King County leaders propose ‘significant investment’ in homelessness

City and county leaders have released some of their first coordinated steps to solve the homeless crisis in King County.

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Late last year, leaders announced “One Table,”  a group of elected officials, business leaders, nonprofits, faith leaders, and community members. They are charged with finding ways to address homelessness regionally, including studying everything from short- and long-term housing issues to addressing the root causes of homelessness.

Their recommendations include Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s recently approved plan for more shelter beds and tiny house villages.

King County homeless proposals

King County Executive Dow Constantine says he has plans for everything from investing in more affordable housing to new strategies to deal with the root causes of homelessness, such as drug addiction and mental health. Constantine wants to bond against future hotel-motel tax dollars to get an extra $100 million that would be used toward affordable housing for people earning between 30-80 percent of the median income.

“This is a significant investment,” he said. “It is still in the manner of a down payment because there are going to be greater needs than this and needs in various niches for housing, including for people who need onsite support for the challenges they have in their lives.”

Constantine wants to expand a program that has helped the county build up capacity at non-profit behavioral health centers.

“So, we’re going to invest some of the rainy day fund from our Mental Illness and Drug Dependency tax to provide increased treatment on-demand at clinics … but also treatment on-demand in the field,” Constantine explained.

The Mental Illness and Drug Dependency tax is a countywide sales tax that generates about $134 million per biennium.

“So whether it’s in someone’s home or at the shelter, we’re able to reach out to folks and help them begin to get on the road to recovery, even if they’re not able to get themselves to a program,” he said.

That also means having enough capacity to assist people as soon as they call for help.

Opioid treatment

Constantine also wants to increase the availability of medication-based treatment with Suboxone, which helps wean people off opioids.

“Medical professionals are limited in the number of people to whom they can prescribe buprenorphine,” he said. “I think they’ve increased the number, but it is still far too little to meet the demand. So we want to try to fund additional positions … to make sure whoever needs it can get it.”

That would include having medical professionals treat people with Suboxone in their homes, eliminating the need for a treatment center.

Constantine also wants to use some unspent money in the county’s mental health and drug dependency fund for peer respite care. That would include allowing people who have kicked a drug habit or dealt with their own mental health crisis to run homes where people can get support.

Most of these plans will need approval from the King County Council.

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