King County wants to end youth homelessness in 2 years

King County and the city of Seattle are teaming up with non-profits and philanthropists to get young, homeless people into shelter. They announced an ambitious goal on Tuesday to end youth homelessness by June 2021.

The county-wide collaboration is being led by All Home King County, the organization in charge of the city and county homelessness response.

Washington state homelessness numbers decline by 3.1 percent

“Now is the time to cross the finish line,” said LaMont Green, lead youth and young adult homelessness planner at All Home. “To move from managing the crisis to effectively ending homelessness among youth and young adults in King County.”

Today’s announcement of the new campaign, End Youth Homelessness Now, follows recent data that show a drop in youth homelessness across the county. The latest annual point-in-time count found more than 1,000 youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. That’s a 28 percent decline compared to last year.

“We have way too many people experiencing homelessness in our region,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. “We know if we can’t make it better, then there is no future.”

The new campaign means multiple resources will join in a single office located in Seattle’s University’s District. That includes the “functional zero action team,” a group dedicated to finding housing for homeless youth within 30 days or less. The team members are made up of staff from All Home, the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department and King County’s Department of Community and Human Services.

The campaign has been months in the making, sparked by funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other investments include money raised from Pearl Jam’s The Home Show, King County, City of Seattle, and private foundations.

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