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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-2025_HHTF_Packet 10210 E Sprague Avenue | Spokane Valley WA 99206 Phone: (509) 720-5000 | Fax: (509) 720-5075 | www.spokanevalleywa.gov SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE MEETINGAGENDA Thursday, September 25, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. Spokane Valley City Hall, 10210 E Sprague Ave, Room N212Second Floor Conference Roomand virtuallyon Zoom: Click here to: Join the meeting online Meeting ID: 862 6839 9898| Passcode: 742994 1. Call to Order 2. Attendance 3.General Public Comment Opportunity This is an opportunity for the public to speak on any subject except agenda action items, as public comments will be taken on those items where indicated. ACTION ITEMS 4.Approval of August2025 Meeting Minutes 5. Homeless Outreach Program Update INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION ITEMS 6.1406 funds –Recommendations for Possible Uses 7.Adjournment SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE Regular, 20252:00 pm a 1 CALL TO ORDER: 2 ATTENDANCE City of Spokane Valley Brown, FBH Outreach Team Lead George Dahl, Spokane County Myers, FBH Outreach Team Greater Spokane Valley ChamberFBH Outreach Team Kelly Keenan, Spokane Housing AuthoritySVPD Allisha Corley Lex Law Group Jennifer Wilcox -(no last name provided) , City of Spokane Valley, City Services Administrator City of Spokane, CHHS Dept Director Chris McKinney, Spokane County Homeless & Housing Coordinator Sarah Farr, Julie Meyers- 3GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY ACTION ITEMS 4Jul . Kelly Keenan 5 lack of care s people , asllow Ms. BrownThe Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force 08.28.2025 Page 1 of 2 .. INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION ITEMS 6- Spokane Valley s, . 7 pm. Julie Meyers- Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force 08.28.2025 Page 2 of 2 AGENDA ITEM 5 10210 E Sprague Avenue | Spokane Valley WA 99206 Phone: (509) 720-5000 | Fax: (509) 720-5075 | www.spokanevalleywa.gov SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE Meeting Date:September 25, 2025 AGENDA ITEM TITLE: Outreach ProgramUpdate – Animal Boarding and Housing Assistance Funding BACKGROUND:This item was previously discussed by the Task Force at the August 28, 2025meeting, and additional questions were raised about the scale of need for animal boarding, and the reasons why some individuals experiencing homelessness do not accept the services offeredby the Homeless Outreach team. Past data shows that approximately 25% of households have at least one pet at the time of contact. Not all of these households requested or needed pet boarding. The Homeless Outreach team typically has300-400 unduplicated contacts per quarter. Currently available data does not document the reason people may not have accepted services. Most of these cases include a ‘no-show’, when the client doesn’t respond or follow up, and there is no ability to determine the exact reason. The outreach program can be improved by providing pet boarding. The contract with Frontier Behavioral Health (FBH) does not currently include funds specific tothese services. This expense was not envisioned in the original contract because no options for long-term pet boarding had been identified in the past. This changed recently, however, when Spokanimal agreed to provide pet boarding beyond their standard 14-day limit. For individuals whoaccept treatment and own pets, the pets must be boarded for at least 30 days. Spokanimal has agreed to allow animals to stay for up to 45 days at the cost of $30/day for dogs and $20/day for cats, with no cost for the first 14 days. FBH currently has three households utilizing pet boarding for a total of 11 pets. With the new service, FBH and city staff are working to develop internal policies that maintain a balance between providing for client needs and setting reasonable limits on services. Current discussions with Spokanimal are focused on potentially limiting the stay to 30 days(rather than the 45 days previously proposed), except in circumstances where the Outreach Team and Spokanimal decidethat more time is warranted. Additionally, the policy may include a limit on the number of animals per household that can be paid for. The Outreach team estimates that an additional $20,000 per year could be needed to address the animal boarding need. Outreach services include assisting clients in finding long-term housing options that work for their needs. This can consist ofhousing navigation, assistance with the application process, paying for move-in costs, and more. From July 2024 to June 2025, a $100,000 grant from the Healthcare Authority to FBH paid for move-in and other costs associated with obtaining housing. For July 2025 to June 2026 that grant has been reduced to just over $70,000. FBH estimates that 