Document Everett_doc_1beda0beea

Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force Report November 13, 2014 Executive Summary The Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force was convened in July 2014 by Mayor Stephanson. The Task Force was composed of 23 members representing a broad cross section of the City, including business leaders, residents, the faith community, and leaders of the major nonprofit service agencies in Everett serving those with mental health and addiction problems and the homeless. The mission of the Task Force was to “foster a vibrant and healthy community . . . [by] better understand[ing] the street- level social issues in Everett’s commercial core areas and identify[ing] potential short- and long-term actions for the community to address those issues.” The Task Force met nine times, from July to November 2014. Task Force meetings were open to the public. The Task Force received dozens of written comments and held a public hearing to receive additional input. Task Force members had the opportunity visit with: local nonprofits, including a local mental health facility, a drug treatment program, a church feeding program; the Snohomish County Jail; and a panel of local downtown business owners. The group heard from local service providers, government leaders, and representatives from across the criminal justice system. Representative from Tacoma and Seattle presented their experience and recommendations to the Task Force. The group also looked at selected best practices from elsewhere in the country and reviewed the transcript of a focus group held in September with nearly 40 homeless individuals at the Everett Gospel Mission. Task Force work was supported by a team of local government staff leaders who sat at the table each meeting and actively participated in the deliberations as nonvoting members. The street-level social issues that the City of Everett is experiencing are common to other urban centers throughout the State and the nation. In Everett, these issues are most visible in the highly compact City center. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Everett is the County seat: downtown Everett is home to the County Jail and most of the major human services providers for the entire County. The street level social issues in Everett are serious, and are in large part—but not entirely – a of poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addiction. The situation negatively impacts the quality of life in the area and vitality of local businesses. Public safety is perceived by many to be diminished. The situation also raises concerns for the well-being of the individuals on City streets. The problems of urban homelessness, mental illness and addiction are complex and are addressed by many different public and nongovernmental agencies: the criminal justice system; emergency medical services and hospitals; human services and housing agencies. A successful response to the street level social issues in Everett will require a more coordinated response from all these parties—as well as the support and engagement of residents and the business community. The Task Force believes a strong, coordinated systems approach is needed to effectively address the street level social issues in Everett, and moreover, this effort must occur not just within Everett but countywide. Everett should not be the single locus of activity to address what are in fact countywide challenges. This report identifies sixteen separate strategies and over sixty supporting action items that the Task Force believes should be pursued to address the street level social issues in Everett. The recommendations range from specific public safety measures, to expanding outreach to the street population, to enhancing services and treatment available to street populations, to increasing the supply ---PAGE BREAK--- ii of shelter and permanent housing. In addition, the Task Force sees better public understanding, improved inter-agency coordination and communication, and selective advocacy as keys to success. The Task Force’s highest priority recommendations are presented below—the first five of these are public safety action items now being pursued or endorsed by the City under the Mayor’s direction. The Task Force has asked to be reconvened in March 2015, and every six months thereafter for the next two years, to review the implementation plan to be developed for pursuing Task Force recommendations, and progress made over time. Progress on street level social issues in Everett is possible, and it is necessary. For Everett to become a vibrant and healthy community, we must care about all our citizens, and act, individually and collectively, to address the needs of all residents. Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force Priority Recommendations November 2014 Short-Term Actions: Alcohol Impact Area(s) – designate area(s) within the City in which the sale of high alcohol content, inexpensive single-serving take out products is prohibited. Amend the aggressive begging ordinance to prohibit panhandling at intersections and on median strips without changing the associated penalty for these offenses. Increase law enforcement presence in the commercial core areas (especially bike and foot patrols), and incorporate outreach to street populations into police and EMS services. Embed a social worker in EMS and police teams. Explore the use of qualified non-commissioned personnel if there are insufficient commissioned officers to implement this recommendation. Develop a multi-agency team of emergency medical, police, jail and hospital personnel to respond to frequent utilizers (identified in consultation with business and property owners) with individually tailored plans to improve functioning of such individuals and reduce the burden on these systems. Jail Transition Services Facility: Support the County’s current proposal to convert the Carnegie Building, adjacent to the Jail, into a jail transition facility with services, caseworkers and temporary shelter for individuals released from Jail so they are not released onto the streets without resources. Expand use of therapeutic courts: Expand the City’s existing Community Justice Alternatives program to include a drug court, and explore the feasibility of a homeless court and community court. Adjust jail release time from midnight to a reasonable hour when complimentary services are open. Ensure released inmates and other dislocated individuals (for example, those released from emergency rooms or other facilities) are returned to their place of origin or where relational support is present. ---PAGE BREAK--- iii Implement best practices at meal programs. These include providing indoor waiting and serving areas, monitored restroom facilities and pro-active clean-up of neighboring areas, and engaging individuals served in the operation of the meal program where possible. Faith based communities should be convened twice a year for best practices training. Those offering meal programs should coordinate times and locations to best serve needs throughout the community. Map resources available in Everett for people experiencing homelessness and others in need (time of day, type, location) so service providers, governments, and the community have a clearer picture of what is going on, where. This can also be used to help get information to those in need. Short- and Long-Term Strategies: begin now—but expect this to take longer than 2 years to fully implement Increase capacity of, and access to, drop-in day centers in the City, by expanding hours, exploring the creation of additional centers and where possible expanding services and amenities available at day centers. Expand countywide capacity to effectively serve the specialized treatment needs of homeless populations, including the creation of additional triage bed capacity, medical detox treatment beds for youth and the construction of an additional detox facility in South Snohomish County. Provide more shelter bed capacity to serve a range of populations in need. Expand use of “Housing First” Model to provide “low barrier” housing for chronically homeless individuals, after which they can begin to get treatment. Given that new housing is expensive to develop under traditional approaches, explore efforts to develop low cost and non-traditional housing options – with attached services –such as shared housing, shipping container housing, and subsidized micro-housing. Replicate the successful housing levy model implemented in Seattle and Bellingham (either an Everett levy or a countywide levy) to accomplish a coordinated set of housing projects addressing community priorities. Leverage local funding by advocating for an increased allocation of State Housing Trust Fund dollars for in-City projects. Everett and Snohomish County must work with other cities and public agencies throughout the County to encourage them to address issues of homelessness in their own communities so there is less pressure on Everett’s resources. The City, County, service providers, and business community should join forces to advocate for additional state, federal and private funding resources to help address the City’s street level social issues. Treatment dollars, capital dollars, outreach dollars: all are needed. ---PAGE BREAK--- Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force Report November 13, 2014 Introduction  Task Force Mission This Task Force was convened by Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson in late July, 2014, and charged to “foster a vibrant and healthy community . . . [by] better understand[ing] the street-level social issues in Everett’s commercial core areas and identify[ing] potential short- and long-term actions for the community to address those issues.” We chose to augment this mission in one respect: to ensure we also consider citywide impacts, including impacts of our recommendations on residential neighborhoods. “Commercial core areas” are defined by the City to include downtown Everett (including the Everett Transit Center area), the Everett Mall, Evergreen Way (including the intersection at 41st), and Broadway. As a Task Force, we share the Mayor’s vision that Everett become a vibrant and healthy community. A hallmark of this vision, in our view, is that our community cares about all its citizens and that we act, individually and collectively, to address the needs of all residents.  Task Force Membership We are a citizen group, and our role is advisory. Each of us was selected to serve on the Task Force by Mayor Stephanson. Our 23 members reflect a wide diversity of interests in Everett—business leaders from real estate, retail, restaurant, medicine, and law; residents; the faith community; and leaders of the major nonprofit service agencies in the City serving those with mental health and addiction problems and the homeless. Each of us was allowed to appoint an alternate to serve in our absence. Our work was supported by a team of government staff leaders, who sat at the table with us and participated actively in our deliberations but were not voting members of the Task Force. This team brought an important depth of experience to our deliberations, and included the County Sheriff, County Director of Human Services, City Police Chief, Assistant City Fire Chief, Deputy City Attorney, City Economic Development Director, Neighborhoods and Community Services Executive Administrator, and the Director of the Everett Housing Authority. A full list of our members and the support team is included at Attachment A.  Our Process The Task Force met nine times, for three hours each meeting. All our meetings were open to the public and were well attended, some by nearly 100 residents. We typically had 30 -50 people observe each meeting. We provided comment forms to get input from all attendees, and offered an ability to submit comments online. All comments submitted were transcribed and provided to us for our consideration. In addition, we conducted a public hearing on September 9, at which we heard testimony from 10 ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 individuals. All our materials, including all the public comments, meeting summaries and presentations, and videos of all meetings were posted online on the City’s website. To begin our deliberations, we adopted a charter to guide our decision making process. We spent most of our first five meetings learning about the street level social issues in Everett. We began by learning about Everett’s street populations—who they are, what challenges they face. The County Department of Human Services provided extensive data related to these questions and identified gaps in the existing data. We heard from Police Chief Templeman and Sheriff Trenary about the crime issues in the City and the challenges at the County Jail. We heard from representatives of the criminal justice system –a Municipal Court judge, City prosecutor and public defender. We heard from government and nonprofit service providers and business and property owners in Everett. We heard from agencies that provide temporary and crisis housing in the City and from agencies providing permanent housing. At our fifth meeting, representatives from Tacoma and Seattle discussed their strategies and lessons learned in addressing street level social issues, and staff provided us materials about other selected programs around the Country. A series of site visits were arranged for us, so that we could get a better understanding of the issues. We were able to visit local nonprofits, including a local mental health facility, a drug treatment program, a church feeding program, and the Snohomish County Jail. We also had the opportunity to meet with a panel of local downtown business owners to hear their concerns. A list of the site visits is presented at Attachment B. We wanted to ensure that we heard the perspectives of homeless individuals. For this purpose, the Everett Gospel Mission conducted a focus group with approximately 40 men who are currently homeless. Three Task Force members attended this focus group and the Task Force was provided a transcript of the discussion (presented at Attachment Among the major “take-aways” from this focus group are:  Virtually all the individuals said they would go into housing immediately if they could. They are not on the street by choice.  