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Homelessness is a challenge that does not go away when the economy sours; rather, it grows worse when times are bad. Cutting funding and important programs designed to help the less fortunate keep a roof overhead will swell the homeless ranks.

In our public policy advocacy work we will support funding, policies, systems, and services that:

• Prevent homelessness by increasing the availability of low-income and affordable housing and assisting people to build their assets.
• Meet the immediate, basic needs of people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including physical, mental, and dental health needs.
• Recognize the disproportionate prevalence and severity of mental illness among King County's Medicaid population, as well as the significant role that non-Medicaid (state-only funding) plays in serving the homeless and immigrant population in King County.
• Assist homeless people in moving toward greater stability, self-sufficiency, and full participation as members of society including increasing the availability of supportive housing.

Funding secured for housing and vital services in 2008

United Way of King County was highly involved in advocating for several successful bills during the 2008 legislative session that addressed housing issues and homelessness.

• Gov. Christine Gregoire, signed a bill to provide an additional $6 million for the Washington Families Fund to help 1,000 more families in the coming year. This fund creates service-enriched housing for homeless families and families at-risk of becoming homeless.
• The transitional housing, operating and rent program (THOR) received $2.5 million in additional funding to provide rental vouchers and support services for homeless and at-risk families and individuals.
• The Housing Trust Fund received $50 million in additional funding with $10 million set aside for housing in flooded counties. This fund helps communities meet the housing needs of low-income and special needs populations.
• Rapid response loans, low or no interest loans to purchase property for affordable housing, received $10 million.
• The legislature set aside $1.25 million to set up a state tax credit program for low-income families that qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. Funding to implement this program will need to be budgeted into future state spending plans.

Comprehensive approach to ending homelessness endorsed by the state legislature in 2007

We worked before and throughout the 2007 legislative session on a comprehensive package addressing homelessness with partners the Committee to End Homelessness in King County, the Washington State Coalition for the Homeless and the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. Key objectives included:

• Increasing the amount of government-subsidized housing for very low-income and homeless families and individuals
• Providing short-term rental assistance to those about to lose their homes to prevent homelessness
• Ensuring that the state prison system and the foster care system help solve the problem of homelessness by helping inmates and clients to plan for and secure adequate housing and services
• Ensuring that adequate mental health and substance abuse funding supports low-income and homeless people
• Creating financial support for local solutions to homelessness.

While King County's street count of homeless people was recently down, on any given night approximately 8,000 people are homeless, galvanizing us to work towards these policy solutions.

• Building housing;
  • The legislature invested heavily in housing this year, increasing by $130 million the Housing Trust Fund to build more low-income and homeless housing. Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown and House Speaker Frank Chopp, plus budget leaders Senators Craig Pridemore and Margarita Prentice and Representatives Bill Fromhold, Helen Sommers and Hans Dunshee deserve significant thank yous, along with Governor Christine Gregoire, for committing to helping the 250,000 families in Washington who pay much more than they can afford for housing.
• Leveraging rental housing;
  • We were not successful in getting the legislature to invest similarly in short-term rental assistance to prevent people from becoming or remaining homeless; this is an issue that legislators were not ready to support this year, notwithstanding the great need to ensure that people remain housed until they can get themselves back on their feet, rather than ending up on the street. We will revisit this issue for the future.
• Planning for a stable future - housing ex-offenders and former foster youth;
  • In both of these arenas, the legislature boldly sent a message that we can and must ensure that those who are at the most significant risk of becoming homeless have adequate housing and services to become stable, rather than causing a growth in our homeless population. With leadership by Senators Mike Carrell and Debbie Regala, and Representatives Mary Helen Roberts and Roger Goodman, HB 6157 was passed - a model program was created to ensure that prisoners exiting the Department of Corrections would have housing and other resources to reduce their risk of re-offending and becoming homeless, with its associated high costs to the individual and society. Representative Jamie Pedersen, a first-time legislator, became a champion for foster youth with his sponsorship of HB 1922. Having been a part of the foster care system is the single most important predictor of whether someone will become homeless in the future. Representative Pedersen's bill, passed by the legislature, helped to create a new program for foster youth to have access to housing and supportive services to help them become productive and stable young adults, rather than homeless.
• Mental Health funding;
  • Because mental health issues are a significant contributor to many people's homelessness, ensuring funding for adequate mental health services for low-income people is a key part of ending homelessness. The legislature increased funding in a number of ways for mental health services, including expanding the health care pilot project for general assistance program clients in King and Pierce Counties by $3.4 million to include mental health benefits. However, for other people not eligible or not on Medicaid, the legislature increased its investment by only $6.1 million in 2007. While we appreciate the areas of support, pressures on the mental health system in King County mean that this funding is not adequate for 2007-09 and we will likely address this issue again with state lawmakers in the future.
• Increasing local resources for flexible solutions to homelessness;
  • The legislature also opted to support increased local flexible funding for homelessness through passage of E2SHB 1359, which will bring approximately $4 million per year into King County (of the roughly $12 million per year statewide) on an on-going basis. This funding will increase the number of units of supportive housing to address both housing for the homeless and the issues causing homelessness - a positive result for our community. King County Representative Mark Miloscia, and Senators Brian Weinstein and Rodney Tom were key leaders in making this happen.
• Individual Development Accounts;
  • Finally, United Way of King County worked to increase opportunities for low-income people to invest in matched savings accounts (Individual Development Accounts) and increase the amount of federal tax refunds that they claim. The legislature added $1 million in state dollars to match low-income investors' savings for an asset (much like a 401(k) does for higher income or eligible investors). It also adds $1.3 million for other asset development strategies including promotion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which low-income tax payers can claim to dramatically decrease their tax liability.

For more information and other legislative initiatives, please see our detailed 2008 Public Policy Agenda or contact our public policy team.

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