80% of the 2024-2025 funds went to households in Spokane Valley, and was critical in their ability to house 37 households in permanent housing, and another 20 in Transitional Housing in the first year of the contract. An additional$30,000 may be needed through June 2026 to ensure that sufficient funding is available to help clients get housed. The Task Force will discuss whether to recommend allocatingadditional funding for pet boardingand housing assistance costs. Any unused funds would be available for re-allocation by the Task Force/City Council. RECOMMENDED ACTION:Recommend allocating up to $50,000 for pet boardingand housing assistance. STAFF CONTACT: Eric Robison, Homeless & Housing Coordinator Spokane Valley Homeless Outreach Team July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025 Year in Review Frontier Behavioral Health contracted with the City of Spokane Valley for a co-deployment model of Homeless Outreach. This model includes: - 1 full-time city staff member- 2 homeless outreach police officers (Spokane Valley Police Department)- 2 full-time mental health workers Together, they form the Spokane Valley Outreach Team, working daily to engage individuals experiencing homelessness and connect them to resources and stabilization services. This collaborative model has led to significant positive outcomes and is considered a highly successful approach to addressing homelessness in the region. 1/1-3/30/25 10/1-12/30/244/01-06/30/25 7/1-9/30/24 397 Unduplicated 135 Unduplicated 353 Unduplicated Individuals IndividualsIndividuals 46 Unduplicated 15 Housing resources 9Housing resources 17Housing provided Individuals providedresources provided 12Placed in Housing 29Housing 9 Placed in Housing7Placed in Housing Quarter Quarter Quarter Quarter ·5 MH services resources provided 3 MH services 6MH services 1 34 2 ·8 SUD services 9 Placed in Housing 7SUD services11SUD services ·2Access to 9 MH services 4 Access to 22Access to funding/Medicaid funding/Medicaidfunding/Medicaid 2 SUD services 53Community 30Community 120 Community 1 Access to Resources ResourcesResources funding/Medicaid ·2 Respite services 3 Respite services3 Respite services 7 Community ·5 Transitional 6 Transitional 9 Transitional housing/shelter Resources housing/shelterhousing/shelter Collecting data and documentation, Strategic collaboration and partnerships, Promotion of community health and safety and person- centered engagement Spokane Valley Homeless Outreach Team Housing Costs A big part of first year’s success was due to funding available through the Healthcare Authority that paid for costs associated with obtaining/retaining housing. Received $100kfor 7/1/24 – 6/30/25 80% went to households in Spokane Valley For period of 7/1/25 – 6/30/26 received only $73,333 $26,667 shortfall from previous year Requesting $30,000 to fill shortfall Rental Arrears$57,955.52 SUD Treatment, Monthly Rent, Utilities $25,183 Deposits$8434.56 Administration Fees$2380.80 Policy Exceptions$267.50 Spokane Valley Homeless Outreach Team Pet Boarding People are interested in treatment or shelter, but they are not going to leave their loved ones behind. Approximately 25% of households have at least one pet Had three families with a total of 11 pets boarded in September We need funding for pet shelter stays so individuals can get SUD treatment, stay in shelters that do not allow animals, attend medical appointments and/or hospitalizations. Animal shelter costs: First 2 weeks free (Spokanimalpolicy), after that: $20/night for cats $30/night for dogs (some breed/behavior/size restrictions may apply based on the circumstance) Requesting $20,000 for animal boarding AGENDA ITEM 6 10210 E Sprague Avenue | Spokane Valley WA 99206 Phone: (509) 720-5000 | Fax: (509) 720-5075 | www.spokanevalleywa.gov SPOKANE VALLEY HOMELESS HOUSING TASK FORCE Meeting Date:September 25, 2025 AGENDA ITEM TITLE: 1406 funds BACKGROUND:OnMay of 2024, Council recognized that there is a significant need for land for affordable housing/homeless purposes and allocated $2 million for property acquisition for affordable housing/homeless purposes. The City acquired two parcels located at 228 S Carnahan using a portion of these funds. On April 22, 2025, this property, along with another City owned lot, was awarded through a request for proposal (RFP) process to Habitat for Humanity to provide 25 affordable homeownership units. Approximately $1.3M of the funding allocated for property acquisition remains. Substitute House Bill 1406 (City Fund 108) allows local jurisdictions to impose local state-shared sales and use tax to fund affordable or supportive housing. In 2020, the Council authorized the City to begin collecting the Affordable and Supportive Sales Tax, which is a rebate of the state sales tax to cities and counties. The consumer does not pay an additional amount for this tax; the effective state sales tax rate of 6.5% remains the same. The City