There are a variety of barriers to getting into housing: lack of available units, lack of rental history or sufficient income, drug or alcohol use, or having a criminal record.  Many expressed a desire to be able to access services to help them improve their situation—from health care, treatment and counseling, to job training.  Many mentioned the desire to be able to have a job and contribute to the community.  These individuals reject the stereotypes applied to them. They expressed concern about drugs and violence on the streets-- concern about their own safety, and theft of their few belongings. After completing these informational meetings, a long list of potential recommendations was developed based on suggestions offered in our first six meetings. In addition, each Task Force Member was given the opportunity to suggest potential recommendations. We also formed three subcommittees, including Task Force members, staff, and others in the community, to bring back focused recommendations in three key areas: ---PAGE BREAK--- 3  Criminal Justice  Outreach and Emergency Services  Permanent Housing and Wrap-Around Services After some work to consolidate similar ideas, we ended up with 93 different items to consider. We used ballots to vote on each of these items and express our level of support for each. Per our charter, items supported by at least 80% of Task Force members voting were considered to be “consensus” items; items supported by at least 60% but less than 80% were considered to be “recommended” items. We discussed the results of the voting at our 7th and 8th meetings and made a number of adjustments. Using this process, we identified 40 consensus items and 23 recommended items. An additional 30 items did not receive sufficient support to be included as recommendations. Our consensus and recommended items are presented below in the form of 16 strategies, each with a number of supporting action items. At our last two meetings, we developed our list of priority recommendations and we reviewed and provided input into the drafting of this report, prepared by our independent facilitator. The Challenge The street-level social issues that the City of Everett is experiencing are common to other urban centers throughout the State and the nation. In Everett, these issues are most visible in our highly compact City center. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Everett is the County seat: downtown Everett is home to the County Jail and most of the major human services providers for the entire County. The Task Force identified the following street-level social issues and conditions to be of greatest concern:  Street conduct and behaviors: aggressive panhandling, loitering, vandalism, public intoxication, urination and defecation, drug dealing; bizarre, unpredictable, disoriented or disturbing conduct and speech; and sleeping, lying and sitting on the streets.  Physical conditions on the streets: litter, including alcoholic beverage containers and hypodermic needles; personal belongings stored or abandoned on sidewalks, in alleys and on other public and private property.  Criminal conduct (in addition to the above): shoplifting, car prowls, theft and miscellaneous other crimes.  Visible street homelessness.  Mental illness and addiction problems suffered by many on the streets. These issues are in large part—but not entirely – a of poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addiction. Task Force members and other community stakeholders and members of the public expressed the following concerns arising from or related to these street-level social issues:  The quality of life, attractiveness of the area, and vitality of business activity in the City’s commercial core areas are adversely affected.  Public safety in commercial core areas is perceived by many to be diminished. ---PAGE BREAK--- 4  Concern that visible street homelessness in the commercial core areas make those areas less attractive to visitors.  Concern for the well-being of individuals on our streets experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addiction. The Task Force identified a number of constraints and obstacles to addressing these issues and concerns: Institutional challenges:  Lack of an overall vision and focus on bringing together our currently fragmented criminal justice, emergency medical service (EMS), hospital, mental health and human services systems to better address these issues.  Lack of communication and coordination among social service providers, government agencies, businesses and residents.  Insufficient funding and service capacity to provide the addiction and mental health treatment and other services required to successfully address these issues.  Insufficient supply of low-income permanent housing to meet the needs of the City’s population.  Insufficient police staffing to provide an increased presence in commercial core areas.  Traditional criminal justice and law enforcement responses, while appropriate for many, are often ineffective, inappropriate, and too expensive to deal with street level social issues but effective alternatives to the traditional system are being deployed in limited ways in Everett.  Governmental restrictions often make it difficult to site housing and services, which drives up the costs of these facilities.  Possible misallocation of resources – too great a focus on “band aid” solutions, not enough on strategic solutions and root causes of street-level social issues. Community conditions:  Lack of permanent affordable housing in the City, coupled with a high percentage of the City’s residents being “housing burdened” (paying over 30% of their income for housing).  Community fears about the siting of services and housing facilities in their proximity.  Lack of job and career pathway development for low income and homeless individuals.  Unintended negative impacts on neighborhoods and businesses caused by services intended to respond to street level social issues.  Lack of public understanding of some of underlying causes and complexity of the issues.  Those in need lack the information about where to get help, and may lack the capacity to help themselves. We believe that implementation of our recommendations can and will significantly improve these conditions. ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 Task Force Recommendations Part 1: General Observations & Policy Recommendations We are fortunate in this community to have many excellent service providers in the nonprofit and government sectors, who daily tackle the street level social issues in Everett. Street level social issues are extremely complex and many different government and non-profit agencies and service providers engage different segments of the population at different times. These many agencies and providers are often “siloed” in their activities, which can lead to fragmented service delivery and unintended consequences. We believe a strong systems approach is needed to effectively address street level social issues in Everett. Efforts must be coordinated. Agencies must evaluate actions by identifying and addressing cross-system impacts and coordinating between criminal justice, human services, housing and service provider systems/communities. (12) 1 Moreover, we believe this system analysis and engagement must occur not just within Everett, but on a countywide basis. (72), 74(R). Everett should not be the single locus of activity to address what are in fact countywide challenges. Part 2: Recommendations We present our recommendations below by category. The Task Force identified six categories of challenge and developed recommendations within each: Category 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime Category 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services to Street Populations Category 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Category 4: Improving Public Understanding Category 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination and Communication Category 6: Advocacy Within each category, our recommendations are grouped by specific strategies with supporting tactics/actions identified for each strategy. As noted, we tiered our recommendations into two levels: consensus items receiving support of at least 80% of the Task Force Members voting, and recommendation items, receiving support of at least 60% (but less than 80%) of Task Force members voting. In total, we identified 40 consensus items and 23 recommended items. An additional 30 items did not receive sufficient support to be included in the report. The full list of items considered, and voting results as adjusted by Task Force deliberations, are presented at Attachment D. 1 Numbers correspond to ballot items. The ballot is reproduced at Attachment D. Items with the reference received support of least 60% but less than 80% of Task Force members voting (“recommended” items); all other items are “consensus” items, receiving support from at least 80% of the Task Force members voting. Note that some items are presented in this report in different categories than they appear on the ballot, in an effort to logically organize the many recommendations into a manageable set of strategies. ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 Each of the 93 items was given a preliminary assessment by the City staff team as to its cost and whether it can be accomplished in the short term (1-2 years) or will take longer to accomplish (2-5 years). Staff also identified the required parties to participate in each item, as well as other recommended partners. Please refer to the final ballot at Attachment D for this information. We determined it would be helpful to identify a subset of our many recommendations as priorities. Our priority recommendations are identified in this report with a star icon and are also presented in the Executive Summary.2 Specifically, we identified both short-term and longer-term priorities:  Short term priorities are items that we think can and should be implemented in the next year or two that will show immediate, visible results for the community. Many of these will require sustained effort beyond the initial implementation phase.  Longer-term priorities are items that we think will make the biggest difference in the long term, and that we hope to see significant progress on in the next two to five years. Category 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime The Task Force recommends a mix of traditional and alternative strategies to improve public safety and reduce crime in the City’s commercial core areas. The challenge: The cost to the City of the traditional arrest-prosecute-incarcerate response is increasing dramatically. There are a small number of individuals in the City cycling through the system again and again at tremendous public cost. There is strong evidence that alternatives to traditional policing practices are more effective at reducing overall public costs and helping move people safely off the streets. Policy goals: Criminal Justice practices should be evidence-based and cost effective to reduce recidivism and should not simply shift costs from one entity to another but should result in cost savings for the community as a whole. Law enforcement and criminal justice entities should be transparent and accountable. Their practices should be driven, measured and tracked with meaningful data to show the community how they are affecting crime, recidivism, and street level social issues; data should be available to the public and practices should be modified periodically in response to the data. (13)(R) We are pleased that Mayor Stephanson has announced his support for several of our priority action items in this Category; the items supported by the Mayor are identified below with an asterisk We identify four strategies in this category: Strategy 1.1: Expanded use of effective traditional policing practices. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Alcohol Impact Area(s) – designate area(s) within the City in which the sale of high alcohol content, inexpensive single-serving take out products is prohibited. 2 The Executive Summary table further combines and consolidates some of the priority recommendations identified in the body of this report. ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 Amend the aggressive begging ordinance to prohibit panhandling at intersections and on median strips without changing the associated penalty for these offenses. (10).3* Increase law enforcement presence in the commercial core areas, especially bike and foot patrols. Explore the use of qualified non-commissioned personnel if there are insufficient commissioned officers to implement this recommendation.