Spokane may prop up scattered-site homeless shelter model as soon as Aug. 1

(The Center Square) – The mayor of Spokane’s proposal for a scattered-site homeless shelter model and a housing navigation center is moving toward fruition, with an intended project start date of Aug. 1.

On Monday, the city council’s Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee briefly discussed the idea of a navigation center and potential providers. The city previously issued a Request for Proposals and is now moving toward awarding the contract.

Arielle Anderson, director of Spokane’s Community, Housing, and Human Services Department, said that CHHS recommends approving the joint application from Empire Health Foundation and Revive, which she also said was the only application received.

The navigation center and scattered-site model are all part of Mayor Lisa Brown’s plan to move away from large congregate shelters and focus on street-based outreach instead.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all,” Anderson said. “It’s we’re going to take the time to get to know you, understand what your needs are, where you’re at medically, which can involve a whole host of things, and get you to the correct provider.”

According to the agenda documents, the navigation center will serve as a pilot program, which CHHS hopes other municipalities will use as a “blueprint” to prop up their own. However, she said CHHS doesn’t know where the navigation center will go, though the council asked for a list of recommended sites when it’s available.

The goal is to use the center as a shelter with roughly 25 to 30 beds. Staff will then help coordinate individuals with other small shelters and services scattered throughout Spokane.

“One of the most critical pieces to the success of this program is going to be that constant feedback loop,” Anderson said. “Whether that is with the operator, primary service provider, neighborhood councils, other community providers. All of that also has to be in place.”

According to the agenda documents, the operator would be responsible for entering into subrecipient agreements to “establish relationships with smaller, grassroots/local providers.” This would subvert specific fiscal and insurance requirements that the subrecipients would need to meet if the city were entering the agreement instead.

Propping up this new model would mean Brown is one step closer to decommissioning the Trent Resource Assistance Center, the city’s largest congregate homeless shelter. She and other local officials have continually said they intend to decommission TRAC by this fall.

Spokane has spent roughly $10 million on keeping the Trent Shelter open the last few years, but estimates note it could cost up to $8 million more to close it by the tentative fall deadline.

The state Legislature gave Spokane $4 million to help decommission TRAC, some of which was used for the RFP process. Documents on the initiative and process noted that the city has approximately $3.85 million to prop up the center and new model over the next year.

However, given Brown’s declaration of emergency, she could streamline more funding, adding to the uncertainty around how much the entire endeavor will actually cost, especially since the city is already under contract with several other providers.

“My concern is that we’ve yet to have one of these contracts come before us that we don’t have to come back to amend the contract for financial reasons,” said Council President Betsy Wilkerson. “Personally, [I] don’t want to say, ‘Hey, we overspent, and we need another $500,000 or another million dollars to execute this contract.’”

The council still needs to approve the CHHS’s recommendations before entering into any contracts with Empire Health Foundation and Revive, which could happen in the coming weeks.