The city of Spokane is launching a new coordinated street outreach model to address homelessness. Changes include additional street outreach work and a shift at the Navigation Center starting in October. The updates build on the city’s H.O.M.E. Starts Here Initiative launched in the spring.
Under the new street outreach model, outreach teams will be in all four of the Spokane Police Department precincts, including downtown. Anyone who sees unhoused individuals in need of help, but in non-life-threatening situations, is urged to call 311 or file an online report. Reports will be dispatched to an outreach team. SPD officers conducting enforcement are also able to dispatch the outreach teams.
“It is my hope that these changes to our engagement and enforcement response will improve coordination between SPD and the outreach teams that connect unhoused individuals with the services they need,” Police Chief Kevin Hall said in a press release. “Enforcement places a critical role in our homelessness response, but it must be paired with the outreach, mental health care, and treatment that we know is what moves the needle.”
The outreach work also includes continued traditional street outreach to meet the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness and coordination with the city’s Encampment Resolution Program to identify and assess encampments.
Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington will partner with the city for the new outreach model. Catholic Charities has a strong background in this type of work. We recently chatted with CEO Rob McCann on the At Issue Podcast about outreach, their housing facilities, and even the criticism and rumors. Listen to the At Issue Podcast at ksps.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
The structure at the Navigation Center, located in the Cannon Street Shelter near Browne’s Addition, is changing from an overnight shelter to a day use facility. For At Issue: Can We Fix Downtown?, we went inside the Navigation Center. The facility offered a place to sleep, but also support services to help clients find drug treatment, mental health care, job placement, and permanent housing. Watch the story on ksps.org for an inside look at the Navigation Center.
Now, the center will serve as a place for more people to access those wraparound services during the day. As a shelter, the space served 30 people on any given night. The city says under the new structure, it can serve 80 people at a time.
“One of the biggest gaps in our system has been the lack of safe, supportive places for people to go during the day,” Housing and Human Services Director Dawn Kinder said in a press release. “By transitioning the navigation center to day use, we are filling that gap and creating a place where people can access services, connect with case managers, and take steps toward stability.”
Jewels Helping Hands and Providence will operate the Navigation Center.