(16)*  Encourage City police officers to reside in Everett. This will help build communities ties between the police force and the community it serves. Strategy 1.2: Expand efforts to divert non-violent homeless individuals and others suffering from mental illness and substance abuse problems to more effective, less expensive alternatives to detention. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Develop a multi-agency team of emergency medical, police, jail and hospital personnel to respond to frequent utilizers (identified in consultation with business and property owners) with individually tailored plans to improve functioning of such individuals and reduce the burden on these systems. (15)* Incorporate outreach to street populations into police and EMS services: provide police and EMS personnel with training/information on available services to which to refer homeless individuals. Embed a social worker in EMS and police teams. This recommendation is based on a best practices model in Santa Monica, California, that the Everett Police Department has investigated and believes would be successful in Everett. (11)* Expand use of therapeutic courts: expand the City’s existing Community Justice Alternatives program to include a drug court, and explore the feasibility of a homeless court and community court.(2)  Implement a work crew as an alternative sentencing option in lieu of incarceration. The crew would focus on cleaning up (sweeping, litter pickup, etc.) commercial core areas most affected by litter, beer cans, graffiti and other by-products of street disorder. 3 Two Task Force Members, Alan Dorway and Megan Dunn, dissent from the proposed changes to the aggressive panhandling ordinance, expressing concern with the possibility of subjective enforcement and a desire to prevent criminalization of homelessness. They strongly urge the Mayor to re-think this item, as they believe it will either move people toward more desperate measures or saddle the police with unenforceable ticketing. ---PAGE BREAK--- 8  Implement a collaborative, systemic review of the criminal justice system. (14)(R) The various partners in the Criminal Justice system –jails, courts, police, prosecutors, public defenders, EMS must be routinely and actively communicating with one another on ways to improve the effectiveness of the system. The City should provide leadership to ensure this communication occurs. Strategy 1.3: Take steps to ensure individuals leaving the County Jail are less likely to become homeless. Supporting Tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Jail Transition Services Facility: Support the County’s current proposal to convert the Carnegie Building, which is adjacent to the Jail, into a jail transition facility with services, caseworkers and temporary shelter for individuals released from Jail so they are not released onto the streets without resources. The Carnegie Building has been vacant for several years, its interior stripped down; the County has secured a majority of the funding necessary for this project but a portion of the capital budget remains unfunded.* Adjust jail release time from midnight to a reasonable hour when complimentary services are open. Ensure released inmates and other dislocated individuals are returned to their place of origin or where relational support is present. (See also Strategy 2.5— transport of dislocated and/or stranded individuals). Strategy 1.4: Provide skills and outreach services to businesses and residents in the commercial core areas to help reduce crime, more quickly identify emerging problems and ensure prompt response when problems arise. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include:  Broader engagement of the business community in the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) program currently offered by Everett Police.  Implement a Business Outreach Support program, similar to Tacoma’s Business Outreach Support Specialist (BOSS) where a city staff person (not in the Police Department) is charged with working directly with local businesses impacted by unwelcome activities on or near their businesses, including support after hours and on weekends. (33) ---PAGE BREAK--- 9 Category 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services to Street Populations The challenge: There are insufficient services to meet the needs of the City’s street populations. Outreach services, and a place to offer these services, are the necessary foundation for engaging homeless individuals and helping them to make the choice to get off the street and into needed treatment. Without access to day centers, homeless people have no option but to remain on the streets during the day. These facilities are also critical connection points for getting individuals access to treatment services and housing. Several such centers are currently operating in the City: Compass Health, Everett Gospel Mission, and Cocoon House. Additionally, the Recovery Café Project is scheduled to come on line later this year, subject to meeting funding needs. Nationally, data shows that half of the adult homeless population were homeless as youth. The homeless youth count in the City spiked last year. Homeless youth are a population that in our view warrants more attention. Many people who are homeless suffer from alcohol addiction and substance abuse problems. Snohomish County’s population has tripled since the first and only medical detox facility was opened in 1985—operated by Evergreen Manor in the City, with a total of 16 beds. Additionally, the triage bed facility in the City—used in lieu of more expensive (or unavailable) jail beds – is often at capacity. And, there are currently no medical detox beds available for youth in Snohomish County. Homeless individuals also often suffer from mental illness. There is inadequate service capacity to meet the needs of these individuals—a challenge exacerbated by the State Supreme Court’s recent decision to require elimination of “boarding” of mentally ill individuals in hospitals and jails. Church feeding programs provide vital services to homeless and non-homeless individuals and families, but neighboring businesses and residents have raised concerns about the external impacts of these efforts. Policy goals: The Task Force recommends several strategies to build on existing services and programs in the City with the goal of making more effective use of these resources. Overall, additional funding for outreach and services is required to improve the situation. The Task Force endorses prioritizing support for services for children under 18, then for young adults (18-24), and then older populations. (23) Generally, we recommend prioritizing support for programs that help people demonstrating a willingness to help themselves and go to treatment, but affirm the importance of Housing First programs targeting special sub-populations of the chronically homeless. (34) (See also: Strategy 3.2.) We also note the importance of ensuring services are accessible via public transportation. (37) We identify six strategies in this category: Strategy 2.1: Increase capacity of, and access to, drop-in day centers in the City. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Expand the hours of existing drop in centers. (20) Explore the need/feasibility of establishing additional centers. (20) ---PAGE BREAK--- 10 Where possible, expand services and amenities available at day centers showers, laundry). (20)  Careful consideration must be given to minimizing impacts on commercial core areas and neighborhoods. One specific tactic of this nature: Request accommodation by the Health Department to allow Compass Health clients to smoke in a less visible location than the sidewalk and lawn on Broadway, one of the City’s gateway arterials. Help other facility operators as appropriate secure similar accommodations. (54)(R) Strategy 2.2: Expand availability of basic service facilities available for homeless individuals in commercial core areas of the City. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include:  Establish a unified call-center and a one-stop service center for chronically homeless individuals. Ideally, the service center would be located near transit services. Services would include, for example, medical and dental care and assistance applying for Medicaid, SSI and other benefits. (21)  Multiple small outreach sites for information on available services should be installed around the City. (22)  Have mailboxes available for homeless to help them get jobs and provide outreach for these services at feeding programs. (26)  Explore options for expanded public restroom access to reduce negative impacts from street populations on the Everett Public Library, Transit Center and commercial core areas. Map existing public restrooms where street populations are welcome and provide signage downtown to direct people to these facilities. Explore the feasibility of urban rest stops and public restroom solutions. (27)  Offer safe storage facilities for homeless people to leave their belongings. (56)(R) Strategy 2.3: Expand countywide capacity to effectively serve the specialized treatment needs of homeless populations. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Fund and establish additional triage bed capacity. (29) Fund and establish medical detox treatment beds for youth. (29) Support construction of the proposed South County detox facility. (29) ---PAGE BREAK--- 11  Fund and establish additional mental health care treatment capacity to serve homeless populations. (25)  Change City funding policy to allow programs providing alcohol and drug treatment services to apply for City Human Needs Funding dollars. (42)(R)  See also Strategy 6.1 regarding funding advocacy. Siting of treatment facilities must be sensitive to minimizing impacts on commercial core areas and neighborhoods. Strategy 2.4: Expand outreach services to both homeless youth and adults. Supporting tactics/actions recommended by the Task Force include:  Expand funding for youth and adult outreach services to ensure pro-active, ongoing outreach to street populations. This includes our recommendation above to embed social workers with police and EMS staff. (24)  Funding should support active outreach at target sites including meal programs, the library, transit center, day centers and other identified spots where street level social issues arise. (24)  Increase resources for outreach training, and coordinate training between systems (first responders, volunteers from faith-based communities, homeless service providers) on Mental Health First Aid and First Aid, volunteer safety, and outreach best practices. Ensure these individuals know what community resources are available so they can better support street populations and refer individuals to appropriate and available supportive services. (30)  Expand outreach to individuals living in homeless encampments. We endorse a model such as that deployed by Tacoma and urge expanded use of existing PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness) resources for this effort, which should identify, clean-up and monitor homeless encampments, and connect displaced individuals with housing, treatment and other services. (38) Strategy 2.5: Take steps to keep people from becoming homeless in the first place. Supporting tactics/ actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Transport dislocated and/or stranded individuals: identify people who have been dislocated to Everett (including those released from jail and emergency rooms), and return them to their families or other location where they have a support system. (28) (See also Strategy 1.3—transport of those released from jail.) ---PAGE BREAK--- 12  Support job training programs (26).  