Ditching the status-quo solutions to Seattle homeless problem is costing taxpayers

A consultant for Seattle told leaders that the city has the resources and was about $9 million shy of solving most of the homeless problem within a year.

Related: Seattle has ‘culture block’ when it comes to the homeless crisis

Of course, the city would have needed to prune things that aren’t working as well.

Seattle homeless consultant Barb Poppe says progress has been made, but “no rapid innovation” between the city, community, and businesses. She told a panel on homelessness this week that there is a “block” in the community’s culture.

Essentially, the city needs to change its approach to homelessness.

Mandy Chapman Semple, who runs Houston’s Corporation for Supportive Housing, made it clear to community organizations in her city that success would be measured by how many people they got into permanent housing. But she also warned the community that it wouldn’t happen overnight.

“Holding us accountable for removing someone from their line of sight is really different than holding someone accountable for housing someone. We also acknowledged, very openly and honestly, that until I move the person in front of your house, it won’t feel real, it won’t matter. You won’t believe what we are doing.”

So the way to measure success is not based on handouts and temporary solutions, but how many people get into long-term housing.

Houston set up a real-time system where you can track how many people the city has moved into permanent housing.

“Because we use that system for every part of that homeless engagement, we are then able to know, once we’ve navigated someone all the way through, we monitor for 24 months past their exit from housing whether they ever come back and touch our system again,” Chapman Semple said.

But Seattle continues to move people around as it slowly works toward a permanent solution.

When he announced a proposed $275 million homeless levy, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray even admitted that the status quo hasn’t been working.

“I know there won’t be agreement on all sides, but business as usual has not worked,” he said.

Unfortunately, to get away from “business as usual,” it will cost taxpayers millions more.

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