HomeMy WebLinkAboutRecommendations-Pathways-to-Housing-Security-2023 DECEMBER 1, 2023
DECEMBER 1, 2023
The William D. Ruckelshaus Center (the Center) is an impartial resource for collaborative
problem solving in the State of Washington and the Pacific Northwest. The Center is dedicated
to assisting public, private, nonprofit, tribal, and other community leaders in their efforts to
build consensus and resolve conflicts around difficult public policy issues. The Center is a joint
effort of the University of Washington (hosted by the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and
Governance) and Washington State University (hosted and administered by the Office of the
Provost). For more information about the Center, please visit:
https://ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu/about/
– Associate Director, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center; Project Co-Lead
– Lead Facilitator, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center
– Senior Facilitator, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center
– Principal Consultant, Burke Kelly Consulting
– Senior Facilitator, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center
– Project Coordinator, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center
– Project and Program Manager, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center
– Project Specialist, The William D. Ruckelshaus Center
Facilitation Assistance and Report Layout: BERK Consulting
DECEMBER 1, 2023
The following report was prepared by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center. University leadership
and the Center’s Advisory Board support the preparation of this and other reports produced
under the Center’s auspices. However, the information, findings, and policy recommendations
of the report are intended to reflect the perspectives of the participants. The findings do not
represent the views of university leaders, the Advisory Board, or the Center’s staff and faculty.
DECEMBER 1, 2023
In 2021, the Washington State Legislature directed the William D. Ruckelshaus Center to
facilitate discussions to inform desired principles, options, and recommendations for a state
strategy towards housing security. The project team is sincerely grateful for the hundreds of
individuals with knowledge or experience of housing and/or homelessness related programs
and policies who gave their talent, time, and energy over the past two and a half years.
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
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Section 1: Project Overview
Report Structure
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
Interviews
Focused Discussions
Workshops
Outreach and Participation
Collection, Synthesis, and Analysis of Insights
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security 23
Current Patterns of Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Washington State
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and
Housing Insecurity
Overview of Court Rulings and Policy Trends
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
Foundational Theme: Understanding Homelessness and Housing Instability
Foundational Theme: Recognizing the Complexity of Housing Security
Foundational Theme: Matching the Response to the Need
Foundational Theme: Tending to the Apparent Conflicts of the Response
Foundational Component: State Partnership with Tribal Governments
Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
Conceptual Shift: To a Holistic Understanding of Multiple Contributing Factors to Housing
Insecurity and Homelessness
Conceptual Shift: To a Shared Aspirational Future
Conceptual Shift: To Relationships of Support, Alignment, and Coordination
2 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Guiding Principles for a Long-Term Strategy
Recommendations and Actions for a Long-Term Strategy
Opportunities for State Partnership with Tribal Governments
Recommendations 1 – 3: Set the Strategy Up for Success
Recommendations 4 – 8: Respond to the Continuum of Housing Needs
Recommendations 9 – 12: Respond Holistically to People’s Needs
Recommendations 13 16: Bolster Systems and Workforce Capacity and Stability
Recommendations 17 – 18: Foster Accountability and Manage Performance, and Adapt Over
Appendix A: HB 1277, Section 6 A-1
Appendix B: About the Ruckelshaus Center B-1
Appendix C: Project Participants (2021 – 2023) C-1
Appendix D: Meeting Materials – D-1
Appendix E: Meeting Materials – E-1
Appendix F: Legislative Trends in Washington F-1
DECEMBER 1, 2023
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Recognizing many challenges related to homelessness and housing instability, in Section 6
of House Bill 1277 (HB 1277, see Appendix A for text of relevant section) the Washington
State Legislature tasked the William D. Ruckelshaus Center (the Center, see Appendix B) with
gathering information and facilitating discussions to inform a long-term state strategy to create
pathways to housing security. The Center, in turn, partnered with Washington State University’s
Division of Governmental Studies and Services (DGSS).
Specifically, the purpose set forth by the Legislature was to:
explore and identify trends affecting and policies guiding the housing and services
provided to individuals and families who are, or at risk of, homelessness in Washington
State; and
facilitate meetings and discussions to develop options and recommendations for a long-
term strategy and implementation steps to improve services and outcomes for persons
at risk of or experiencing homelessness and to develop pathways to permanent housing
solutions.
The Center and DGSS released reports on the status of those tasks in December 2021 and
December 2022. This report, in companionship with “Status of Fact-Finding, Year 3” report
presents a cumulative narrative of those tasks, as well as work completed in 2023, and is also
intended to meet the final reporting requirement described in HB 1277, Section 6. The project
team will be available for follow-up conversations and project dissemination through June 2024.
The Center invited and facilitated conversations among hundreds of individuals with knowledge
of and experience related to housing and homelessness across geographies, sectors, and
roles (See Appendix C for list of project participants). Themes emerging from early discussions
informed the development of emerging options, opportunities, and concerns. Further
facilitated discussions helped articulate guiding principles and refine emerging options into
recommendations, including ways to guide investment decisions and ways to assess whether
those investments are contributing to the desired results.
Participants, over the course of this project, have reinforced, deepened, and expanded upon the
elements put forth in HB 1277, Section 6. This project has not been an audit nor an evaluation
of the numerous entities working to meet the needs of individuals and families experiencing
4 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Landscape of Housing Security
homelessness and/or housing instability. Nor has this work been an evaluation of the many
strategies in place to guide that work. While participants reflected on the past and current
context, their conversations focused on where to go next: on shaping a scaffold for decision-
making and identifying priority action areas needed both acutely and over time, rather than on
detailed tactical solutions.
More details on the Center’s approach to iterations of facilitated discussions, to participant
outreach, and to coordinating with other existing efforts are described in “Approach to
Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023.”
1 Sections (2)(c)(i) and (c)(ii) also called for fact-finding on these topics. That work was carried out by the project team from the
Washington State University Extension’s Division of Governmental Studies and Services through literature review and analyses
of publicly available data (reported separately in 2022 and 2023). Points of intersection in the topics, finding, and themes
between that work and the Center’s facilitated discussions are noted throughout this report.
Landscape of Housing Security
Housing needs are often defined in broad categories, such as emergency shelter, transitional
housing, or subsidized housing. However, most participants described housing as a continuum,
and effective programs or policies in any of the categories ultimately depend on others. For
example, temporary housing serves function well when longer-term housing and appropriate
supports are available and accessible.
This report takes a holistic view of the landscape of housing security, first by providing an
overview of the current trends of homelessness and housing instability, then the myriad of
investments, entities, and actors engaged in the response to housing insecurity. This section also
provides an overview of policy trends and court rulings shaping the housing security landscape.
A deeper dive into factors affecting the rates and trends of sheltered and unsheltered
homelessness is presented in the “Status of Fact-Finding – Year 3” report produced by DGSS.
That analysis highlights county variations in key factors that affect the rates of homelessness
over time, as well as an overview of service evaluations—which highlight the importance of
aligning resources with the unique needs of people.
Foundational Themes for a Long-Term Strategy
As a precursor to identifying options and recommendations for a long-term strategy, HB
, Section 6 called for discussions to gather information about factors that contribute to
homelessness and housing instability; statutory and regulatory issues; other concerns, barriers,
and opportunities; and desired principles
Participants provided a range and depth of perspectives on these issues. Foundational themes
and components of a coherent, effective, and widely accepted long-term effort include:
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
—as multiple, often
co-occurring contributing factors, rather than seeking to identify a short list of “root
—that a wide range of services are relevant and needed, but are also implemented in various settings, by practitioners from many disciplines, funded through multiple governmental and nongovernmental sources, and operating under the management or regulatory oversight of a myriad of agencies with varying policies, incentives, and constraints.
—current programs and available resources do not
match the scale of people experiencing homelessness and housing instability or their
varied needs of the current moment.
—shifting the conversation from
opposing choices can bring the conversation towards what would be a productive
balance between and among seemingly conflicting ideas, such as flexibility and
consistency.
—and with Urban Indian Organizations to
meet the specific housing needs of tribal citizens and communities is a foundational
component of a state effort to advance housing security.
More discussion and detail can be found in “Foundational Themes and Components” in Section
4 of this report.
Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
Building on the foundational themes, participant discussions also illuminated three conceptual
shifts to incorporate in a long-term effort. Mindsets shape the actions and initiatives developed
to address homelessness and housing insecurity. Participants emphasized that the underlying
mindsets, or ways of thinking, need to change in order to enhance success and make progress
towards advancing pathways towards housing security.
Shift to a holistic understanding of multiple contributing factors to housing insecurity
—to be comprehensive and useful, a strategy cannot seek to address
some factors and exclude others. Instead, a strategy will need to grapple with multiple
structural factors and individual vulnerabilities and how they interact with each other.
Shift to a shared aspirational future—to break down silos and build more intentional
connections across the entire housing security landscape.
Shift to relationships of support, alignment, and coordination—to foster incentives,
relationships, and adaptive learning to ensure stable individuals, communities, and
systems.
6 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Guiding principles help align decisions and actions to the goal of advancing housing security.