collects approximately $200,000 each year and the 2025 end balance is estimated to be $1.2 million. The City will receive these revenues for 20 years, and the revenues may only be used to support affordable housing within the City or for rental assistance as outlined in RCW 82.14.40 as follows: Acquiring, rehabilitating, or constructing affordable housing, which may include new units within an existing structure or facilities providing supportive housing services under RCW 71.24.385 (behavioral health administrative and managed care organizations). o Eligible uses include qualifying home-ownership projects for those at or below 80% AMI Funding the operations and maintenance costs of new units of affordable or supportive housing. Rental assistance for those at or below 60% AMI o Eligible uses may include costs related to obtaining or retaining housing; such as move-in expenses or rental arrears o The following are examples from recent City contracts with rental assistance funding: 1.Over the last two reported quarters, Frontier Behavioral Health (FBH) Outreach team has placed 21 Spokane Valley households/clients into long-term housing by paying rental expenses such as for rental arrears, deposits/move in costs, first/last months and applications fees for individuals experiencing homelessness. Currently, the funds used for rental assistance are paid through a Healthcare Authority grant received by FBH, not paid by the City. FBH received less funding for these costs than in the previous year. Without additional funding to make up the shortfall for these housing-associated costs, FBH will not be able to continue housing individuals and families at the same rate. 2.The City awarded a grant to Family Promise’s FLASH program for their operations and direct client assistance to individuals to maintain housing, house and prevent homelessness. Family Promise that this flexible funding, which followed a family (as opposed to being connected to a specific program). was the most useful in reducing the average time spent homeless (6 to 75 days) and the cost to house a family; 57% of the cost of traditional shelter. The program paid for a variety of costs such as past rent owed, deposits and other move-in costs, transportation assistance, temporary hoteling.According to Family Promise data, 97.7% of households housed through the FLASH program are still housed. Administrative costs up to 10% of the annual tax collected Severe weather shelters, utility assistance also approved use of these funds in other jurisdictions Can be used to help existing projects complete funding stack In October 2024 the Spokane Housing Authority suspended the release of any additional housing vouchers due to budget constraints. This means that for the last year one of the most useful tools in our community for assisting households obtain and retain stable housing has not been available. As many local jurisdictions grapple with budget shortfalls, state and federal funding sources have also been reduced compared to the years coming out of the COVID pandemic. While resources have been diminishing, though, according to the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Snapshot report the number of people in Spokane County who are either homeless or unstably housed grew from 17,753 in January 2021 to 19,399 in January 2025. Staff are tasked with developing options for the use of these funds for Council consideration. The Task Force will make recommendations to Council on how to use these funds. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion STAFF CONTACT: Eric Robison, Homeless & Housing Coordinator ATTACHMENTS: None Affordable and Supportive Housing Tax (1406) Discussion HomelessHousingTaskForce September25,2025 Background -Affordable and Supportive Sales Tax –1406 Funds Council authorized the City to begin collecting in 2020 Rebate of the state sales tax –no additional cost to citizens —6.5% effective rate of state sales tax remains Department of Revenue estimated the distribution to be $200K per year —2025 end balance ~$1.2M City must report annually to the Department of Commerce on the collection and use of the revenue Affordable & Supportive Housing Sales Tax Eligible Uses Acquiring, rehabilitating, Operations and Rental assistance for those Administrative costs up to or constructing affordable maintenance costs of new at or below 60% AMI 10% housing including home units of affordable or May include costs related ownership for those at or supportive housing. to obtaining or retaining below 80% AMI housing Potential Uses for 1406 funds Acquiring vacant land for the development of affordable housing, including home ownership Acquisition, rehabilitation and/or conversion to affordable housing Could go to a new project, or a current project attempting to complete capital stack Rentalassistanceto tenants •Retaininghousingtoavoidhomelessness •Obtaininghousingoncehomeless 4 Discussion & Questions