessness in the county increased by 40 percent with 1,851 people experiencing homelessness.

This year, there are 1,225 shelter beds and 137 permanent housing units. For 2023-2024, there will be 1,375 shelter beds, 137 permanent supportive housing units and 120 affordable housing units. At the end of that biennium, one-time funding ends, and the city will transition out of temporary and empty shelter to more sustainable housing. For 2025-2026, there will be 748 shelter beds, 281 permanent supportive housing units and 241 affordable housing units, with 427 units of unfunded shelter needed. For 2027-2028, the support shelter and housing capacity remains the same, and the need for unfunded shelter decreases to 145 units.

The current projected funding gap is approximately $6.25 million a year starting in 2025.

“Homelessness remains a central issue across Tacoma as the conditions that contribute to homelessness have continued to worsen due to the housing affordability crisis and the two pandemics of this time period, COVID-19 and racism,” the homelessness strategy stated.

The strategy aligns with Pierce County’s Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness, which was ratified in March, to increase shelter capacity and services across the system to relieve the heavily weighted shelter capacity in the city and shift efforts to increase affordable housing. The report outlines action items that coordinates with the county’s plan.

The City of Tacoma’s Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness goals are broken down in immediate, within a year, short-term, one to two years, and long-term, three to five years. They are:

1. Ensure affordable housing is available and accessible to Tacoma residents

“For many people, this increasing gap between housing costs and wages forces them to make difficult decisions that sometimes end in couch-surfing, sleeping in their car or sleeping in a tent,” the document stated. “Pierce County’s Point-In-Time count has reported in the last five years an increased number of 530 people experience homelessness because of the gap of rising costs and stagnate wages.”

The city has increased shelter capacity but still needs to create more affordable housing options, the document stated.

Immediate action:

• create flexibility in contracting so providers can address barriers.

Short-term actions, to accomplish in the next one to two years:

• establish a Workforce Development and Financial Empowerment program (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• create resources for households experiencing a housing crisis.

Long-term actions, three to five years:

• ease the process of applying and using rental assistance and expanding funding for new development,
• continue to expand local funding to provide support services in new development.

2. Everyone experiencing homelessness in Tacoma or impacted by homelessness can access services and support.

The city’s primary mechanism for encampment response is the Homeless Engagement Alternative Liaison Team, which addresses basic needs, assists with belongings storage, provides rides to shelter or treatment facilities and helps with mental health support.

Immediate actions:

• work with outreach workers, service providers and hospital social workers to create exit plans to prevent homelessness,
• maintain presence at encampments and with people who are unsheltered,
• develop pathway for BIPOC members to transition out of homelessness,
• create a dashboard to track those experiencing homelessness in real time with outreach efforts and shelter/housing options (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan).
  
  

Short-term actions:

• create a “by-name list” to accurately count people who are experiencing homelessness (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• fund the expansion of detox centers and initiatives for immediate access to treatment facilities,
• strengthen the referral process for transitional housing and housing intervention (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan).
  
  

Long-term actions:

• implement racial assessments,
• support existing providers to expand permanent supportive housing programs in Tacoma/Pierce County (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• create new permanent supportive housing stock for those exiting encampments and shelters (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
• and with dedicated units for target groups, like the BIPOC population.

3. A shelter system in Tacoma that offers residents an easily-accessible, safe and dignified experience.

The document states the city wants to move from solely funding sheltering to providing on-demand treatment and direct pathways into housing.

Immediate actions:

• streamline intake services in partnership with the HEAL team (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• prioritize health services (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• increase shelter staff workforce,
• develop pathways for BIPOC to exit homelessness into subsidized housing that practices harm reduction models and provides mental health and substance use support,
• publish daily and monthly reporting on bed utilization, capacity and availability (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan).
  
  

Short-term actions:

• expand permanent shelter capacity with existing providers,
• continue to engage with targeted populations to identify needs and find alternative solutions and providers,
• standardize training with providers in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Long-term action:

• implement racial equity assessment to address disparities and support anti-racist transformation.

4. Tacoma’s homeless service system provides individuals and families with access to a continuum of tailored supports to prevent and end homelessness.

“Challenges with mental health can be a precursor to homelessness or it could be a result of being unsheltered for a period of time,” the strategy plan states. “It can be exaggerated by not having adequate resources, treatments, and services, and can be paired with substance abuse, lack of family or social support, or it can be tied to a traumatic experience.”

Immediate actions:

• prioritize funding for agencies providing tailored interventions that reduce racial disparities (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• prioritize direct trauma-informed care treatment and interventions programming,

• research direct intervention for best-practices and direct MHSUD interventions,

• increase temporary financial assistance to help get people into permanent housing or remaining housed.

Short-term actions:

• target funding to agencies that address racial disparities and disproportionalities in behavioral health, mental health and substance use disorder treatment models,
• increase funding to providers to navigate treatment facilities and services for substance use disorder,
• support legal programs
• increasing access to mental health (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan).
  
  

Long-term action:

• create more capacity for in-patient treatment for mental health and substance use disorder.

5. Tacoma’s homeless service system provides individuals and families with access to permanent, stable housing in order to end the cycle of homelessness.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development report, Exploring Homelessness among People Living in Encampments and Associated Costs, which evaluated Tacoma, stated “Ultimately, the response to encampments must go beyond the shelter system and provide opportunities for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to be placed in permanent housing.”

Short-term actions:

• expand permanent shelter capacity with existing providers (Pierce County Comprehensive Plan),
  
  
• target funding for rapid rehousing programs,
• support existing service and shelter providers,
• target funding and contracting to increase services to enhance life skills and maintain adequate housing.

Long-term actions:

• divert funding from emergency shelter spending for permanent supportive housing services to support new units,
• target funding for transitional housing programs,
• target funding that expands and diversifies housing models to help address needs and barriers for people who are homeless.

This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 9:14 AM.