They serve to guide ongoing decision-making about actions to advance housing security; serve
across levels and sectors—for strategy, policy, program design, service provision, and for local,
regional, and state; help navigate aspects of the response that can seem to be contradictory and
reduce adversarial approaches to finding solutions; and create conditions that balance flexibility
for different parts of the complex response to housing insecurity with consistency for the
response as a whole. Taken together, guiding principles contribute to a comprehensive approach
to advancing housing security.
Guiding Principle A:Foster productive narratives around housing security and homelessness.
Guiding Principle B:Mobilize a multi-sector response to advance housing security.
Guiding Principle C:Respond to the holistic and interdependent nature of housing security.
Guiding Principle D:Design the response to housing insecurity around what people and communities need to thrive.
Guiding Principle E:Undo the harm of structural racism and other forms of systemic disadvantage that produce housing inequity.
Guiding Principle F:Employ a sense of urgency about both meeting immediate needs and initiating steps for long-term progress.
Guiding Principle G:Amplify the influence of those most affected by homelessness and housing instability.
Guiding Principle H:Create conditions that reduce competition and facilitate cooperation.
Guiding Principle I:Address the inability of the housing market to meet housing needs.
Guiding Principle J:Sustain the response to housing insecurity through stability in infrastructure, relationships, and appropriately scaled resources.
Guiding Principle K:Prepare to adapt to changing circumstances, unanticipated disruptions, and new knowledge.
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Recommendations and Opportunities for Sustained Progress Towards Housing Security
Recommendations and Opportunities for Sustained Progress
Section 6 of HB1277 called for facilitated discussions to inform options and recommendations
for a long-term strategy, including clarity on roles and responsibilities, and considerations of the
manner in which investments should be made.
The following recommendations were developed and informed by the knowledge and expertise
of a myriad of individuals with knowledge or experience of programs and policies related to
homelessness and housing instability, and by the project team’s experience in supporting
collaborative efforts. Recommendations and opportunities are organized in the following
categories:
opportunities for State partnership with Tribal Governments;
set the strategy up for success;
respond to the continuum of housing needs;
respond holistically to people’s needs;
bolster systems and workforce capacity and stability; and
foster accountability and manage performance, and adapt over time.
Collectively, these recommendations embody actions in a more holistic approach to housing
security, where entities and actors consider the common set of guiding principles described in
this report. The following recommendations provide guidance for the S —he Legislature,
Office of the Governor, and agencie —o lead and encourage a more coordinated framework;
and for entities and organizations across sectors and levels to adopt conceptual shifts and
guiding principles, in the actions they take according to their roles.
Opportunities for
The State of Washington and federally recognized tribes have government to government
relationships and these relationships recognize and respect the sovereignty of the other. Within
that context, this section presents themes emerging from participant conversations for how
State could better partner with tribal governments in a long-term effort to advance housing
security.
Recommendation 1
Multiple Successes: Recognize multiple, co-existing ways of understanding success.
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Executive Summary
Recommendations and Opportunities for Sustained Progress Towards Housing Security
Recommendation 2
Clarity of Total Investment and Benefit: Capture and communicate the comprehensive
investments that advance housing security, the benefits they yield, and for whom.
Recommendation 3
Experiential Expertise: Amplify the insights and expertise of those affected by
homelessness and housing instability by supporting them to participate in making
decisions about, implementing, and assessing the performance of laws, policies, programs,
and services related to housing insecurity.
ontinuum of
Recommendation 4
Housing Options: Expand the supply, variety, location, and quality of supported options
and pathways for shelter, temporary, and longer-term housing, to better match people to
their types and level of need and to their preferences.
Recommendation 5
Supply of Affordable Housing: Adopt strategies that align homelessness services and
housing assistance with increasing the supply of affordable housing for rental and
ownership. Allocate more funds to be used for operations and maintenance to preserve
the current stock of subsidized and affordable housing.
Recommendation 6
Equitable Access to Housing: As policies are implemented to increase the supply of
affordable housing, ensure equitable access for those transitioning from homelessness and
most at risk of housing instability.
Recommendation 7
Geographic Variability: Accommodate the ways in which housing challenges manifest
differently in different places.
Key actions include:
Local Affordability: Allow local communities to determine what is considered
affordable housing and fair market pricing based on their local economic conditions.
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Recommendations and Opportunities for Sustained Progress Towards Housing Security
Local Affordable Housing Solutions: Support local rental property owners and local
builders/developers with risk mitigation and tailored incentives to participate in
sustaining a robust stock of high-quality local affordable housing.
Recommendation 8
Cooperation Across Jurisdictions: Incentivize greater cooperation across geographic and
political jurisdictions.
olistically to
Recommendation 9
Coordinated Pathway: Create a coordinated pathway system that cultivates operational
connections among entities working on outreach, entry into the homelessness response
system, placement in housing, and longer-term housing stability.
Key actions include:
Infrastructure for Coordination: Directly support the infrastructure and effort
required for active coordination and sustained relationships among local
implementing organizations.
State and Local Engagement: Increase engagement across state and local levels to
clarify policies, practices, and criteria for coordinated systems.
Recommendation 10
Holistic Eligibility: Reconfigure eligibility criteria using a cross-sector, multifactorial,
periodic assessment designed to help people access the supports they need over time
to synergistically stabilize their housing, health, behavioral health, and socioeconomic
Key actions include:
Income Eligibility Gap: Supplement housing assistance eligibility beyond federal
income limits to compensate for the locally disproportionate mismatch between
household income and housing costs.
Income Eligibility Cliff: Extend housing assistance eligibility to replace binary
thresholds with a sliding scale to help people gradually transition to housing stability
as their socioeconomic stability also gradually improves.
10 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Recommendations and Opportunities for Sustained Progress Towards Housing Security
Recommendation 11
Person-Centered Navigation: Evolve current case management and care navigation efforts
into a cross-sector navigation system that responds to the specific needs of individuals and
households and follows them longitudinally as those needs evolve.
Recommendation 12
Circumstances of Precarious Housing: Expand investments that stabilize individuals or
households with circumstances of precarious housing.
Key actions include:
Bridging Support: Provide bridging grants or loans for unanticipated expenses that
may supersede making rent or mortgage payments on time.
Eviction Mitigation: Shift from policies that merely prohibit eviction to add
comprehensive prevention strategies that mitigate the reasons for and impacts of
impending eviction for tenants, neighbors, and property owners/managers.
Recommendation 13
Diversity in Implementation: Increase the diversity of and cooperation among
organizations and entities in the public, nonprofit, and private sector with the potential to
contribute to the response to housing insecurity.
Recommendation 14
Financial Stability of Implementers: Foster the financial stability of those implementing
the response to housing insecurity by offering a range of funding models to variety of
grantees and partners.
Recommendation 15
Working Conditions: Improve working conditions and supports for the frontline workers
who directly provide homeless services and housing assistance.
Recommendation 16
Core Competencies: Establish universal core competencies in culturally responsive, anti-
racist, and trauma-informed practices for providers, administrators, and leaders across
sectors, and regularly provide the training needed to put those competencies into practice.
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Executive Summary
Recommendations and Opportunities for Sustained Progress Towards Housing Security
O
Recommendation 17
Alignment of Policymaking: Assess laws and policies in all areas of government for the
potential to affect housing security and assess housing laws and policies for their potential
to affect interrelated goals in other areas.
Key actions include:
Policy Coordination: Support closer coordination among those who set and
implement policies for interdependent forms of assistance within and across levels of
government.
Alignment with Poverty Reduction Strategies: Cooperate to implement strategies
that mutually reduce poverty and housing insecurity.
Recommendation 18
Knowledge Management Framework: Develop a comprehensive framework for the role
of knowledge and learning in the State’s efforts to advance housing security, including
performance monitoring, focused evaluation, a prioritized research agenda, and avenues
for knowledge sharing.
Key actions include:
Diversity of Knowledge: Draw on complementary sources of information to design,
implement, and monitor policies, programs, and services.
Connect Research and Practice: Create opportunities for dialogue and cooperation
among the research and evaluation communities and the policy and practice
communities.
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12 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 1: Project Overview
DECEMBER 1, 2023
SECTION 1:
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Recognizing many challenges related to homelessness and housing instability, in Section 6 of
House Bill 1277 (HB 1277, see Appendix A for text of relevant section) the Washington State
Legislature called for a multi-year effort between 2021 and 2023 to gather information about
homelessness and housing instability and facilitate discussions among individuals representing
various roles, sectors, and geographies to explore what is needed for sustained progress
towards housing security (See Appendix C for a list of participants). The Legislature tasked the
William D. Ruckelshaus Center (the Center, see Appendix B for more information) to conduct
this work. To accomplish this, the Center partnered with Washington State University’s Division
of Governmental Studies and Services (DGSS).