Establish a flexible fund for meeting one-time, short-term needs of precariously housed individuals, including emergency rent and utility payments, to prevent homelessness and reduce the need for more costly interventions. (35) Strategy 2.6: Ensure the City’s multiple faith-based feeding programs operate with best practices and engage them in helping to reduce potential negative impacts on neighboring businesses/residents. Supporting tactics/ actions endorsed by the Task Force include:  Implement best practices at meal programs. These include providing indoor waiting and serving areas, monitored restroom facilities and pro-active clean-up of neighboring areas, and engaging individuals served in the operation of the meal program where possible. Faith based communities should be convened twice a year for best practices training. Those offering meal programs should coordinate times and locations to best serve needs throughout the community. (36)  Explore ways to consolidate locations of church feeding programs, allowing them to continue their faith-based mission but at fewer locations. (40)(R)  Increase communication between churches offering feeding programs and neighboring businesses. (68)(R) Category 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter The challenge: Many of the street level social issues in the City are driven by the presence of a homeless population in the commercial core areas. And, at the most basic level, people will remain homeless if there is no housing for them to go to. There is inadequate temporary shelter capacity in the City: the largest shelter, the Everett Gospel Mission, in addition to filling all its shelter beds has dozens of men sleeping on the floor each night, and turns away hundreds of people each month. There are a total of 209 emergency shelter beds in the City for adults; only 8 for unaccompanied youth. There are no beds available for youth with criminal records. The 2014 Point in Time Homeless Count for the County identified 83 unaccompanied homeless youth. Nationally, estimates are that half of homeless adults were homeless as youth. To provide some context, the table below summarizes the “Point in Time” (PIT) Counts for chronically homeless individuals and unaccompanied youth in Everett, per the last four annual “PIT Counts.” Note that it is generally agreed that PIT counts understate the number of homeless individuals, and homeless individuals are only one aspect of the street level social issue challenges in the City; some of the challenges observed are not attributable to the homeless, but to other individuals. ---PAGE BREAK--- 13 Source: Snohomish County There is also a lack of permanent housing for individuals who have an array of health challenges— mental illness, alcohol abuse, substance abuse. There are 40 permanent housing units for persons with mental illness provided in downtown Everett by the Compass Center. There is a waiting list to access these units. There are total of 603 permanent supportive housing units available to individuals in Everett. The Everett Housing Authority has a waiting list of 5650 households seeking a variety of housing.5 Everett also has a large number of residents that are housing burdened: over half the City’s residents pay more than 30% of their gross income for rent. The City reports that 12,000 Everett households cannot afford median rent. There is a thin line between being housed and being homeless: we were told that having as little as $1,800 is the average reserve required to weather job or health issues and remain housed. Attention must be paid to ensure the situation does not get worse. Recommendations in this category are the most expensive and long-term to implement, but are foundational to solving the problems of street level social issues. The challenge is large, but not insurmountable. Progress can be made: the City of Tacoma, through a combined effort of expanded outreach and use of the “Housing First” model has reduced its downtown chronic homeless population by 60% since 2005. The Task Force identifies two strategies in this category: 4 Unaccompanied youth are 17 and under, homeless, and not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. The numbers of unaccompanied youth include those counted on the streets, and those that were in Everett youth shelters and transitional housing programs on the night of the counts. A Chronic homeless adult is defined as an individual who has experienced homelessness for a year or longer, or who has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years and has a disability. Note that a portion of the chronic homeless adult population is young adults between 18 and 24—the PIT counts do not separately track this age group. The chronic homeless numbers include those counted on the streets, and those that were in Everett shelters (mainly, the Everett Gospel Men’s Mission) on the night of the counts. In addition to the unaccompanied youth and chronic homeless adults, the PIT Counts found in Everett many of homeless families: 105 in 2011; 126 in 2012, 102 in 2013 and 97 in 2014. The focus of the Task Force is on the unaccompanied youth and homeless adults found in the commercial core areas of the City. 5 The Everett Housing Authority notes this household count includes some duplication, as households sign up on multiple lists. Everett Point in Time Homeless Count Data4 Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 Unaccompanied Youth 25 22 18 33 Chronic homeless Adults 132 118 114 119 ---PAGE BREAK--- 14 Strategy 3.1: Build more shelter bed capacity to serve a range of populations in need. (50) Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include:  Snohomish County should increase funding for facilities serving the mentally ill and chronically homeless, such as the Compass Health and the Everett Gospel Mission. Consideration should be given to new or relocated facility sites. (31)  Develop shelter capacity to serve youth and adults with criminal records that make them otherwise ineligible for any existing shelter/housing programs. (55)(R) Strategy 3.2: Increase supply of permanent supported subsidized housing. (52)(R) Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Expand use of “Housing First” Model to provide “low barrier” housing for chronically homeless individuals, after which they can begin to get treatment. Given that new housing is expensive to develop under traditional approaches, explore efforts to develop low cost and non-traditional housing options – with attached services –such as shared housing, shipping container housing, and subsidized micro-housing. Consider both scattered site and small community housing developments. (51) Replicate the successful housing levy model implemented in Seattle and Bellingham (either an Everett levy or a countywide levy) to orchestrate a coordinated set of housing projects to address community priorities. (81)  Develop more “SRO” (single room occupancy) housing under public or nonprofit management. (53)(R)  Create county and city tax incentives for creation of affordable SRO housing. (57)(R)  Preserve affordable units in the City that are at risk of being redeveloped, through purchase of these units by the Everett Housing Authority or other agencies. (58)(R)  (See also related advocacy strategies in Category 6, Advocacy, supporting an increase in Everett’s allocations from the State Housing Trust Fund.) We note that two of the major organizations serving the homeless and mentally ill populations in our City – the Compass Center and the Everett Gospel Mission – are both currently exploring the need for expanded and renovated facilities. The ability of these organizations to meet the growing needs of the homeless and mentally ill is foundational to our community’s success in addressing the street level social issues in our commercial core areas. ---PAGE BREAK--- 15 Category 4: Improving Public Understanding The challenge: Progress in addressing street level social issues requires better public understanding of the issues. All members of the Task Force learned a great deal over the course of this effort, and many of us have as a result modified our views as to what are the most effective and appropriate responses to street level social issues. It is important to promote public understanding and support around these issues, if the recommendations in this report are to be successfully implemented. There is one general recommended strategy in this category: Strategy 4.1: Enhance public understanding of the complexity of street level social issues and work to build a more inclusive and welcoming community. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include:  Identify liaisons from the business and service provider communities who can work together and with individual businesses and providers to enhance understanding, identify and resolve problems to work with service provider (and vice versa). (66)  Institute a “Hospitality Program” designed to facilitate a citywide philosophy of responsiveness and support to business owners, shoppers, visitors, street people, service providers, and faith communities. The program staff would get to know all street people and their situations, facilitate referrals and connections, and facilitate ways in which residents and businesspeople can be helpful in their interactions with street people, help problem-solve challenging situations, and help faith communities find ways to deploy street ministry activities.(67) Category 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication The challenge: As noted in the introduction to the recommendations section, the Task Force supports a systems approach to solving the complex problems of the City’s street level social issues. This requires better coordination between existing service providers. Lack of coordination limits our ability to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery to street populations. There is one overarching strategy recommended in this category: Strategy 5.1: Develop better systems and information to most effectively deploy limited resources. Supporting tactics/actions endorsed by the Task Force include: Map resources available in Everett for people experiencing homelessness and others in need (time of day, type, location) so service providers, governments, and the community have a clearer picture of what is going on, where. This can also be used to help get information to those in need. (70)  Involve currently/previously homeless individuals in further analysis of impacts of chronic homelessness and potential initiatives to improve the situation, and take other ---PAGE BREAK--- 16 steps to gather more and better information about this population—their needs and abilities. (32)  Increase coordination between those providing outreach services. (71)  Develop a centralized intake system (software/database) that service providers can use to match individuals with available services from multiple providers across the community. (41)(R)  Encourage additional funding for good collaboration. (73)(R)  Invite business and community members of the Task Force to join the Board of the Snohomish County Partnership to End Homelessness. (75)(R) Category 6: Advocacy The challenge: Local nonprofit service providers face serious competition now for access to local (county and city) funds. As a community, the City and County must step up with additional funds to support the recommendations we have identified above. The Task Force believes the City’s budget should reflect the moral values of our community. (86)(R) But we must also seek additional resources from others—specifically, the federal and state government and private funders. Advocacy is a critical component of our success. In some instances, we can join with other counties and cities; in some instances, we will be directly competing with them for limited state, federal and private funding. We endorse two strategies in this category: Strategy 6.1: The City, County, service providers, and business community should join forces to advocate for additional state, federal and private funding resources to help address the City’s street level social issues. There should be work across the board to support increased funding of mental health treatment and drug and alcohol treatment through advocacy at the federal, state, and local government levels and with private funders. (82) The City, County and partners should advocate to secure more state funding for the PATH program in Snohomish County. These resources are extremely effective in outreach to homeless populations. (84)  The City, County and partners should together advocate for an increase in funding in the State Housing Trust Fund to support specific housing projects addressing street level social issues in Everett. (83) ---PAGE BREAK--- 17 Strategy 6.2: Broaden the discussion to include all Cities and other key agencies in Snohomish County. Everett and Snohomish County must work with other cities and public agencies throughout the County to encourage them to address issues of homelessness in their own communities so there is less pressure on Everett’s resources. (72) A systems approach is important to avoid duplication of effort and unintended consequences. (74)(R) Other advocacy items supported by the Task Force include:  Support campaigns to encourage the public to give money to service providers, rather than cash to panhandlers, so that money can go where it can be best utilized. (80)  Advocate for more flexible funding, so agencies can apply it where/as needed and spend less time reporting back to the state/federal governments. (85)  Support changes in the mental health system to increase secure treatment capacity for individuals who are a danger to themselves or others. (39)(R) Conclusion – Implementation and Next Steps  Implementation We are pleased that the Mayor has appointed David Hall, Deputy City Attorney and lead City staff for the Task Force, to take on responsibility for overseeing implementation of our recommendations. We understand his first task will be to convene a small team of government, non-profit and community leaders to develop an implementation framework and report back to us by the end of March 2015. We acknowledge that while the City is a necessary partner to implementing many of our recommendations, most recommendations in this report will also require the engagement of parties other than the City. This is a challenge affecting our entire community, and our entire community must be engaged in the response. We note that it will be important to identify metrics to measure success of these efforts. We ask that the implementation team take up this up as part of its first phase of work. Our ability to attract needed resources and community support to sustain efforts on recommended actions will depend on the ability to show results.  