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Home My WebLink AboutANNUAL REPORT 5-YEAR PLAN final ANNUAL REPORT 2022-2023 5-Year Plan to End Homelessness in Jefferson County, WA Prepared by: Jefferson County Housing Fund Board Website: https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/1382/Housing-Fund-Board 2 5 YEAR HOMELESS HOUSING PLAN ANNUAL REPORT Current Condition of Homelessness p. 3-4 We gathered numbers from housing and homelessness service providers, including OlyCAP, Bayside Housing, Dove House, Habitat for Humanity, and the Winter Welcoming Shelter. Performance Against Plan Goals p. 5-6 A look at goals included in the plan and the status of work against those goals. Looking Ahead In 2024, the Housing Fund Board coordinates the work of Jefferson County, City of Port Townsend, and local housing and service providers to draft a new 5-Year Homeless Housing Plan for implementation 2025-2029. Emerging Needs • The rapid expansion of emergency and transitional housing was not matched by an increase in operational funding. • Increase in coordination between behavioral health service and emergency/transitional housing providers, including assessing the need for dedicated housing for Substance Use Disorder Housing. • Support for workers engaged in housing service provision. • Destigmatizing homelessness and affordable housing labels through making the case for housing for all. “Housing represents the fundamental base-solution to the problem of homelessness.” – 2020 Annual Report 3 CURRENT CONDITION OF HOMELESSNESS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY 2022-23 Service Impact and Performance Measures Service 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Individuals Sheltered* 330 385 193 258 People Turned Away* 223 313 Not available Not available New Emergency/ Transitional Beds 0 36 12 66 Section 8 Vouchers 111 187 185 Rent Assistance Vouchers** 714 649 578 System Prioritization (% Unsheltered Entries) 74% 56% 67% Not yet available Exits to Permanent Housing 78% 78% 54% Not yet available Length of Time in Homelessness (days) 699 373 487 Not yet available Returns to Homelessness 5% 8% 6% Not yet available *Change in data source. 2022 and 2023 are per HMIS while previous years’ counts came from individual agencies. Decrease in number of individuals sheltered from 2021 to 2022 likely reflects HMIS undercount and duplication of individuals in separate agencies’ counts in 2020 and 2021. Number of people turned away not available from HMIS data. ** Rent Assistance vouchers include ERAP vouchers. The ERAP program was discontinued at the end of June 2023. Source: DOC County Report Card Source: DOC County Report Card 86%83% 100%100% 78%78% 54% 8%2%10%5%5%8%6% 36%29% 47% 73%74% 56%67% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 JC Homeless System Performance Chart 1 Exits to Permanent Housing Returns to Homelessness System Prioritization 245 534 366 617 699 373 487 0 200 400 600 800 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 JC Homeless System Performance Chart 2 Length of Time Homeless 4 Data Summary: • In the past four years, Jefferson County has more than doubled the number of emergency and transitional beds from 124 to 257. • 10 units of permanent support housing were added in 2023 bringing the total to 47. Another 19 units are in construction and 83 in planning. These will bring the total number of permanent supportive housing units to 155 or 56% of the county’s projected 20-year need. Apple Health Funding is being used to expand permanent supportive operations. • The number of subsidized affordable housing units has remained relatively constant since 2019, the first year of the current five-year plan. OlyCAP opened 7th Haven, the first multi- family affordable apartment complex to be built in Jefferson County in over a decade, adding 33 subsidized rental units. However, other affordable housing projects’ subsidies expired (Avamere, Victoria House). • Two major housing developments that include subsidized affordable housing are in planning: Evans Vista, a mixed income neighborhood in Port Townsend, will add a projected 78 units of subsidized rental housing and Habitat’s permanently affordable project in Port Hadlock will create a community of approximately 50 affordable and 100 workforce housing units. • The lack of affordable housing has a major negative impact on addressing homelessness as measured by exits to permanent housing, average length of time in homelessness and returns to homelessness, all of which have been trending in a negative direction. These negative trends could also be the effect of incomplete data during full-scale HMIS implementation. 