Legislative tasks to be included in the scope of the project included:
In (2)(a), examine “trends affecting, and policies guiding, the housing and services
provided to individuals and families who are or at risk of homelessness[;]”
In (2)(c)(i), facilitated discussions to identify participant “concerns, barriers, opportunities, and desired principles for a long-term strategy to improve outcomes and services for persons at risk or experiencing homelessness and develop pathways to permanent housing solutions[;]”
In (2)(c)(ii), fact-finding and facilitated discussions among participants to “identify root
causes of housing instability and homelessness within Washington State.” This task
should include consideration of geographic and demographic variations, as well as
“identify statutory and regulatory issues that impede efforts to address root causes[;]”
and
In (2)(d), facilitated discussions among participants for “the purposes of identifying
options and recommendations to develop and implement a long-term strategy to
improve the outcomes and service[s] for persons at risk or experiencing homelessness
and develop pathways to permanent housing solutions, including the manner and
amount in which the state funds homelessness housing and services and performance
measures that must be achieved to receive state funding.”
DGSS faculty and staff have conducted work relating to the fact-finding tasks: taking a deep dive
into the literature surrounding contributing factors of homelessness and housing instability and
reviewing available data. These separate volumes on the “Status of Fact-Finding” are available
14 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 1: Project Overview
through the Center’s website. Information and experiences shared by participants also
contributed to the development of a common information base.
The Center and DGSS released reports on the status of tasks (2)(a), (c)(i), and (c)(ii) in December
2021 and December 2022. This report, in companionship with “Status of Fact-Finding, Year 3,”
present a cumulative narrative of those tasks. The Center project team has prepared this “Final
Report of Facilitated Discussions and Recommendations,” which synthesizes themes across
facilitated discussions over the course of this project and provides a framework to catalyze a
renewed and robust long-term trajectory towards housing security, to satisfy the third and final
reporting requirement described in HB 1277, Section 6 (2)(d). The project team will be available
for follow-up conversations and project dissemination through June 2024.
This project has not been an audit nor an evaluation of the numerous entities working to meet
the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness and/or housing instability.
Nor has this work been an evaluation of the many strategies in place to guide that work. While
participants reflected on the historical work and investments, their conversations focused on
where to go next: on shaping a scaffold for decision-making and identifying priority action areas
needed both acutely and over time, rather than detailed tactical solutions.
The information provided in this report is presented in three primary sections. These sections
Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023, (2) Landscape of Housing Security, and
Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023 provides an overview of the team’s iterative
approach to facilitated discussions, criteria for participant outreach and engagement, and
approach to analysis and synthesis of participant insights.
Landscape of Housing Security presents a summary of the patterns of homelessness and
housing instability, of the investments and entities engaged in the response to housing
insecurity, as well as policy trends and court rulings. A deeper dive into the research and data
collection regarding patterns of homelessness and housing instability can be found in the
reports on “Status of Fact-Finding” produced by WSU’s Division of Governmental Studies and
Services.
Participants, during iterations of facilitated discussions, have reinforced, deepened, and
expanded upon the elements put forth in the legislation. Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
reports out the foundational themes and components of a long-term strategy. These themes
serve as the groundwork for framing the conceptual shifts, for articulating guiding principles,
2 Reports on fact-finding efforts are available through the project page:
https://ruckelshauscenter.wsu.edu/projects/current-projects/pathways-to-housing-security/
Section 1: Project Overview
DECEMBER 1, 2023
identifying recommendations, and capturing considerations and concerns about those
recommendations and key actions. The guiding principles and recommendations provide a
scaffold for decision-making across the sectors—government, philanthropic, service providers,
others—including ways to guide investment decisions and ways to assess whether those
investments are contributing to desired results.
This report also reflects the call to action emphasized by participants. A call for:
a more transparent, holistic, coordinated, and multi-sectoral approach to advancing
housing security;
entities and organizations across sectors and geographic scales to adopt conceptual
shifts and guiding principles in their actions according to their roles; and
S —he Legislature, Office of the Governor, agencie —o not only implement, but
to lead and encourage a more coordinated framework.
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16 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
DECEMBER 1, 2023
SECTION 2:
APPROACH TO FACILITATED
DISCUSSIONS: 2021-2023
As the Center drew on its experience convening diverse groups to inform public policy, the
project team utilized an iterative and adaptive engagement approach. That approach started
with individual interviews and progressed towards increasingly broader convenings that
engaged individuals with varied roles and sectors in conversations with one another.
At the start of each interview, focused discussion, or workshop, the project team informed
participants that this report would present aggregated themes, with no statement attributed
to any individual or entity. A list of all participants can be found in Appendix C, except for those
who opted out of being identified.
Themes emerging from preliminary conversations informed the focus areas of workshops and
emerging options for a state strategy. Conversations during those workshops, in turn, helped
refine those options into finalized recommendations and identify additional consideration and
key actions. The rest of this section provides deeper understanding into the 2021-2023 Center
iterative approach, as well as criteria for participant outreach.
A first cycle of interviews, reported in 2021, served to clarify legislative intent and priorities,
shape the project approach, and provide an initial understanding of concerns and areas of
opportunity, starting from the perspectives of those with statewide leadership roles in efforts to
address homelessness and housing instability.
The next cycle of interviews, reported in 2022, included 44 individuals across various roles,
sectors, levels of jurisdiction, and regions. These interviews served to provide an initial range
of perspectives on emerging concerns, opportunities, guiding principles, key questions, and
suggestions for how to design productive engagements on a larger scale. These interviews also
3 Sanders et al. (2021). Pathways to Housing Security: Phase 1 Report. Online: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/
sites/2180/2021/12/Pathways-to-Housing-Security-Report-FINAL.pdf
4 Shulman et al. (2022). Status of Stakeholder Discussions: Phase 2 Report. Online: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/
sites/2180/2022/12/Housing-Security_Stakeholder-Discussions_Year-2-Report_Revised-12.23.22.pdf
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
had the purpose of elucidating what kinds of further engagement, with whom, and around
which issue areas would most usefully explore what is needed for sustained progress towards
housing security in Washington State.
This first cycle of discussions in 2023 focused on conversations among participants with similar
interests, practices, and backgrounds. The team also sought to engage with individuals who
work in communities underrepresented in policy-making spaces and/or overrepresented in
experiences of homelessness and housing instability.
Specifically, these conversations provided an opportunity for individuals with similar
responsibilities or working in similar contexts to share their perspectives regarding challenges
and barriers, and successes, opportunities, and potential roles in a statewide approach to
improving housing security in Washington State. The project team convened these focused
discussions for individuals with a role in or knowledge of:
private sector housing;
providing housing and related services rural counties in Washington State;
involvement in research, evaluation, and monitoring; and
providing housing and related services for individuals in transition to/from State-
supported systems and services, such as individuals released from state facilities or
immigrants.
The project team also convened conversations for individuals affiliated with Tribal Governments
and Urban Indian Organizations are responsible for planning and coordinating
homelessness services and housing assistance. During those conversations, participants shared
perspectives on the experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity and how the S
could support their efforts within their respective reservations and tribal communities.
This cycle of focused discussions helped clarify concerns and elicit emerging options to focus on
in further future facilitated discussions. Those workshop themes and the process for providing
additional input on the emerging options is described in the following section.
Discussion agendas, including facilitation questions, can be found in Appendix C.
A series of six virtual workshops in August 2023 brought the collaborative knowledge gained,
and some of the same individuals who participated in interviews and focused discussions,
into a facilitated process. That process more broadly engaged individuals from across sectors,
locations, and perspectives and with expertise or a role in the policies or services/programs
related to homelessness and housing insecurity. While expanding the diversity and scale of the
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
Outreach and Participation
DECEMBER 1, 2023
collaborative engagement, the project team also focused on refining potential options identified
in prior discussions by eliciting feedback, assessing convergence, clarifying differences, and
capturing concerns and considerations.
The overall design of the workshops—the six thematic areas and emerging options for actions
State could take to advance housing security—reflected the topics identified by participants
in interviews and focus discussions held in 2021 and 2022. Those topics include areas of
convergence and divergence, and opportunities for transformative actions. Thematic topics
for workshops, included (see Appendix D for workshop materials, including agendas, emerging
options, and facilitation questions):
meeting needs along the housing continuum,
responding holistically to people’s needs,
connecting housing security and economic security,
navigating flexibility and consistency,
defining success and managing performance, and
shifting views of homelessness and housing instability.
In September and early October 2023, the project team convened six additional workshops—
two virtual and four in-person across the state (Puyallup, Spokane, Kennewick, and Everett)
that included 87 participants. All of these workshops shared the same theme, which emerged
during August workshops: a desired strategic framework of a statewide approach to advancing
housing security that builds a networked system of supports and resources focused on helping
communities—at all scales—thrive.
Outreach and Participation
As directed by Section of HB 1277, the project team worked with representatives of the
following:
ribal governments and Urban Indian Organizations,
local governments,
local providers of housing and services for homeless populations,
advocates and stakeholders representing the interests of homeless populations,
mental health and substance abuse professionals,
representatives of the business community,
legislators from both parties of the House and Senate, including appointees representing the two largest caucuses in the Washington State House and Washington State Senate, and
executive branch representatives, including three gubernatorial appointments.
20 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
Outreach and Participation
The project team also conducted outreach using the following criteria to identify additional
participants:
expressed interest in this project, and/or suggested by another individual,
have expertise or a role in the policies or services/programs related to homelessness and housing insecurity,
geographic distribution,
involved in a multi-jurisdictional effort to coordinate and/or collaborate on policies
related to housing and homelessness,
communities that are least heard, often underrepresented in policy discussions related
housing and homelessness policies, and
overall number of interviews and workshops fit within project time and resource
constraints.
The project team also worked with partners at the Washington State Department of Commerce,
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, and Washington State Association
of Counties, which forwarded invitations to relevant email distribution lists, such as standing
committees and recipients of grants related to affordable housing and services for homeless
crisis response.
During conversations early in the project, many participants emphasized the importance of
including individuals with personal experiences of homelessness and housing instability, but
cautioned the project team about holding conversations in a way that is not stigmatizing or
retraumatizing. Others also noted that people bring their professional expertise, as well as
personal experiences, which could include prior experiences of homelessness and/or current
housing instability, to these conversations.
The project team utilized several partnerships to include perspectives of individuals with lived
experience of homelessness and/or housing insecurity. The first partnership involved close
coordination with the Housing Unit at the Department of Commerce and Kone Consulting, who
were conducting a series of focus groups convened among individuals currently living without a
house. More details on these conversations are described in a following section, “Incorporating
Work Done by Others in Parallel.” Learnings from those conversations have informed the
development of this report. The project team also partnered with Ferndale Community Services
to convene a series of conversations with some of their clients and advocates.
5 The Center partnered with tribal liaisons who distributed our letters to Tribal Leaders inviting participation in facilitated
discussions and connected the team with opportunities to share information about the project and receive input at existing
forums. Specifically, the team provided project updates at the following meetings: May 11, 2023, Indian Policy Advisory
Committee – Economic Services Subcommittee and July 12, 2023, Indian Policy Advisory Committee. A member of the
project team attended the 2023 Washington State Tribal Opioid/Fentanyl Summit: Strengthening Pathways to Healing, May
22-23, 2023, where participants had conversations about housing challenges and needs in tribal communities, especially for
individuals with subsistence use disorders.
21
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
Collection, Synthesis, and Analysis of Insights
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Participant Stipends
Following the Washington State Office of Equity Community Compensation Guidelines,
Center provided participant stipends to individuals who were not otherwise compensated for
their time and are low-income and/or are sharing lived experience related to housing instability,
homelessness, and/or program and service delivery for individuals who are experiencing or
at risk of homelessness. This policy is intended to reduce the financial barriers for individuals
directly impacted to participate and contribute their expertise in conversations.
Collection, Synthesis, and Analysis of Insights
The project team gathered qualitative data and information through workshops, facilitated
discussions, and individual interviews. At the conclusion of each interview or workshop, team
members entered notes—without attribution to speaker—into a single spreadsheet to enable
the analysis of all conversations. As the team planned each cycle of facilitated discussions,
members reviewed and synthesized the insights from the input received to develop a first offer
of emerging options for a state strategy for advancing housing security. Participants received
meeting materials with context about the purpose of the project and overarching questions.
Materials and discussion questions from facilitated discussions in 2023 can be found in
Appendices D and E.
Through iterations of analysis and synthesis, both individually and collectively, the team
discussed observations and themes regarding perceptions of housing instability and
homelessness in Washington and what is needed for sustained progress towards greater
housing security—in terms of guiding principles and options and recommendations for a long-
term strategy. The information and recommendations, including guiding principles, presented in
this report reflect the perspectives shared by participants during facilitated discussions, reviews
of relevant background documents and reports of other work being conducted in parallel, and
the team’s expertise in collaborative governance and organizational systems and structures.
Incorporating O
Currently, thousands of entities and organizations across the state work on issues related to
housing security at different scales, contributing in different ways. Recognizing that many
people expressed concerns about duplication of effort, whenever possible, the project team
has drawn on previous and current efforts as building blocks and complementary sources of
insights.
The project team worked diligently to pay careful attention to other existing efforts and
conversations working to coordinate delivery and implement housing assistance programs
and develop strategies to meet the varied needs of individuals experiencing homelessness or
6 Washington State Office of Equity. (n.d.). Community Compensation Guidelines. Webpage. Washington State Office of the
Governor. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://equity.wa.gov/people/community-compensation-guidelines
22 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 2: Approach to Facilitated Discussions: 2021-2023
Collection, Synthesis, and Analysis of Insights
housing instability. Listening to those conversations, reviewing other bodies of work, and asking
questions at standing meetings allowed the project team to engage with a broader range of
perspectives, to gain a deeper understanding of a specific area of focus, and also minimize the
number of meetings asked of individuals. For example, the project team closely tracked the
Affordable Housing Advisory Board’s update to their strategic plan and a study to “dentify and
develop effective interventions and responses to primary and secondary workplace trauma
experienced by direct service staff who work in homeless shelters, homeless outreach, and
permanent supportive housing.”Team members also facilitated conversations during standing
meetings, such as the Steering Committee of the Governor’s Poverty Reduction Working Group
and the Indian Policy Advisory Committee, which is affiliated with the Department of Social and
Health Services.
During the course of this project, the Department of Commerce, with advice from the Statewide
Advisory Council on Homelessness, began work to update strategic plan for the homeless
housing crisis response system. The Homelessness Assistance Unit, within the Department
of Commerce, partnered with Kone Consulting to gather experience and perspectives of
individuals experiencing homelessness and service providers. The project team coordinated
closely with Department of Commerce staff to develop interview questions for service
providers and focus group questions for conversations among individuals currently experiencing
homelessness in six different communities. The project team included summaries from those
conversations in the analysis and synthesis.
7 Chapter 223, Laws of 2021
23
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Current Patterns of Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Washington State
DECEMBER 1, 2023
SECTION 3:
LANDSCAPE OF HOUSING
SECURITY
Section 6 of HB 1277 called for an examination of the current patterns of homelessness and
housing instability in order to identify the long-term pathways towards housing security.
Housing needs are often defined in broad categories, for example: emergency, supportive,
transitional, affordable, and market-rate. Entities may make decisions and/or act in one or
multiple categories of housing needs. However, most participants described housing as a
continuum, and effective programs or policies in any of the categories ultimately depend on
the rest of them. For example, temporary housing serves function well when longer-term
housing and appropriate supports are available and accessible.
This section takes a holistic view of the landscape housing security across Washington—first by
providing an overview of the patterns of homelessness and housing instability, then the myriad
of investments, entities, and actors engaged in the response to housing insecurity. This section
then provides an overview of policy trends and court rulings.
Current Patterns of Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in
Participants described a myriad of ways that state and federal entities seek to gather
information about the demographics and geographic patterns of individuals and families
experiencing homelessness and/or housing insecurity. Such information can be useful, but many
participants also described limitations in quantitative data.
The annual Point in Time (PIT) count is a nationwide accounting of sheltered and unsheltered
people on a night in January. As reported in Status of Fact-Finding eports, patterns of
sheltered and unsheltered homelessness have increased with overall upward trends reported
in Washington’s annual PIT count.According to the 2023 PIT count, approximately 14,000
individuals meet the criteria for sheltered homelessness and approximately 6,000 individuals
8 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Annual Point in Time Count. Webpage. Washington State Department
of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/
annual-point-time-count/
24 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Current Patterns of Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Washington State
are experiencing unsheltered homelessness. However, many participants have noted that this
approach may not provide a complete picture of individuals living unhoused or unstably housed.
For example, the PIT count relies on outreach workers to connect with individuals willing to
participate in the count; approaches to data collection may vary by county and vary from year to
year; and it does not include individuals who are unstably housed.
Twice a year the Department of Commerce releases a “Snapshot of Homelessness in
Washington State,” which provides supplemental information on the number of individuals
experiencing homeless and insights on the number of individuals who may be experiencing
housing instability in Washington.This report utilizes information collected from state
administrative data systems such as those collecting data on individuals receiving public
assistance and diagnoses in Medicaid data that indicate homelessness. By flagging individuals
and households with any indication of homelessness or housing instability—such as mailing
address of “general”—or where housing instability or homelessness is part of program eligibility,
the “Snapshot of Homelessness in Washington State” report provides an estimate of individuals
experiencing homelessness or housing instability and who are receiving public assistance
across counties and by race/ethnicity. Of the 2,795,538 individuals receiving public assistance
in Washington, 196,117 individuals are reported as experiencing homelessness or unstable
housing.Of the 1,465,161 households receiving public assistance, 157,642 households are
reported as experiencing homelessness or unstable housing. The Snapshot report also provides
information on the race/ethnicity of individuals and households experiencing homelessness or
housing instability for each county.
Status of Fact-Finding, Year 3 eport, Washington State University’s Division of
Governmental Studies and Services presents information on the rates and trends of individuals
meeting the criteria for sheltered and unsheltered homelessness. That review includes trends in
geography, demographics, and potential contributing factors, as called for in Section 6, HB 1
Collectively, these resources and bodies of work provide policymakers and program
implementors insights on the number of individuals and households experiencing homelessness
and/or housing instability. However, participants emphasized that people and households may
be excluded from those data collection efforts for a myriad of reasons—those ineligible for
public assistance, those who do not meet definitions of sheltered or unsheltered homeless, or
those not included during the annual PIT count.