Next Steps To promote accountability in delivering upon our recommendations, we have asked to be reconvened in March 2015 to hear from the implementation team, and to be again reconvened every six months thereafter for two years so that we may track the progress on implementing our recommendations. We understand that not everything we have recommended can be launched immediately, and that using a systems analysis approach, choices will need to be made about how to best deploy scarce ---PAGE BREAK--- 18 resources. We look forward to reviewing the proposed implementation framework in March as a first step.  Appreciation We thank the Mayor for his leadership in convening this Task Force and for the opportunity to provide our recommendations to him, to the City Council, and the greater Everett community. We extend our particular thanks to the staff team from the City, County and Housing Authority for their tremendous work, advice and input throughout this effort. ---PAGE BREAK--- 19 List of Attachments: A. Task Force Membership (including City/County/Everett Housing Authority support team) B. List of Field Trips/ Site Visits in which Task Force Members participated C. Transcript of Focus Group with Homeless Individuals Conducted at Everett Gospel Mission D. Final revised ballot (including cost estimates, implementation term, required partners, recommended partners, and voting results) ---PAGE BREAK--- Attachment A Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force Members Task Force Member & Alternates Affiliation Chris Adams (Co-Chair) Adams and Duncan Law Sylvia Anderson (Co-Chair) Alternate: John Hull Everett Gospel Mission Jonathan Apuan Alternate: Suzanne Duff Salvation Army Glen Bachman Alternate: Nora Beggs Everett Mall Sophia Beltran Alternate: Winnie Corral Family Support Flora Diaz O’Loane Nunn Law Group Bob Dobler Gamut360 Holdings Alan Dorway First Presbyterian Church Megan Dunn Alternate: Teena Ellison Human Needs Advisory Committee Cassie Franklin Alternate: Jen Chwalibog Cocoon House Linda Grant Alternate: James Upton Evergreen Manor GeorgaDee MacLeod Council of Neighborhoods Mark Mantei Alternate: Chris Knapp Everett Clinic Mark Nysether Sea-Dog Corporation Ed Petersen Alternate: Karen Matson Housing Hope Renee Quistorf Alternate: Bill Quistorf Renee’s Clothing Robert Reese Volunteers of America Marilyn Rosenberg Café Zippy Matthew Savage Alternate: Mike Purcell Journey Church Tom Sebastian Compass Mental Health Craig Skotdal Skotdal Real Estate Joyce Stewart Alternate: Kris McDowell Everett School District Julie Zarn Providence Regional Medical Center City, County and Housing Authority Representatives (Non-Voting Advisory Team) David Hall City of Everett Deputy City Attorney Lanie McMullin Alternate: Deborah Wright City of Everett Exec. Dir. Economic Development Executive Administrator ---PAGE BREAK--- Dan Templeman City of Everett Police Chief Bob Downey Alternate: Murray Gordon City of Everett Assistant Fire Chief Everett Fire Dept. Ashley Lommers-Johnson Everett Housing Authority Ken Stark Alternate: Mary Jane Brell-Vujovic Snohomish County Dir. of Human Services Division Mgr., Hsg. and Community Services Ty Trenary Alternate: Brent Speyer Snohomish County Sheriff Undersheriff Task Force Facilitator and City Support Staff Team Karen Reed, Task Force Facilitator Karen Reed Consulting, LLC David Hall, Lead Staff for Task Force City of Everett Deputy City Attorney Deborah Wright City of Everett, Executive Administrator Wendy McClure City of Everett, Coordinator, Office of Neighborhoods Elizabeth Smith City of Everett Economic Development Anne Pogson City of Everett, Mayor’s Office Brooklyn Holton City of Everett, Office of Neighborhoods Meghan Pembroke City of Everett, Public Information Officer ---PAGE BREAK--- Attachment B Community Streets Initiative Task Force Tour Opportunities Snohomish County Jail – Host: Anthony Aston. Location: 3025 Oakes Ave. Description: the tour will include areas that provide service to the mentally ill, medically sick, drug addicted and homeless population. Aug. 27, Sept. 10 City Tour – Hosts: Craig Skotdal, Rene Quistorf & Judy Matheson. Location: 2805B Colby Ave. Description: Downtown Everett Perspectives: Discussion & Tour. Aug. 28 Compass Health – Host: Tom Sebastian. Location: 3322 Broadway. Description: Tour of the Peer Recovery Center (Homeless) and Snohomish County Crisis/Triage Center. Sept. 16 Evergreen Manor – Host: Michelle King. Location: 2601 Summit Ave Description: affordable care for persons with chemical dependency and mental health problems including; medical detoxification, residential long-term treatment for pregnant and parenting women, outpatient treatment case management services, transitional housing and recovery housing, domestic violence perpetrator treatment. Aug. 26 Everett Gospel Mission – Host: John Hull. Location: 3711 Smith Ave. Description: The Men's Shelter provides emergency shelter and meals for homeless men. Sept. 10 Presbyterian Church Feeding Program – Host: Pastor Alan Dorway. Location: 2936 Rockefeller Ave., north door of building. Description: Advance orientation, welcome guests and observe feeding program at church. Sept. 3 Recovery Café – Host: Wendy Grove. Location: 2624 Rockefeller Ave Description: a successful program in Seattle expanding to Everett offering a day program of support utilizing an alternative therapeutic community model. The Café supports women and men who are seeking a life of transformation, free from drugs, alcohol and other destructive behaviors Aug. 27 Focus Group with Homeless Individuals - Host: Sylvia Anderson. Location: Everett Gospel Mission, 3711 Smith Avenue. Description: A focus group with Q&A, discussion with homeless individuals. Sept. 23 ---PAGE BREAK--- Attachment C Everett Gospel Mission Open Forum 26 September 2014 The following is a transcript of an open form hosted by the Everett Gospel Mission and attended by approximately 40 homeless individual residing both at the Mission and on the streets of Everett. The transcript begins with the first comments by an attendee. James: “I have had a lot of experience w (inaudible) homeliness and first coming from King County Washington has an idea of what you call a “10 year plan” to end homelessness. Now the 10 year plan to end homelessness is done pass the 10yr plan, way pass. It’s about 5 yrs. past. (Inaudible for the rest of his speaking time.) “I helped create a lot of that atmosphere.” “One of my most meaningful projects for the last 20yrs, to help with homelessness is a (inaudible) called Peace on the Streets and Kids on the Streets. The Fundraiser Executive Elaine Simmons is one of those people who stood up where homeless kids would run away. They were given so many hours to report back in the home. If you came from an abusive home, guess what, you’re gonna go back to that abusive home. You were abused as a kid and never heard a kind word.” (Inaudible for several seconds.) There’s a lot to be said at all these meeting right here in Everett. Believe me, I am no stranger to the 10 year plan to end homelessness. You can see me here at this table all day long with (inaudible) Wilson and call for an investigation (inaudible). “Yes, I am no stranger”. Thank you.” What is the greatest danger between peer to peer pressures on the streets? Answer: Drugs and police. Mike: “As far as peer pressure, I mean, obviously you can make a choice if you want to do it or not. Hang out with people and to run with them and have friends, and actually I’m not staying here (Men’s Mission), but I have literally been out on the streets for the last few months and to get into that group of people, to have people around is for safety reasons. For instance, women are being murdered. Um, right now, it’s a very big concern. Two nights ago, being up on Broadway, women are actually not outside or when they are, they’re running. “ “I’m not a girl or anything but I take it upon myself, to stay outside, hanging out with them, because it’s scary. “ “Back to the subject, the peer pressure, ya know, of sitting around smoking a joint or whatever and be a part of…ya know, be a part of…the community.” (inaudible). ---PAGE BREAK--- “The drugs in this town are just crazy. They’re everywhere.” Do you think there are more drugs on the street now than 5 years ago? Mike: Yeah and in the 80’s. If you were here in the 80’s, than you know what I’m talking about. That’s all I have to say.” Who wants to talk about the police as a danger on the streets? Steve:” I don’t want to talk about the police, because I’m still on probation.” How many of you think the police are more harassing on the street? 12 people. How many people think the police have been helpful to you on the streets? 3 people. How have they, the police, been helpful on the streets? Unknown: “One thing I want to say is that Everett is a clean town and I think the Mission has a lot of things to do with that to do with that.” “I think that Everett PD has a strong presence, which is a good thing. I mean, it’s good wherever you are.” I have lived in other cities, the Northeast, Auburn, and Tacoma. Everett is a good working town, so I don’t have anything bad to say here. They, EPD, have a strong presence. I feel there could be harassment issues, but I’m not going to go into that. Overall I just wanna say, “Everett is a clean little city.” What is one stereo-type that you want the City of Everett to know that doesn’t represent you? Unknown: “When one goes without it becomes everyone’s problem. This idea is extremely useful towards the goal that functions. We want to function in society. People need their needs met. Imagine yourself not having. No matter how much you fear it, because most of you fear it and judge it. Just put yourself in that situation. Some people do that. People come down off their throne, Buddha, and walk among the men at ground level. Also, we need to take away the red-tape. Everyone here wants to work. Everyone here wants to make money. I don’t see demon possessed here, good men here. They are not perfect. They probably have records. Thankfully, I have no felonies. That’s not everyone’s story. The red- tape and square peg is getting more and more difficult. Men have a lot more to compete with these days, without a whole lot of help. “Thank you.” I think a lot of us here have a strong desire to make a contribution. I am so incredibly grateful to the Gospel Mission here. To reach out to those in need. To give us a helping hand, when we really need it. To share the message of God, with those, who really need it, including me. I am thankful for the Mission and in the interest of bettering the situation in Snohomish County. ---PAGE BREAK--- Jerry: Some of my worst fears are: There are a lot of homeless people being woke up in the middle of the night. “Can’t be here guy, gotta go.” “Sorry for disturbing your peace”. “You’re not supposed to be here, if you can find some place more worth- while, we won’t bother you.” That’s a big issue. Try and find a place where the police aren’t finding you and disturbing your peace and quiet-time. That’s the most important thing, your sleep. Try and find a spot in this town where you don’t get busted. We’d have a peaceful night. Steven: “I just want to address the stereo-type issue. Not all homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, and that’s a stereo-type. Most people don’t do it, I mean things happen. People lose their jobs. I heard that the average person is a paycheck away from being homeless.” “My problem is with the stereo-type that all homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics.” Mike: “Some people think that this homelessness is a party and a joke and stuff like that but this is serious shit.” “When I’m out there, people are all, “Where you stayin’ tonight?” I don’t tell people where I’m staying because, for one, winter is coming and you don’t want the cops to know. You don’t want people to know, because a lot of people will come to your campsite and they bring drugs or whatever and party. This stuff is a reality. I know for me, its life or death. I’ve lost 30 lbs in the last 9 months. Summers over, its winter time. I got hyperthermia twice last winter. If it wasn’t for the Mission and the hospital, I’d be in a different place right now. I was in the hospital 6-8 times since January, for being suicidal, homeless, my mental state and to just get out of the weather.” Unknown:” This is all new to me, but I’m thankful for coming here. I’m here on a charge that I got from 2yrs ago, that caught up with me, and now its taken me away from my family. I’m trying to make a move, to get back there, to be with my family, and my sisters.” “The program I’m in, so far, has helped me. It’s great here and I’m thankful for it.” A lot of the guys, that maybe in the same situation, that have families and are trying to get back here, or they have records that’s holding them back from getting a job. I pray every day and stay focused. I pushed myself until I finally got a full-time job with the felony that I have. I told the truth, told them what happened and they understood. I didn’t give up.” “The one thing we can’t do is give up. Got to keep pushing ourselves, and pushing, until we make it. That’s where I’m at now. Pushing and pushing myself. Eventually I will be back at home with my family. As for stereo typing towards us, the cops do a good job, but I think they target it this place (Mission) because of who we are. I have noticed this and it’s not a good thing.” James: (Inaudible)…have to find other ways, diversions, then having someone’s vehicle towed. I’m not so certain about Everett. I have seen the 3 day stickers. We can’t have the same mistakes that the City of Seattle has already. Ticketing and towing everywhere you go. You (police) can’t follow us every place. ---PAGE BREAK--- You can’t have a vehicle park w/out tags. They put a boot on your vehicle (City of Seattle). Like I said we can’t be a carbon copy of Seattle. We’ve got to find other ways, diversions, other than having someone’s vehicle sitting at the tow yard, w/out anyone being able to use. They own it themselves and have to pay double or triple the price just to get their belongings out of the vehicle. It’s criminal. It’s criminal to see someone lose their vehicle. All their belongings are now owned by the towing company. There’s no accountability at tow yards. Most of the contents in that said so-called, described vehicle has been had by the drivers. I’d really like to say to the people of the establishment here, I’d really like to see a diversion plan. How many people have had their vehicle towed and lost it? 6 people If you could have a home tonight, a roof over your head, that’s yours, how many of you would take it? Almost everyone raised their hands. Not take it? Zero What are the barriers to getting housing? Why is housing so hard to get? Unknown: “Lack of transportation.” Unknown: “There are a lot of restrictions. I can’t get housing because I’m not in program. It’s very hard.” Unknown: “I have no rental history. If you haven’t rented before forget it.” How do you get rental history if nobody will rent to you? Unknown: “I have no clue.” I receive $1200 a month from Uncle Sam for being a disabled vet, but I can’t rent my own place. With 1,200 bucks a month I should be able to rent in a jiffy, but I have no rental history. Every time I have lived in Everett I have lived with somebody else, and I helped them pay the rent.” How many people in here have an income from some source? Is it enough to pay rent? 6 people No. Do you see anyway that you’ll ever be able to get a place on the income you have. No. Is there anyone that does? 2 people ---PAGE BREAK--- Unknown: “To enable people who have aspirations to work and to move out, to enable those people better, and to make that transition would be beneficial. “We are all unique with diversity. We all have different reasons why we’re here. So simple, one step solutions aren’t going to address anything.” Resources, are they easy to find? Is it easy to know what is available? We can probably learn a lot from Whatcom Co. They have very good transportation systems, very cheap. For $15 you get a bus pass to get you to where you need to go. There’s also an idea of having housing available, to get people to work when they need to be at work. Transportation and sleep, without these two things you can’t expect people, children and young men traveling from other places (there’s a lot of them) who obviously want a place in the community. Keep them from judgment (inaudible). Have on-site programs within walking distance and they are all working together. We all know it creates a seed of motivation, morale and attitude. Unknown: “I think there are all kinds of resources in Everett. I think there are plenty in this building .You need to be proactive. 6 blocks away you have Work Source. They have resume classes. You can print things for free. DSHS is 4 miles away, there are transportation vouchers. I think there is a lot there, you just have to know what you are doing.” Unknown: Large directory of updated resources if it was available to us. Dave: “I’m an advocate for the homeless. I’ve seen a lot of abandoned buildings that could be opened up and make it some place, like housing (inaudible). I do believe it’s a good idea. Open up housing for low-income people and who are having problems with income. I think it should work out here in Everett.” How many of you have signed up for the Affordable Care Act? 3 people How many of you don’t have medical? 5 people Allan: “For the last 10 yrs., I’ve had Medicare. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare has pretty much disappeared from all hospitals and (inaudible) plans. You need Medicare Plus or Medicaid to get access to services. When I tried to find services, I was given a number of list or doctors and providers that meet my needs, all of whom use to take Medicare. Out of 30 something providers not a single one took Medicare anymore. They all take Medicaid. DSHS told me to talk to the After Care people. When I talked to the After Care people they told me to talk to DSHS. I had a spin down of $1600 (inaudible). None of my needs were being met. I was not receiving medication. I was not receiving counseling. Just about 2 days ago I finally my (inaudible), after spending 6 months of going to doctors, almost 3 times a week and many ER visits. I finally met my (inaudible), I receives a letter from DSH , stating that my spin ---PAGE BREAK--- down ended on the 30th. This means, I received care for, exactly, 10 days. After spending 6 months (inaudible), so basically, I did all this for nothing. All that the Network says is that recipients of Medicare no longer exist, but the providers, like Volunteers of America who have the information, do not know this. So they are giving out bad information and are giving the names of people who no longer take Medicare.” Jeremy: “I think the big problem here, is drugs and alcohol abuse and I think there (inaudible) to get people into inpatient faster, quicker. That people would have more of a stronger focused head and healthy body so they can go out and get the medical and benefits that they need. I think there are a lot of people out there using and drinking and can’t get the help they actually need because it’s such a big process and timeline for it. They don’t want to go. They don’t want to take the time to do it. If, DSHS or Work Source, if they had a Board or something like that, that focuses on inpatient and outpatient for people, maybe they can actually help them go get their medical other than the process of going there. So when you leave treatment you’ll have medical, food and all this stuff.” Mike: “I applied for SSI. One of the deals was I had to get medical. I tell you what you guys need to sign up for it. I’ve been to the doctors, hospitals, my prescriptions, everything has been paid for. I am very fortunate for that. Before I got insurance, just to see a family doctor, it was $150 cash. Not working, I couldn’t afford it.” You have the opportunity guys, they come here (Mission), once a month to do medical.” The Mission kicks ass. It’s a good place.” Tell me where the most common place you have slept in your car? 5 people Tents? 3 people Under the bridge? 1 person What causes you to come inside from these places? Temperature, weather, food reason) and showers. When you’re on the streets where do you go for showers other than the Mission? The river. A mobile shower unit on Wednesdays. Where do you go the bathroom when you’re on the Streets? It’s pretty easy for a man. ---PAGE BREAK--- This is a serious problem. If the City of Everett can build a facility, that would help. Where would be a good place for the City of Everett to build a facility? An abandon building. Unknown: “You’d have every drug addict in Everett using in it, firing up. They’re going to tear the thing a part. People don’t respect (inaudible) stuff like that, that other people would actually use.” Unknown: “Have more day centers up and running. (Inaudible), have more positive character traits in various ways would be beneficial and different types of programs that the clients to help them with working attributes. I know we all have areas to grow, regardless of who we are and the programs that can help us develop our character.” Unknown: “This goes back to Stereotypes. I was just up at the 76 gas station on Saturday, because here, (Mission) was closed until 3 o’clock. I went up there ‘cause we have to be out of here early Saturday mornings by 9 o’clock and I was stopped. This is a gas station where they have a bathroom I can use. The guy asked me if I was transient. Gas Attendant says” I feel sorry for you, was it drugs?” I don’t him I don’t do drugs. I don’t drink. I don’t understand what that has to do with me using the bathroom. He asked me if I was a transient and I got offended. I was also hurt by this.” Unknown: “I want to address the issue about bathrooms. A lot of times (inaudible), treat you like transients because transient people do bad things. I don’t have anything against it, but they don’t know that. They think it’s the stereotype thing, “You’re a transient, so you’ll do the same thing as everyone else.” A couple of weeks ago I got stopped, because I was smoking a cigarette in front of Work Source , when I got asked,” If I knew that it was against the law(smoking).” “Yeah, but there are several other people out here that you just passed by, doing the same thing. I asked “why was he coming to me?” He didn’t have an answer of that. There are a lot of people that don’t come in here (Mission) because they don’t want to. Unknown yells out; “They don’t think they’ll be heard” Back to person at mic: “It’s not that they think they won’t be heard, they don’t care if they’re heard or not. They are about getting high or whatever they think they can do, but for those of us who care about this, I would love (inaudible), but it’s hard because we’re so generalized. Unknown: “Right across the street from here, there’s a sign that says” No Standing No Stopping. ”It’s against the law to stop on the sidewalk?” This is criminal harassment. Homelessness isn’t about a problem in society; it’s about people, individuals. It’s about their needs and I think we need to make our voices a little bit louder. “People need to understand we are human beings” Unknown: “I just checked into the Mission. I’m tired of being homeless. ---PAGE BREAK--- Unknown: “I want to touch base on criminal charges on No Trespassing. I think the police in their investigation; the fact that they might not know there is an exclusion period here. 90 days in, 90 days out. If you’re on your 90 days out, you still rely on this place for lunch, dinner, and showers. People tend to stay close, while under investigation. So, if they’re going to try and decide to charge you criminally for trespassing, I understand if they (men) have been banned or has a strong presence, there should be a clause front that for that exclusion period and maybe they, EVP, should take that in to consideration.” Mike: “I’m not married; a lot of us aren’t married. Everett doesn’t have much very much to do, except drink and drugs. I mean you can find things to do, it just means like there isn’t much to do.” Unknown: “This is the last stop for this whole entire village.” Rick: “I have a question for the Committee as well as for John (Hull)? (Inaudible for several seconds) Also on the sign back there (pointing to back of room), It says” West of the river could result in loss of services.” Does that mean I’m not allowed there and visit if I want to? Talk to my mom about my problems w/out getting kicked out of here? My brother Bob down the road can go over there and fish or whatever else he wants to do. I’m sorry if I’m misunderstanding, and if I am correct me, but that’s just the way I’m seeing it. It’s kind of singling out homeless people. Unknown: “I think entry level jobs that would be available to follow people directly from the Mission, from programs and services. You guys, (Mission), might have…to work, from work, would be beneficial to individuals. Like maybe a grill over at the Transit Station that employs exclusively people from the Mission. This would enable a lot of people. Motivate people to get a job, that otherwise wouldn’t, get a job, exclusively with the Mission. Also I want to encourage more in your face evangelism from the Christian community in Snohomish County. They really should be out here and Jesus Christ is the only way that we can get back on track. Post meeting suggestions communicated to Sylvia Anderson by those who did not get a chance to speak: 1) 24 hour facility with services attached 2) Bus Fare to go to job interviews 3) Support for job hunt process—like storage of items while job hunting 4) More opportunities for day labor ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State 1 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) Broader engagement of business community in the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) program offered by Everett Police B1 C O N 95% 0% 5% ST $ 1,2 2 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Expand use of therapeutic courts: expand Community Justice Alternatives program to include, or when justified by capacity establish a stand-alone, drug court, and explore feasibility of homeless court and community court. M1 C O N 90% 10% 0% ST 1,2 3 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Alcohol Impact Area(s) – Designate area(s) within the City in which the sale of high alcohol content, inexpensive, single-serving take out products is prohibited. I1 C O N 90% 5% 5% ST 1,3, Liquor Control Board 4 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) Adjust jail release time from midnight to a reasonable hour when complimentary services are open. C1 C O N 90% 0% 10% ST $ 2 Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs ATTACHMENT D to TASK FORCE REPORT Everett Community Streets Initiative Task Force Adjusted Ballot Results October 2014 This document presents the adjusted voting results from the Task Force, based on ballots completed by Task Force members and subsequent adjustments approved by the Task Force at Meetings 7 and 8 (October 16 and 30). The Items on the ballot were developed from discussion at Task Force Meetings and from additional Task Force member suggestions. City staff developed the preliminary assessment of the implementation terms, cost estimate, and required and recommended partners. Task Force members were asked to indicate their support for each item by rating each item from 1 through 5. Rating Key: 5 = I strongly support; 4 = I support ; 3 = I neither support nor oppose; 2 = I oppose; 1 = I strongly oppose. Per the Task Force Charter, Items supported by rated 4 or 5) at least 80% of the Task Force members voting are considered "Consensus Items" (noted in the "Status" column by a green shaded box marked "CON"); Items supported by at least 60% but less than 80% of the Task Force members voting are considered "Recommended Items" (identified by yellow boxes marked "REC"); Items supported by less than 60% of the Task Force members voting are Not Recommended (identified by pink boxes marked "NOT REC"). ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 5 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *(Policy) Criminal Justice practices should be evidence-based and cost effective to reduce recidivism and should not simply shift costs but should result in cost savings for the community as a whole. G1 C O N 85% 10% 5% 1,2 6 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Jail Transition Services Facility: Support the County’s current proposal to convert the Carnegie Building adjacent to the Jail to a jail transition facility with services, caseworkers and temporary shelter for individuals released from Jail so they are not released into the streets without resources. A1 C O N 80% 15% 5% ST $ All 7 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Work Crew as an alternative sentence, in lieu of incarceration. Crew would focus on cleaning up (sweeping, litter pickup, etc.) commercial core areas most affected by litter, beer cans, graffiti and other by-products of street disorder. L1 C O N 80% 15% 5% ST $ 1 8 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) Encourage City police officers to reside in Everett D1 C O N 80% 15% 5% ST $ 1 9 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) Return released inmates and other dislocated individuals to place of origin or relational support. R1 C O N ST 2 10 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Amend aggressive begging ordinance to prohibit panhandling at intersections and on median strips, without changing the associated penalties J1 C O N ST $ 1 11 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Incorporate outreach into police and EMS (Santa Monica model), including providing police and EMS with training/information on available services to refer people to and imbedding a social worker in EMS and police. P1 C O N ST 1,2 Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 12 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *(Policy) Evaluate and implement changes as part of a system- wide approach –addressing cross-system impacts and need for coordination between criminal justice, human services, housing, and service provider systems/communities. F1 C O N LT 1,2 13 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *(Policy) Law enforcement and criminal justice entities should be transparent and accountable; their practices should be driven, measured, and tracked with meaningful data to show the community how they are affecting crime, recidivism, and street level social issues; data should be available to the public, and practices should be modified periodically in response to the data. H1 R E C 75% 20% 5% 1,2 14 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Implement County-Wide Justice Reinvestment Model or other ongoing collaborative, systemic review of criminal justice system. S1 R E C 73% 0% 27% ST/LT 1,2 15 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Develop a multi-agency team to respond to frequent utilizers (identified with consultation with business and property owners) of emergency, police, jail, and medical resources with individually tailored plans to improve functioning of individuals and reduce the burden on these systems system. N1 C O N ST $ 1,2,3 16 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Increase law enforcement presence in commercial core areas, especially bike and foot patrol; use noncommissioned personnel if there are insufficient commissioned officers to implement this recommendation. Q1 C O N ST Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support Changed to consensus item by Task Force vote on 10/30 Changed to consensus item by Task Force vote on 10/30 ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 17 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *(Policy) Address Factors Underlying Criminal Behavior: Individuals whose criminal behavior can be reduced by addressing underlying needs should be diverted from the criminal justice system into the social service system at multiple points in the criminal justice system, e.g., law enforcement diversion, prosecutorial diversion, judicial diversions and therapeutic courts, opportunities to connect with services while incarcerated and upon release, and probation practices that emphasize rehabilitation. E1 N O R E C 47% 47% 5% 18 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Implement evidence-based best practices in probation services to reduce recidivism, thereby reducing street crime. Probation services should include a validated need/risk assessment tool, focus on offenders at highest risk of re-offending, and use a menu of strategies that includes approaches such as drug and alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, life skills training, and evidence- based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy. O1 N O R E C 44% 39% 17% ST 1 19 CATEGORY 1: Improving Public Safety and Reducing Crime (Policing/Jails/Criminal Justice System) *Day reporting (individuals report daily to a non-secure facility in lieu of secure confinement; eventually evidence-based rehabilitative programming could be incorporated) K1 N O R E C 25% 30% 45% ST $ 1 20 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Drop-in/Day Centers: Increase capacity, accessibility, and hours of existing drop-in/day centers; explore need/feasibility of adding additional center(s); and include/enhance services and amenities showers, laundry) available at these centers, with careful consideration given to minimizing impacts on commercial core areas. V2 C O N 95% 0% 5% ST/LT - ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 21 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Unified call-center and create a "one stop", full time, integrated service center for chronically homeless individuals similar to the annual Project Homeless Connect. Locate the center near transit resources. (Item re-worded by Task Force vote on 10/30) B2 C O N 90% 5% 5% LT All 22 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Multiple small outreach sites for information on available services around city E2 C O N 89% 5% 5% ST/LT ALL 23 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Prioritize services support for children under 18, and then for young adults (18-24) as opposed to older populations S2 C O N 86% 10% 5% ST $ 1,2 24 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Increase funding for outreach to Homeless Youth and Adults: Expand funding for both youth and adult outreach services to ensure pro-active, on-going outreach to street populations, ideally including a social worker imbedded in police or EMS per recommendation C1. Outreach target sites should include meal programs, the library, transit center, day centers, and other identified spots where street- level social issues arise. AA2 C O N 86% 10% 5% ST 25 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Increase funding for mental health treatment D2 C O N 85% 10% 5% ST/LT ALL 26 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Have job skill training and mailboxes available for homeless to help them get jobs and provide outreach for these services at feeding programs G2 C O N 85% 10% 5% ST/LT ALL 27 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Rest Rooms: Map all downtown public restrooms where street populations would be welcomed and add signage to indicate locations of public restrooms; explore options for expanded public restroom access to reduce negative impacts to the Everett Public Library, Transit Center, and core areas; and explore urban rest stops and public restroom solutions that are working well in other communities. CC2 C O N 85% 10% 5% ST $ ALL ALL ALL CH, CP, EM, H, HA ALL ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 28 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Transport dislocated and/or stranded individuals: work with other street outreach workers to identify individuals who have been dislocated to Everett (including individuals released from emergency room) and return them to their families or other location where they have a support system. DD2 C O N 85% 10% 5% ST $ 1,2,3 and others 29 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Seek funding for and create additional triage and medical detox bed capacity, including secure detox, detox/treatment for youth, and support for proposed South County detox facility, with careful consideration given to siting to minimize impacts on commercial core areas W2 C O N 80% 15% 5% LT - 30 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services * Increase Resources for Outreach Training and Coordinate Training Between Systems (first responders such as EPD and EMS, volunteers from the faith-based communities, homeless service providers) on Mental Health First Aid and First Aid, volunteer safety and outreach best practices, and available community resources to empower them to better support street populations and improve referrals into supportive services. Z2 C O N 80% 10% 10% ST $ 31 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Snohomish County should increase funding available to help expand the capacity of facilities serving the mentally ill homeless and other homeless individuals, including facilities such as those operated by Compass Mental Health and the Everett Gospel Mission, and this should also include consideration of funding new or relocated facilities. EE2 C O N 32 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Involve currently/previously homeless individuals in further analysis of the impacts of chronic homelessness and potential initiatives to improve the situation, and take steps to gather more information about the homeless population M2 C O N SWT $ 2 FC,H Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 33 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Implement Tacoma's BOSS model in Everett: provide a business outreach support specialist (BOSS) to work directly with local businesses impacted by unwelcome activities on or near businesses; include support after hours and weekends P2 C O N ST 1,2,3 34 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Prioritize support for programs who help people who demonstrate a willingness to help themselves and go to treatment. T2 R E C 79% 16% 5% ST $ 1,2 35 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Establish a flexible fund for meeting one-time, short-term needs of precariously housed individuals, including emergency rent and utility payments, to prevent homelessness and reduce the need for more costly interventions. Y2 R E C 79% 16% 5% ST 36 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Implement Best Practices at Meal Programs: such as providing indoor waiting and serving areas, monitored restroom facilities and proactive clean–up to minimize spillover impacts, and engaging participants in operation of the meal service where possible. Convene faith communities for best practices trainings with churches twice a year. Consider coordination between meal program times and locations to best serve people attending the meals throughout the community. BB2 C O N ST $ 37 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Ensure services accessible via public transportation J2 R E C 74% 16% 11% ST/LT $ 1,2 38 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services *Expand efforts to identify, clean-up, and monitor homeless encampments, redirecting/building on existing PATH resources and the Tacoma model, in conjunction with providing additional resources, including housing, for displaced individuals. X2 R E C 74% 5% 21% ST Changed to consensus item by Task Force vote on 10/30 ALL ALL Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 39 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Support changes in mental health system that will help move more individuals back into secure treatment facilities where they are no longer a danger to themselves or others R2 R E C 71% 14% 14% LT ALL 40 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Consolidate locations of church feeding programs, allowing them to continue their faith-based mission but at fewer locations H2 R E C 70% 20% 10% ST/LT 3 41 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Develop centralized intake system (software/data base) that service providers can use to match individuals with available services from multiple providers across the community. C2 R E C 68% 26% 5% LT All 42 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Change City policy to allow access to the City's Human Needs Funding by agencies providing alcohol and drug