2022-23 Homeless and Affordable Housing Stock by Housing Continuum Type and Development Stage Housing Continuum Type Start of 5 Year Plan End of 2021 End of 2023 In Construc -tion In Planning Planned Closing Total Existing & Planned HAPT 2044 Emergency Housing # of beds 58 36 36 Transitional Housing # of beds 109 171 34 Mixed Emergency & Transitional Housing # of beds 28 50 40 Emergency Housing Total # of beds 124 205 257 40 70 227 614 Permanent Supportive Housing # of units 31 37 47 19 73 139 247 Subsidized Rentals # of units 441 411 435 94 17 512 Subsidized Ownership # of units 48 55 61 61 Permanently Affordable Housing # of units 0 0 8 14 88 110 Affordable Housing Total (<80% AMI) # of units 489 471 509 14 172 17 683 2601 5 PERFORMANCE AGAINST PLAN GOALS Stated Goals in 2021 Report “In 2022, the Housing Fund Board will form, solicit applications and appoint new community members, determine new committees, launch new RFP processes, work on community outreach, and begin planning for 2023 work to start the next update of the 5-Year Plan. 2023 work will focus on the data collection elements of the plan.” Progress: In 2022 and 2023, new RFP processes were launched, and in 2023 the Data and Needs Assessment Committee was formed. The Housing Fund Board’s Data and Needs Assessment Committee is coordinating with city and county planners in developing a data model that will provide reliable projections of housing needs by demographic (5 Year Plan Objective 4) and with Commerce to establish performance benchmarks and improvement goals. (5 Year Plan Objective 4). Objectives from 5 Year Plan Top-level look at performance against the main objectives and supportive actions. PLAN GOAL STATUS OWNER NOTES (see p. 6) 1. Quickly identify and engage people experiencing homelessness. In Progress OlyCAP & Other Providers HMIS full adoption was achieved in 2023 2. Prioritization of homeless housing for people with the highest needs. In Progress OlyCAP & HFB Coordinated Entry Advisory Board (CEAB) created 2023 3. Operate an effective and efficient homeless crisis response system that swiftly moves people into stable and permanent housing […]. In Progress – some success All Community Build expansion adding transitional units, OWL 360 increasing youth access to services/housing 4. A projection of the number of households & individuals left unsheltered […], In Progress “Task Force” – no longer exists Data and Needs Assessment Committee formed 2023, working with local planners 5. Address Racial, Ethnic and Gender Disparities among People Experiencing Homelessness In Progress – needs attention CEAB, All Some progress in 2023, this will be a focus in 2024 6. Supportive Efforts Aimed at Ending Homelessness In Progress – some success All Expansion of Community Build and increased support of Winter Welcoming Center have both been successful 6 Major Accomplishments • Bayside Housing Services and Dove House Advocacy Services achieved HMIS certification in 2022-23 and are entering all clients through the Coordinated Entry System (CES) as of 2023. (5 Year Plan Objective 1) • The Coordinated Entry Advisory Board (CEAB) convened in 2022 and has been meeting regularly to develop policies and procedures. (5 Year Plan Objectives 1 and 2) Coordination between the three major housing providers – Bayside, OlyCAP and Dove House – provides mutual support for expanding and strengthening the system. • Unsheltered entries as a percentage of all entries, the System Prioritization Performance Measure, exceeds the statewide average of 51% and is trending up. In 2022, System Prioritization was 67%. (5 Year Plan Objective 2) • OlyCAP’s partnership with Jefferson County Anti-Racist Fund improved system prioritization, especially for Rapid Rehousing. (5 Year Plan Objective 2) • Since 2020, Community Build has engaged hundreds of volunteers in addressing the lack of affordable housing. A second tiny shelter village in 2022, (the first opened in 2021). In 2023, Community Build began developing a program to provide affordable tiny houses with volunteer labor for extremely low-income individuals (5 Year Plan Objectives 3 and 6). • OWL 360 has increased youth access to services through an innovative program that offers a supportive environment for young people to meet each other, access resources, and gain social and employment opportunities. In addition, they doubled transition housing for young adults 18 to 24 years old from 10 to 20 beds. (5 Year Plan Objective 3)