Could Tacoma be closing in on location for youth homeless shelter?

The city of Tacoma has money set aside to build a permanent shelter for homeless youths and another for young adults. It has selected an operator. The only thing that’s been missing is the perfect plot of land.

Until now. Maybe.

The Tacoma Housing Authority board has offered to lease the city land — for free — where it could build both shelters. The 3.5-acre Arlington Drive property, adjacent to the housing authority’s Salishan development and bordered by First Creek Gulch, could accommodate a 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot single-level building that could house up to 15 youths at a time.

The plan also would be to build a drop-in center for day services — like getting a warm meal, applying for jobs and studying for the GED — for people ages 12 to 24, and a shelter for young adults ages 18 to 24 on the same property.

“Right now there’s no place where youths and young adults can go,” said April Black, deputy executive director for the housing authority.

But city of Tacoma officials aren’t quite ready to commit. Human Services Division manager Pamela Duncan said the city is still looking at several sites.

“We’re having conversations, and there is not anything that’s up for public disclosure at this point,” Duncan said. “The city is looking at many properties for these facilities.”

The search for the right location has lasted about two years, Duncan said. The city opened a temporary overnight shelter for older youths, ages 18-24, at the Beacon Senior Center downtown in December.

“We thought we would be done now, and it continues to be a search,” she said. “We have a sense of urgency about getting this done and we also know that we have to ensure that the location fits with the needs of that population.”

In the past 30 years, Pierce County has had no permanent shelter for homeless youths and young adults, Duncan said.

The need in Tacoma is great. The Pierce County 2016 Point in Time Count recorded 65 sheltered and 25 unsheltered homeless youths, and that could be an undercount, according to a June memo and resolution from housing authority Executive Director Michael Mirra to the group’s board.

Experiencing homelessness at a young age increases the chances of drug abuse, delinquency, prostitution and being exposed to violence, according to the resolution.

Part of the complication in finding the right place has been that the two populations — 12- to 17-year-olds and 18- to 24-year-olds — have to be separated overnight, according to the state.

Duncan said the city has set aside $2.83 million to acquire land, build the facilities and fund the operations, money that comes from the city’s one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax to pay for mental health programs. Pierce County has promised to kick in $500,000, she said.

Community Youth Services, the nonprofit that runs the shelter for young adults at the Beacon Senior Center downtown, would handle operations, she said. With about 40 beds, that shelter is almost at capacity each night, the housing authority said.

“We know we can impact adult homelessness if we get the young person early enough in their lives,” said Kurt Miller, executive director of Community Youth Services-Pierce County.

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Could Tacoma be closing in on location for youth homeless shelter?."