treatment for homeless adults A2 R E C ST $ 1 43 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services More job training F2 N O R E C 58% 37% 5% ST ? ALL 44 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Support the Recovery Café Project (day center) K2 N O R E C 58% 37% 5% ST/LT $ 1,2,3 45 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Analyze the existing unstructured congregate feeding system to determine: if changes to the delivery of other services will necessitate modifications to better serve homeless individuals and if changes can be made to the system while allowing current providers to continue serving those in need, which may require service from new location and/or shared feeding sites. O2 N O R E C 53% 21% 26% LT $ 1,2 ALL FC ALL FC ALL ALL Revoted on 10/16 and received 60% support ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 46 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Give information on all available feeding programs to all those using these programs L2 N O R E C 42% 32% 26% ST $ 1,2,3 47 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Snohomish County should fund the construction of a combined- service facility, one that houses services provided by Compass Health and Gospel Mission and others, with hope of having more capacity to help people before they end up in the criminal justice system U2 N O R E C 40% 35% 25% LT 2 48 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services More drug treatment funding I2 N O R E C 39% 33% 28% ST/LT ALL 49 CATEGORY 2: Providing More and Enhanced Services Take steps to reduce the concentration of Snohomish County's drug, alcohol and mental illness service programs/facilities in downtown Everett. Q2 N O R E C 32% 47% 21% LT 1,2,3 50 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter More shelter beds B3 C O N 91% 0% 9% ST/LT 1,2,4 51 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter (Combined w/ Q3 ) Expand use of "Housing First" Model: allowing low barrier access to housing for chronically homeless individuals, after which they can begin to get treatment. In order to implement this, explore and identify funding for, and support efforts by County and others to develop low cost and non-traditional housing options with attached services, including single resident occupany, shared housing, container housing, and subsidized afforable microhousing, with consideration of both scatter site and small community housing. H3 C O N ST/LT ALL CP H H ALL/211 CP, H, Gospel Mission ALL Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 52 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Increase supply of permanent supported subsidized housing C3 R E C 75% 15% 10% ST/LT ALL 53 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter More "SRO" (single room occupancy) housing under public or nonprofit management F3 R E C 74% 21% 5% ST/LT 1,2,4 54 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Request accommodation by the Health District to allow Compass clients to smoke in a less visible location than the sidewalk and lawn right on Broadway, one of the City's gateway arterials. (and other similar facilities if operators want) A3 R E C 72% 22% 6% ST $ 2 55 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Need shelter and housing for individuals (youth, adults) with criminal records that make them otherwise ineligible for shelter/housing programs available in the community E3 R E C 72% 22% 6% ST/LT 1,2,4 56 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Offer safe storage facilities for homeless people J3 R E C 65% 30% 5% ST 1,2,3 57 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Create county and city tax incentives for creation of affordable SRO housing I3 R E C 63% 21% 16% ST 1,2 58 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Preserve affordable units in City at risk of being redeveloped (through purchase of these units by Housing Authority, others) D3 R E C 61% 22% 17% LT 1,2,4 59 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Move the Gospel Mission to a less central location and expand its capacity to serve people at this new location N3 N O R E C 58% 26% 16% LT 1,2,3 60 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter City can offer services with no barriers - for those with restrictive backgrounds that prevent care, a place to live, services, etc. Currently these are for profit or limited offerings K3 N O R E C 53% 26% 21% LT 1 H HA ALL FC H, HA H, HA ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 61 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Prioritize access to subsidized housing for families with children, the disabled and elderly M3 N O R E C 53% 16% 32% ST $ 2 62 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Engage local churches in helping to create housing G3 N O R E C 50% 33% 17% ST/LT $ 1,2,4 63 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter More affordable housing - change city code to require new developments to include a variety of housing type and prices, such as the Riverfront development's initial plan before it was changed to more high end residential L3 N O R E C 32% 58% 11% ST $ 1 64 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Move and expand Mission programs to include police-staffed minimum security housing operation and/or a "half-way" house for folks leaving jail/prison O3 N O R E C 25% 35% 40% LT 1,2,3 65 CATEGORY 3: Providing More Housing and Shelter Do not expand housing that offers "free ride" to people. Everyone should pay something (time or money) in exchange for housing P3 N O R E C 21% 47% 32% ST $ 66 CATEGORY 4: Improving Public Understanding Business community Liaison to service providers (and vice versa) A4 C O N 81% 10% 10% ST $ 3 ALL ALL ALL H, HA ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 67 CATEGORY 4: Improving Public Understanding Institute a "Hospitality Program" designed to facilitate a citywide philosophy of responsiveness and support to business owners, shoppers, visitors, street people, service providers, faith communities. The program would get to know all street people and their situations, facilitate referrals and connections, would facilitate ways in which people can be helpful in direct interactions with street people, would problem-solve challenging situations, would help faith communities find effective ways to channel their street ministries C4 R E C 65% 25% 10% LT ALL 68 CATEGORY 4: Improving Public Understanding Increase communication between churches offering feeding programs and neighboring businesses B4 R E C 63% 32% 5% ST $ 3 69 CATEGORY 4: Improving Public Understanding Correct false perception that legalization of pot is associated with increase in homelessness D4 N O R E C 58% 32% 11% ST $ 1,2 70 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Map resources available to homeless and others in need (time of day, type, location) so service providers, governments, community have a clearer picture of what is going on, where. (This can also be used to get information to those in need) B5 C O N 95% 0% 5% ST $ 1,2 71 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Increase coordination between those providing outreach services D5 C O N 86% 5% 10% ST/LT $ ALL 72 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Work with other cities in Snohomish County to encourage them to address issues of homelessness in their communities so there is less pressure on Everett resources C5 C O N ST/LT $ 1,2 73 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Encourage additional funding for good collaboration I5 R E C 68% 26% 5% ST ALL Changed to consensus item by Task Force vote on 10/30 ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 74 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Analyze the impact of chronic homelessness and potential initiatives across the county from a systems perspective E5 R E C 67% 24% 10% ST 1,2 75 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Invite business and community members of the Community Streets Initiative Task Force to join the Snohomish County Partnership to End Homelessness Board F5 R E C 60% 25% 15% ST $ ALL 76 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Create a Chronically Homeless Subcommittee as part of the Snohomish County Partnership to End Homelessness Board. Focus the subcommittee on regular monitoring of the county's chronically homeless situation and the development of solutions to improve services and provide more housing G5 N O R E C 53% 32% 16% ST $ 77 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Articulate and implement a systems model (as opposed to an individual projects approach) in which strategies, priorities, initiatives and projects are enumerated in a short-tem (2yrs) and long- term (5yrs) framework, identifying the roles of the City of Everett and its public and private partners in planning implementation. Include Veterans in the collaboration H5 N O R E C 47% 37% 16% ST/LT ALL 78 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Government should focus its funds to support nonprofits serving special segments of the population, like Cocoon House, Housing Hope - where we get the most "bang for the buck" J5 N O R E C 42% 47% 11% ST/LT $ 1,2 79 CATEGORY 5: Improving Inter-Agency Coordination & Communication Form a council to meet regularly to coordinate, streamline, identify priorities, compare notes and assess progress on Task Force recommendations - focus on breaking down silos A5 N O R E C 21% 32% 47% ST $ 1,2 80 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Support campaigns to give money to service providers, rather than as cash to panhandlers E6 C O N 95% 0% 5% ST $ ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 81 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Replicate the successful Housing Levy model implemented in Seattle and Bellingham (either an Everett levy or as a countywide levy) to orchestrate a coordinated set of housing projects to address community priorities B6 C O N 90% 5% 5% LT ALL 82 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Support increased funding for mental health treatment and drug and alcohol treatment through advocacy with federal, state, local and private funders. D6 C O N ST/LT ? ALL 83 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Ask the legislature to increase the money in the state Housing Trust Fund to support specific housing projects addressing street level social issues in Everett A6 C O N ST/LT $ ALL 84 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Advocate to expand Snohomish County's allocation of state funding for the PATH program H6 C O N LT ALL 85 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Government funding should be more flexible so agencies can apply it where/as needed and spend less time reporting back to the state, feds C6 R E C 70% 20% 10% ST/LT ? 1,2,4 86 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Everett City budget should reflect our moral values. Discontinue breaks to big businesses and restore funding to our parks, transportation and libraries F6 R E C 68% 27% 5% ST $ 1,3 87 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Expand the City of Everett's low cost preschool program to 5 days a week for each age group. Consider renovating the Parks property on Madison for a larger preschool space J6 N O R E C 47% 37% 16% LT 1,2 88 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Advocate for the state to take extra marijuana tax funds and apply it to mental health, drug and alcohol treatment M6 N O R E C 43% 24% 33% ST $ 1,2,3 VOA/YMCA ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support Revoted on 10/16 and received >80% support ---PAGE BREAK--- ST: ShortTerm LT: LongTerm Cost Estimate Required Partners 5 o r 4 3 2 o r 1 ST: < 2 yrs LT: > 2yrs 0-99K 100-499K 500-999K 1mil+ 1. City 2. County 3. Bus. Comm. 4. State Category ID Action Item s t a t u s Frequency Distribution of Ratings I t e m # Recommended Partners CH: Cocoon House CP: Compass Health EM: Evergreen Manor FC: Faith Comm H: Housing HA: Housing Authority Res: Residents VA: Vet. Affairs 89 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Don’t ask for more money - rather, prioritize use of current funds and be sure they are being spent efficiently with the most benefit to society L6 N O R E C 42% 53% 5% ST $ 1,2 90 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Submit to the County’s voters a proposal to implement the 0.3% sales tax proposition to secure funding for criminal justice programs—expand jail chemical dependency, mental health services, fund jail transition services, jail diversion and community policing programs. K6 N O R E C 42% 37% 21% LT 1,2 91 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Focus on prevention and harm reduction; we need economic policies to prevent poverty including increased minimum wage, job training, cooperative banking or other banking options for homeless, and quality affordable preschool H6 N O R E C 37% 26% 37% LT ALL 92 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy "find it, fix it" Fix broken window, etc., and repair buildings that encourage loitering. Use a volunteer workforce or pay and train people looking for employment I6 N O R E C 37% 26% 37% ST 1,2,3 93 CATEGORY 6: Other/Advocacy Increase the city and county minimum wage to $15/hr. to prevent poverty and homelessness and increase the economic capacity of the city G6 N O R E C 21% 42% 37% LT 1,2,3 ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL