SPOKANE, Wash. — An audit addressing Spokane’s homeless shelter systems was completed, aiming to move away from large shelters.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown’s office announced on Monday that the audit was among the recommendations from Mayor Brown’s transition team. The audit included shelter tours, feedback from providers, the community and those with lived experience. Its focus is to understand shelters, their capacity and resources better.
“This valuable input, based on a collaborative approach, will guide how the community shapes a cost-effective, relationship-based system to assist individuals toward housing,” Mayor Brown said.
The shelter systems would move from large congregate shelters to more minor, scattered sites. According to Mayor Brown, this would eliminate having a single shelter in one neighborhood and limit the concerns for “warehousing individuals.”
Last winter, many churches were used as small shelter sites as a pilot project. The mayor’s office said the city would move forward, requesting proposals for 20 to 30 beds scattered sites.
Under a tentative timeline, TRAC will be decommissioned by the end of September. The mayor’s office said the shelter could be used during hazardous weather as the lease does not expire until 2025.
The state Legislature appropriated $4 million to assist with the transition out of TRAC and $1 million to coordinate street medicine outreach.
The mayor’s office listed other recommendations the audit contains, including:
Piloting a navigation center and selecting an operator to improve coordination and facilitate people toward proper services. Hiring an organization to navigate and coordinate site and housing type identification for individuals, transportation and street outreach.Addressing system gaps such as medical detox and care, hospice care, jail-exiting housing and long-term assisted-living beds after treatment by leveraging partnerships with churches, community centers, counselors, street medicine, transportation, outreach teams and others.Prioritizing the 24/7 emergency shelter model to prevent daily disruption for those served and neighborhoods.Developing a data dashboard to improve coordination of services.