9 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Snapshot of Homelessness Reports. Webpage Collection.
Washington State Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: “Understanding the Snapshot
Report” and all Snapshot reports released since 2016 are available at: https://deptofcommerce.app.box.com/s/
hnpkedlkifogzx8i892cu0k34nzsrbtp
10 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Snapshot of Homelessness Reports. Webpage Collection. Washington
State Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://deptofcommerce.app.box.com/s/
hnpkedlkifogzx8i892cu0k34nzsrbtp/file/1192641696848
25
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the
Efforts across multiple sectors support individuals and families experiencing homelessness and
housing instability in Washington State. Programs are implemented and services delivered by
a diverse array of governmental, private, and nongovernmental entities. Individuals may also
utilize support from friends and family as they navigate not only the housing landscape, but
also other systems such as healthcare, education, economics, and justice. Policy has been and
is developed by leaders and elected officials at all levels of government, which creates layers of
structures that influence each other and also influence/inform possibilities at different scales—
tate, regional, organizational, individual.
During participant conversations, it became evident that the layers created by the current
structure can also lead to confusion for individuals working to help increase housing security
and for those experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness, especially in connection to
the workforce’s high turnover rates. Turnover leads to a loss of knowledge of, and relationships
across, the layered landscape. Some participants focused on resource constraints—from
organizational accessibility to individual eligibility. Organizations receive resources from a
variety of entities, with a range of constraints as to how those resources can be spent and then
need to be reported back to investors—which increase the administrative requirements for
managing resources and the complexity in connecting individuals with the supports they need.
The shifting policy landscape constrains—and evolves—the realms of possibility and ways of
implementing programs.
A common context of the current investments and entities engaged in the response to
experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity is critical for further clarifying the roles and
investments needed to create long-term pathways towards housing security.
The following graphic provides an overview of current investments across the housing
continuum and interconnectedness among entities. The following subsections provide more
context for the myriad of roles and entities, as well as the shifting landscape of policy and
legislative trends.
26 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
Exhibit 1. Investment Landscape
Housing Finance Commission
Low Income Housing Tax Credits
Bond Financing
Veterans Affairs
Homeland Security: FEMA
USDA Rural Development
Self Help Home Ownership Pgm
Direct Loan Program
Home Repair Program
Rental Loan Program
Mortgage Interest Deducti on
Mortgage Insurance
Housing & Urban Development
Housing Choice Vouchers
Community DevelopmentBlock Grant Program
Home Investment Partnership
McKinney Funds
Supporti ve Housing For Persons with disabiliti es (Secti on 811)
Senior Housing (Secti on 202)
Indian Housing Block Grant
Indian Home Loan Program (Secti on 184)
WA Department of Commerce
Housing Trust Fund
Apple Health and Home
Multi -Family Tax Exempti on Pgm
Property Tax Exempti ons
Property Management B&O Tax Exempti on
Homeless Veterans Reintegrati on Program
Homeless Housing Grant Pgm
Aff ordable Housing Grant Pgm
County
Housing and Related Services Funding
Aff ordable and Supporti ve Housing Funding
Bond Financing
Aff ordable and Supporti ve Housing (SHB 1406)
City
City Budget
Bond Financing
Non-Governmental Organizations
Private Foundati ons
Faith-based Organizati ons
Private Credit Insti tuti ons (Community Reinvestment Act)
Corporati ons
Family & Friends
Multi -Family Tax Exempti on Pgm
Federal Tax Code
Washington Tax Code
Tribal Governments
CAPITAL FUNDING
OPERATIONAL FUNDING
Commerce administers capital
fi nancing for aff ordable housing through loans or grants.
Some state-enabled programs may be administered by both citi es and counti es.
Home Loan Benefi ts
Disability Housing Grants
Home Providers Grant Pgm
Supporti ve Services for Veterans Families (SSVF)
Programs and Investments
Tribally Designated Housing Authoriti es
Taxes and Fees for aff ordable housing (varies by city)Emergent Needs
Housing and Essenti al Needs Referral Program (HEN)
WA Social and Human Services
Transiti onal Food Assistance
Family Emergency Assistance Pgm
Multi family Preservati on and Revitalizati on (RD MPR)
Farm Labor Housing Program(RD 514/516)
Federal housing and economic services, policies, and programs provide a broad context for
the housing security landscape. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness is “focused on
preventing and ending homelessness” and consists of 19 federal agencies help develop
and implement the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.hese agencies
11 Current plan available at: United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. (2022). ALL IN: The Federal Strategic Plan to
Prevent and End Homelessness. United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Online: https://www.usich.gov/All_In_
The_Federal_Strategic_Plan_to_Prevent_and_End_Homelessness.pdf
27
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
DECEMBER 1, 2023
oversee a diverse range of programs, including rental assistance, mortgage tax credits, and
economic supports. Collectively those programs provide resources to tribal governments, states,
and individuals. Some of those resources, in turn, may be passed to local governments, private
entities, and nongovernmental service providers.
BOX A
US Interagency Council on Homelessness agencies:
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)
Department of Education (ED)
Department of Labor (DOL)
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense (DOD)
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS)
Department of Interior (DOI)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Department of Transportation (DOT)
AmeriCorps
General Services Administration (GSA)
Office Management and Budget
(OMB)
Social Security Administration (SSA)
United States Postal Service (USPS)
White House Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Tribal Governments and Urban Indian Organizations
Treaties and executive orders provide a legal foundation for the special, legal relationship that
the 29 federally recognized tribes within Washington have with the U.S. government, and for
the trust responsibilities held by the federal government to tribes. In the context of housing,
the U.S. Government has an obligation to provide adequate housing to Native Americans. Tribal
governments have recognized authority to develop and implement housing programs and
services for eligible tribal citizens.
Tribal governments may receive a mix of resources from the federal government, from
state government for affordable housing capital projects, and/or from the state via county
governments to operate homelessness crisis response. However, access to those resources
varies by tribe and their administrative capacity to seek and meet grant requirements. Individual
access to programs depends on meeting eligibility requirements.
28 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
Urban Indian Organizations, such as the Chief Seattle Club and The Healing Lodge of the Seven
Nations, provide services to Native Americans in urban areas and people of all racial groups in
tribal communities.
Nearly all ate agencies implement programs and allocate resources in the response to housing
instability and homelessness. Programs range from housing-specific to programs that provide
economic supports such as energy, food, medical, and housing assistance. Individual access
to those programs can vary by a variety of circumstances such as age, income, geography, and
prior history related to evictions and/or convictions.
Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) plays a key role, acting as a
coordinator for state and federal housing related policies and distributing resources to counties,
which in turn pass those resources to tribes and service providers. In some cases, Commerce
contracts directly with housing and homeless service providers. Commerce also has roles
related to housing security that range from capital funding for affordable housing stock to
building housing infrastructur nd growth management, which includes housing goals, to
improving outcomes for individuals after a period of incarceration.
In the course of this project, significant changes have occurred at the state level regarding roles
and the levels of investment—some of which are still in the early stages of coming to fruition.
For example:
HB 1277 increased the document recording fee and catalyzed changes in data collected and reported on racial equity by the Department of Commerce;
internal reorganization of the Department of Commerce;
increased resources and investments in homelessness and housing related programs and
initiatives;
launch of the Rights of Way Initiative, which is a multi-state agency, local government
and nonprofit effort to develop a grant program to “transition persons residing on state-
owned rights of way to safer housing opportunities, with an emphasis on permanent
housing solutions;” and
launch of Apple Health and Homes, a “multi-agency effort that pairs healthcare services with housing resources for some of the state’s most vulnerable residents.”
12 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Washington Statewide Reentry Council. Webpage. Washington State
Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/about-us/boards-and-
commissions/statewide-reentry-council/
13 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Rights-of-Way Safety Initiative. Webpage. Washington State
Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/program-index/rights-of-
way-initiative/
14 Washington State Department of Commerce (2023). Apple Health and Homes Initiative. Webpage. Washington State
Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/building-infrastructure/
housing/ahah-psh/ahah-program/
29
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
DECEMBER 1, 2023
State and Regional Coordination
State has also created a variety of councils and commissions, which include representatives
of entities with a variety of roles and perspectives, to coordinate the work of promoting housing
security and meeting the needs of all individuals. Work is coordinated and informed through
entities such as the Washington State Advisory Council on Homelessness and Interagency
Council on Homelessness The Legislature created the Interagency Council on Homelessness
(ICH) to “create greater levels of interagency coordination and to coordinate state agency efforts
with the state and local entities addressing homelessness.” The ICH also works closely with the
State Advisory Council on Homelessness (SACH), who in turn coordinates with the Affordable
Housing Advisory Board (AHAB).
Additional multi-jurisdictional councils or commissions that advise policies or oversee the
coordination of statewide programs relating to housing security include:
Governor’s Poverty Reduction Working Group;
Washington State Housing Finance Commission;
Balance of Washington State Continuum of Care Steering Committee;
Statewide Reentry Council; and
Interagency Workgroup on Youth Homelessness.
15 Revised Code of Washington. 43.185C.170. (2006). Online: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=43.185C.170
16 Jackson et al. (2020). Blueprint for a Just and Equitable Future: The 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty in Washington
State. Report. Dismantle Poverty in Washington. Online: https://dismantlepovertyinwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/
Final10yearPlan.pdf
17 Washington State Housing Finance Commission. (2022). Washington State Housing Finance Commission Homepage.
Webpage. Online: https://www.wshfc.org/
18 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Continuum of Care. Webpage. Washington State Department of
Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/
continuum-of-care/
19 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Washington Statewide Reentry Council. Webpage. Washington State
Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/about-us/boards-and-
commissions/statewide-reentry-council/
20 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). Interagency Workgroup on Youth Homelessness. Online: https://www.
commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/office-of-youth-homelessness/office-of-homeless-youth-committees-
and-work-group/#:~:text=Gov.,to%20youth%20homelessness%20in%20Washington.
30 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of the Investments and Entities Engaged in the Response to Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
Additional groups have developed policy recommendations to better meet the housing needs
of their communities. For example, the Washington State Council on Aging has developed
legislative priorities to meet the housing needs of seniors, and the Sex Offender Policy Board,
maintained by the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, has released several reports with
recommendations on addressing barriers to housing faced by individuals with a duty to register
or prior conviction of a sex offense.
In many regions, there are also a variety of partnership or coalition approaches to addressing
homelessness and housing instability across jurisdictions. These are formed, for example,
to build shared understanding of the community’s housing challenges, collaborate on the
development of affordable housing, jointly address homelessness, and share resources.
Some regions spanning multiple jurisdictions have institutions dedicated to the purpose
of coordinating and supporting a regional approach. Some coordinate efforts across
jurisdictions on specific challenges or address historic racism and inequities, such as the Black
Homeownership Initiative.
Local Government
Local governments also play a large role in housing security—from investing to distributing
resources to delivering services. Federal and state resources are distributed to counties, which
in turn distribute these resources to tribes and local organizations. Local governments can
directly fund affordable housing, through housing levies and funding contributions, and various
other forms of housing assistance—and each county develops a homeless housing plan for its
jurisdictional area.
There are a variety of other ways that counties and municipalities contribute to the response
to homelessness and availability of affordable housing. Local zoning, in the context of federal
and state regulations, as well as fee and permit procedures, determine what housing can be
built, using what land, and in what quantity. Local governments also have a role in creating
and supporting infrastructure that facilitates housing development and accessibility, such as
21 Washington State Council on Aging. (2023). 2023 Legislative Priorities. Washington State Department of Social and Health
Services. Online: https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/default/files/ALTSA/stakeholders/documents/SCOA/2023%20WSCOA%20
Leg%20Priorities.pdf
22 See General Recommendations for Sex Offender Management, Sex Offender in the Community: Housing and Community
Education, available at: https://sgc.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/sopb/documents/general_recommendations.pdf. See
also: Recommendations for SSOSA Reforms, available at: https://sgc.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/SOPB/documents/
house_public_safety_committee_report.pdf
23 See, for example: Puget Sound Regional Council. (2023). Online: https://www.psrc.org/our-work/housing
24 Housing Development Consortium. (2023). Online: https://www.housingconsortium.org/bipoc-homeownership/
25 For examples of the options available to municipalities, see: Association of Washington Cities and Municipal Research and
Services Center. (2022). Homelessness and housing toolkit for cities. AWC and MRSC. Online: https://wacities.org/docs/
default-source/resources/h3manual.pdf?sfvrsn=b5d1594f_11
26 For more on the effects of various planning regulations on housing, see the Department of Commerce, Housing
Memorandum: Issues Affecting Housing Availability and Affordability.
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of Court Rulings and Policy Trends
DECEMBER 1, 2023
transportation. They are also instrumental in other structural factors that intersect with housing,
such as local economic development.
These funding and planning decisions are guided by a variety of plans, some focusing on land-
use and community growth, others on housing people experiencing homelessness. These plans
must be consistent with local plan guidelines issued by the Department of Commerce, with
annual reports on plan accomplishments.
Local Implementers, Private Funders, and Other Nongovernmental Entities
A wide range of organizations, both public and private, implement programs and deliver services
to individuals and communities. A wide range of entities also build and maintain the community
infrastructure that contribute to housing security. The table below provides examples of the
many local implementors, identified by project participants, who already contribute to housing
security in communities—or will be needed partners.
Food banks Property managers
Advocacy organizations Libraries Faith communities
College human/student services School counselors First responders: EMT, fire, law
enforcement
Community corrections officers Insurance providers Urban Indian Organizations
Neighborhood groups Downtown associations,
business associations
Private builders & developers
Community centers Community land trusts Nonprofit builders & developers
Hospitals In-patient treatment centers Sober living environments, such
as oxford homes
Local alternative dispute
resolution centers
Peers/individuals with lived
experience
Homeowners
Friends and family Philanthropies Regional initiatives and networks
Overview of Court Rulings and Policy Trends
The December 2022 “Report on Facilitated Discussions” provides a summary of court rulings
and legislative trends to provide context and trends of the shifting legal and policy framework in
which entities and actors across the housing landscape are making decisions and investments.
The following sections provide an overview of court rulings and expand upon the previously
reported legislative trends.
27 Washington State Department of Commerce. (2023). County Plans and Annual Reports. Webpage. Washington State
Department of Commerce. Accessed November 16, 2023. Online: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/
homelessness/local-government-5-year-plans/
32 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of Court Rulings and Policy Trends
Federal court rulings define the bounds of policies and court decisions at state and local levels.
Examples of significant court rulings include:
Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville (1972) and Kolendar v. Lawson (1983) held that
overbroad vagrancy laws and vague anti-loitering statutes are a violation of Due Process
and serve as a foundation for current anti-nuisance ordinances.
Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015) limited local abilities to target panhandling. However,
other federal decisions regarding access to public spaces are much narrower and do not
prevent cities from enforcing anti-nuisance laws to target homelessness.
Martin v. City of Boise (2019) found that jurisdictions cannot enforce camping or
sleeping ordinances when enough shelter beds are not available.
Federal case law creates a framework for state and local policies that may reduce the visibility of
homelessness in public spaces. However, such policies may increase individual interactions with
law enforcement and/or be ineffective in addressing the structural and individual factors that
contribute to homelessness
The Washington State Supreme Court decision in Seattle v. Long (2020)will have lasting, to be
determined, ramifications for individuals living in their vehicles. A workgroup, as directed by the
Legislature, and facilitated by DGSS, has developed recommendations to, among other things,
determine how to identify vehicles used as residences, and how to determine when towing and
storage fees are excessive.
The interface of state laws on eviction and courts also shapes housing stability for individuals
and families. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments enacted eviction moratoria
to reduce a surge of evictions. The Washington State Legislature created an eviction resolution
pilot program, which provided tenants and landlords the opportunity to explore mutually
agreeable approaches before seeking resolution by Superior Courts.
28 A more detailed overview of federal case law can be found on pages 7-8 of December 2022, Pathways to Housing Security,
available at: https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2180/2022/12/Housing-Security_Stakeholder-Discussions_Year-2-Report_
Revised-12.23.22.pdf
29 National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (2021)
30 City of Seattle v. Long, 463 P.3d 135 (Wash. Ct. App. 2020)
31 Washington State Legislature. Committee Documents: Senate Housing – 1/11/2023. Webpage. Accessed November 16, 2023.
Online: https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/30244
32 Washington State Legislature. (2022). Supplemental Transportation Budget. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5689, Section
109, lines 16-29. Online: https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/Senate/5689-S.
SL.pdf?q=20231120155339
33 Washington Courts. (2023). Eviction Resolution Pilot Program. Online: https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/index.
cfm?fa=newsinfo.EvictionResolutionProgram
Section 3: Landscape of Housing Security
Overview of Court Rulings and Policy Trends
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Legislative action in Washington State reflects the increasing response to homelessness and
affordable housing over the last two decades. During this time, the overall trend has been an
increase in proposed legislation associated with the descriptive tag or categories of:
“homeless persons;”
“low-income persons;”
an amended “housing and homes” tag; and
housing related bills with the term “affordable” in the sentence summary.
A review of all categories illustrated a general increase in bills introduced. All categories also
show that, with the increase in the number of bills introduced, these categories also increased
in proportion of all bills introduced. These parallel trends support the claim that with the
increasing number of bills, these topics are taking up more legislative focus in consideration and
activity. For a more detailed analysis of trends in bills in these categories, see Appendix F.
Many of the housing-related bills considered in the 2023 Legislative Session reflect a broad
range of topics. Several are related to funding, with historic increases in investment in the
Housing Trust Fund, homes and housing, mental health, substance use disorders, specific at-
risk populations, legal obligations, and investments into incentive programs for those with
low-income. Topics of bills passed include tax incentives and breaks, rent issues, counsel and
financial obligations for indigent defendants, home and housing assistance, support for students
and foster youth, affordable housing zoning, housing supply, and utility use protection.
Bipartisan support through sponsorship and testimony has been illustrated for certain at-risk
populations like students and foster youth, affordable housing, housing intervention programs,
housing supply, and poverty support measures. General bipartisan support for many of the
passed bills during the 2023 Legislative session suggests continued common ground and interest
in finding legislative approaches to advancing housing security.
34 Washington State Legislature. (2023). Bill Information. Webpage. Washington State Legislature. Accessed November 16, 2023.
Online: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/
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34 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Overview of Court Rulings and Policy Trends
DECEMBER 1, 2023
SECTION 4:
ELEMENTS OF A LONG-TERM
STRATEGY
In Section 6 of HB 1277, the Legislature outlined several components that should be included in
a long-term strategy:
address the root causes of homelessness and housing insecurity,
clearly assign responsibilities,
support localization both to address specific community needs and to recognize that
each community must play a part in the solution,
respect property owner rights,
encourage private sector involvement in solutions and service, and
develop pathways to permanent housing solutions and associated services.
During the iterations of interviews and facilitated discussions held by the Center between 2021
and 2023, participants reinforced, deepened, and expanded upon the elements put forth in the
legislation. Based on participant inputs, the project team identified four core essential elements
for a long-term, state strategy—foundational themes and components, conceptual shifts,
guiding principles, and recommendations.
Foundational themes and components reflect topics that emerged and were regularly discussed
as participants provided their perspectives about what is needed for a state strategy for housing
security and provide important groundwork for the other three core essential elements.
Conceptual shifts reflect desired drivers and mental shifts needed to ensure closer alignment
between all aspects of a response aimed at improving housing security. The guiding principles
provide a shared scaffolding for decision-making across sectors and jurisdictions, which will
help guide a more aligned approach to housing security. Lastly, the recommendations emerged
as actions that maintain consistency with the guiding principles and contribute to the larger
conceptual shifts. Together these elements create a backbone for a long-term state effort for
advancing housing security.
36 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
Foundational Themes and Components
Foundational themes and essential components of a long-term effort include:
understanding the causes of homelessness and housing instability as multiple, often co-occurring contributing factors,
a deepening recognition of the inherent complexity of housing security,
a desire to better match the response to the needs,
a need to grapple with seemingly conflicting aspects of the response, and
state partnership with tribal governments.
As a precursor to identifying options and recommendations, HB 1277, Section 6, (2)(c)(i) and (c)
(ii) called for discussions to gather information about factors that contribute to homelessness
and housing instability; statutory and regulatory issues; other concerns, barriers, and
opportunities; and desired principles.
Several overarching themes emerged during participant conversations about what is needed for
a coherent, effective, and widely accepted strategy.
Foundational Theme: Understanding Homelessness and Housing Instability
Participant perspectives converged on the recognition that there is not a singular cause or
‘root cause’ to housing insecurity and homelessness, but rather that people experience co-
contributing factors that integrate their individual vulnerabilities within a larger structural
context of instability.
The effort to understand the causes of homelessness and housing instability and how to
address them is an area of considerable ongoing discourse in research, policy, practice, in
the media, and among the general public. Many contributing factors have been recognized,
studied, and discussed extensively over time. Consistent with this, participants emphasized
multiple contributing factors when talking about the of the current homelessness and
housing crisis. While participants raised a multitude of important contributing factors, there was
divergence about which are seen as the most substantial or most in need of attention.
Within this context, participants acknowledged the need for a response to housing insecurity
and homelessness that addresses both local community and individual needs, and how they
interact within the larger federal and state context.
35 Sections (2)(c)(i) and (c)(ii) also called for fact-finding on these topics. That work was carried out by the project team from the
Washington State University Extension’s Division of Governmental Studies and Services through literature review and analyses
of publicly available data (reported separately in 2022 and 2023). Points of intersection in the topics, finding, and themes
between that work and the Center’s facilitated discussions are noted throughout this section.
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Availability and Accessibility of Affordable Housing
The availability and accessibility of affordable housing was top of mind for most participants.
While there was widespread recognition that this is of major importance, especially in
Washington State, people identified numerous factors as reasons for the lack of affordable
housing, and there were diverging perspectives on which reasons are most critical. Participants
highlighted issues such as policies, regulations, and costs related to development, construction,
land use planning, and infrastructure; the commodification of housing; and the dynamics of the
housing market for rentals and home ownership. Furthermore, many participants cautioned
that increasing the supply of housing is not enough to fully address housing insecurity as
other significant factors also contribute. For instance, people expressed that as housing supply
increases new housing must fit the diverse needs of individuals experiencing housing insecurity
and homelessness and that attention must also be paid to economic security and access to care
and support.
Economic Insecurity
Participants also focused on economic insecurity as a contributing factor to experiences of
housing insecurity and homelessness. At the level of community or regional patterns of wealth
and income inequality, participants observed that incomes, especially for low-wage earners,
do not keep pace with rising housing costs. At the level of an individual or family, persistent
housing instability is seen as arising from perpetual financial insecurity. Sudden job loss, or
other acute financial hardships (such as vehicle repairs or medical bills) are recognized as acute
tipping points leading to homelessness. Many participants observed that numerous households
regularly exist just on the edge of housing security, and any adverse economic event could
tip them into housing instability or homelessness, a reality increasing as overall cost of living
(including non-housing related expenses) continues to increase.
Access to Care and Support
Other participants emphasized that what warrants heavy attention are factors that help explain
who is most vulnerable and how to best assist those who are currently experiencing or at
the greatest risk of homelessness. The focus for these participants was the availability of and
access to care and support, such as assistance with financial hardship, employment support,
health and behavioral health care, and other supports that can buffer someone from events or
circumstances that might destabilize housing and catalyze homelessness.
Many participants focused on specific groups for whom a lack of adequate access to care
and support creates disproportionate vulnerability, such as youth; older adults; families with
children; people who are pregnant; people living with disabilities; veterans; those living with
chronic illness, mental illness, or substance use disorders; refugees and immigrants; those
experiencing domestic violence, family instability, or conflict; those aging out of the foster care
system; those reentering the community from the criminal justice system; and those with non-
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
traditional familial structures of support e., individuals with family ties that are not defined by
bloodlines or marriage).
Particularly salient in the discourse about homelessness is the extent to which behavioral health
needs are met. For the subset of individuals who do have co-occurring conditions, access to
care is recognized as highly interrelated with both behavioral health outcomes and housing
outcomes.
Structural Racism and Other Forms of Systemic Disadvantage
Participants identified the legacy of structural racism and other discriminatory policies and
systemic disadvantages as another contributing factor to current experiences of homelessness
and housing insecurity. Participants emphasized how this perpetuates inequitable access to
housing and contributes to other factors that affect housing security. Overall, participants
highlighted how for historically and currently marginalized groups, structural racism and
systematic disadvantage and discrimination based on race/ethnicity, sex, gender identities,
sexual orientations, and ability can disproportionately amplify an individual’s risk of
homelessness and housing instability.
Narratives
Many participants noted the multiple worldviews and sometimes conflicting narratives about
people who experience homelessness and housing instability. These narratives, which are most
often negative, shape how policymakers understand and respond to homelessness and housing
insecurity. In recognizing the multiple, co-occurring contributing factors to homelessness and
housing instability, participants converged on the critical role of narratives that also recognize
the humanity and dignity of people. Participants variously described the importance of
narratives that recognize individuals experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness as part
of the community—rather than others or using “us versus them” frameworks.
Foundational Theme: Recognizing the Complexity of Housing Security
The range of perspectives shared by participants painted a picture of the complex and
interdependent pieces that make up the landscape of homelessness services and housing
assistance in Washington State. The systems, services, and providers that contribute to housing
assistance are situated in various, sometimes disparate contexts. Facilitated discussions made
clear that a wide range of services are relevant and needed, but are also implemented in
various settings, by practitioners from many disciplines, funded through multiple governmental
and nongovernmental sources, and operating under the management or regulatory oversight
of diverse agencies with varying policies, incentives, and constraints. As a result, achieving
36 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Behavioral Health Services for People Who are
Homeless. Advisory. Online: https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep20-06-04-003.pdf
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
DECEMBER 1, 2023
alignment of efforts is challenging, and actions addressing homelessness and housing instability
are often siloed and fragmented.
Yet, the concept of housing security itself is arguably even more complex. Housing needs are
often thought of in categories, for example: emergency shelter, supportive housing, transitional
housing, affordable housing, and the real estate market. While different interviewees described
distinct aspects of each category, it also became clear that housing security is a continuum, and
effective programs or policies in any of the categories ultimately depend on the rest of
them. For instance, emergency shelters are temporary by design, but function only if there is a
connection to affordable permanent housing options. Availability of affordable housing, in turn,
is affected by the housing market, which shifts alongside patterns of growth and the economy.
Many participants highlighted challenges resulting from the dynamics of supply and demand in
the housing market, which they frequently observed as separate from the spheres of influence
of those who are involved in homelessness and housing instability. For instance, higher-income
households may purchase homes as investment properties, short-term rentals, or as secondary
homes, outcompeting individuals and families with fewer resources.
Further, it was clear from participant insights that a successful pathway to housing security
depends not only on the state of the whole housing continuum, but also on services, supports,
and policies that address other needs that housing security both depends on and contributes to,
such as economic security, safety, health, and wellbeing. As participants identified these major
forms of interdependence related to housing and homelessness, the theme often manifested
as a concern about fragmentation or silos as a barrier. This included fragmentation across
levels of government and jurisdictions, between the public and private sectors, and across
domains of policies, programs, and services (e.g., health, social services, employment, funding,
transportation, planning, and land use). Some further described fragmentation within these
categories.
One area of fragmentation described by many participants is that programs and services
are delivered at the local level and are dependent on context, yet many policies and
funding mechanisms remain at the regional, state, and federal levels. Some shared that the
understanding of success itself becomes fragmented, as what counts as success differs across
levels of government as well as across service sectors. This can be problematic when what
contributes to whether success is achieved varies for different populations and in different
contexts or when funding is tied to various competing measures of success.
Even as the importance of focusing on housing was strongly emphasized, a few participants
took a broad lens, noting challenges as a result of interdependencies with other major issues
facing the State, such as the pandemic recovery, economic stability and growth, income and
wealth inequality, and climate change. In some cases, intersections with other sectors, such
as health and housing or poverty reduction and housing, were described as opportunities.
Most participants did not view a long-term strategy as Washington State choosing whether to
advance housing security or ensure economic security or promote health and behavioral health.
40 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
These were recognized as interrelated aspects to thriving as a state, and government entities
were viewed as having a role in connecting efforts.
Taken together with the discussion insights about the need to grapple with multiple contributing
factors, participant discussions made clear that a comprehensive and integrated understanding
of homelessness and housing instability reveals the advantages of advancing housing security in
ways that mutually reinforce other important and related goals. Tending to other important and
related goals, with deliberate attention, can create opportunities to reinforce housing security
goals.
Foundational Theme: Matching the Response to the Need
The Challenges of Scale – Need, Timeframes, Resources, and Capacity
Many participants expressed concern that the scale of homelessness seems insurmountable
and/or intractable even with expanding investment, especially given that there have been
mixed results in getting individuals stabilized in long-term housing solutions and that the flow of
people falling into homelessness exceeds the flow of those successfully exiting it. Several people
highlighted a related challenge that the scale and severity of homelessness calls for speed, but
the approaches that are most effective and lasting require time and patience. A few went on to
describe programs and resources to connect an individual with a lease, but having insufficient
or a lack of resources, programs and services, and skill-building opportunities to facilitate that
person’s long-term ability to remain stably housed. Others focused on the timeframes needed to
increase shelter beds or temporary shelter, in comparison to increasing the supply of affordable
housing.
In parallel to concerns raised about the scale of homelessness, many participants shared
concerns about the relatively small amount of public investment for affordable housing when
compared to the vast need due to the growing lack of affordable housing across income levels.
Some conversations focused on the need for rental subsidies and other programs and services
far exceeding available resources. Others focused on how the availability of resources, or the
associated timeframes may not match the person’s needs.
Examples of difficulties in meeting the need for housing security at scale included not just
cost and time, but also challenges in the areas of workforce (such as increasing burden on a
limited housing assistance workforce that is under resourced and overburdened or insufficient
workforce in the building industries) and shifting policies and regulations (such as eligibility
requirements and funding timeframes).
Response that is Not Fit-For-Purpose
Many participants described how current housing policies, services, and available resources
do not match the varied needs of people, at the scale needed by communities. Many observed
mismatches in other aspects of addressing homelessness and housing security. One pattern
41
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
described frequently is that the persistent need for an immediate crisis response means that
leaders and service providers are stuck in a reactive mode, with so much focus on solving
the problems of today that there is little bandwidth available—whether financial, energetic,
or motivational—to explore more lasting shifts for the future. Several people described how
little capacity there is for reflection and learning beyond making short-term adjustments at
the margins. Some interviewees shared their perspective that the system does not work for
big and bold ideas. Others cited that the way things work now tends to reinforce boundaries
between jurisdictions and entities, such as working in siloes or competing for resources. This
can get in the way of working collaboratively even when that is needed and desired. At the
level of providing housing and other services, many participants described the challenge of not
having the available options and flexibility to match people’s specific circumstances, needs, and
preferences.
Varied Needs of Individuals and Communities
Another discussion theme emerged around people’s varied needs of the current moment and a
need for greater flexibility to meet those varied needs. A lack of flexibility was often discussed
as the result of either funding requirements, but there were also concerns tied to organizational
specialization. Regardless of the reasonings, however, there was strong convergence during all
discussions to have more flexibility in the ways that organizations are able to provide assistance
to individuals and to adapt to meet their changing needs over time.
This perspective was predominantly tied to the idea that since housing instability and
homelessness are a result of multiple compounding individual vulnerabilities and systemic
conditions each individual requires different forms of assistance that is tailored to their unique
situation as well as a more localized approach. As some participants put it, once you see what is
needed to help one person out of an episode of being unhoused, you have only found a way to
help one person. Some called for approaches to be more client-driven—what does that person
need—rather than reviewing what that person may be eligible to receive.
Participants also described the importance of an approach that matches community need and
resources. Some focused on the relationship between community wealth and ability to secure
matching funds that may be required by grants. Others talked about the types and density of
housing that may be needed or better suited for a community. This included recognitions that
rural communities often require different housing needs and resources than increasingly urban
Foundational Theme: Tending to the Apparent Conflicts of the Response
Insights shared by participants helped elucidate that many of the important components
warranted in a strategy to respond to homelessness and housing insecurity have aspects that
can seem to be in opposition with each other. Finding ways to navigate needs that seem to be in
competition or incompatible is necessary for a coherent, effective, and widely accepted strategy.
42 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
Many of these paired aspects are not only in tension with each other, but are also connected
to other aspects, such that choices affecting one area will have an impact on other areas. For
instance, the balance between state control and local control is related to the balance between
consistency and flexibility. In another example, where the understanding of the contributing
factors lies between individual and structural factors affects how much agreement there is on
the extent to which solutions, such as coordination, need to be individual or systemic. Additional
examples of paired tensions described by participants includes:
safety of those at risk of and experiencing homelessness—safety of the community,
actions proven to work—trying new approaches, and
reactive, crisis response to acute needs—proactive, long-term adaptation.
Illuminating and grappling with tensions in complex issues can create dynamic energy, supply
diversity of thought, and bring focus to the areas with the most potential to produce meaningful
change. In facilitating discussions about options for a long-term strategy, the project team
treated the tensions identified as important spaces for opportunity. Shifting the discourse
away from discrete and opposing choices (e.g., right or wrong; most or least important),
the discussions were facilitated to explore them as coexisting considerations that provide
a continuum of options and need sustained attention in decision-making. This allowed for
conversations that were less about making the case for either one or the other and more about
what would be a useful balance between and among them to better address homelessness and
housing instability, a balance which may need to be adjusted over time.
During participant discussions the tensions and interplay between and among flexibility,
consistency, and accountability emerged as opportunities for further strategizing and
conversation.
Flexibility
When it comes to the need to balance aspects of housing security that can often seem in
competition with one another, flexibility was a predominant theme throughout every discussion
the Center had with participants. Some participants described more flexibility in terms of
entities developing more culturally attuned approaches, how funds are spent, eligibility, what
qualifies as success, and how local service providers and nonprofits are able to adapt to the
needs of each individual. In what follows, the report lays out some key aspects presented during
conversations around flexibility.
Participants often associated flexibility with the ability to tailor the ways in which resources and
programs are connected to communities, while retaining fidelity to the intent or principles of a
program. For example, communities have varied collaborative relationships among organizations
and governmental entities; communities that have differing capacity in infrastructure,
workforce, and housing needs; and varied overall cost of living and local housing markets. Local
entities and organizations are well-positioned to understand the needs of their communities,
but have varied access to resources, technical capacity, and workforce. Greater flexibility in
43
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
DECEMBER 1, 2023
matching requirements, timelines, and meeting programmatic intent could facilitate access to
new partnerships and resources in communities.
Another connected aspect of flexibility is the recognition that the circumstances contributing
to an experience of homelessness is different for each individual due to the complex network
of interacting individual vulnerabilities and systemic conditions. Participants converged
around a call for greater flexibility to connect people with services and supports. For example,
participants described the critical role of cash assistance, small grants or loans, and other
flexible ways that enhance a person’s ability to respond to destabilizing events such as car
maintenance and medical bills.
Consistency
A primary concern brought up in discussions around increased flexibility was consistency.
Participants recognized that as flexibility increases, consistency from community to community
can decrease leading to different expectations and experiences across the state. A few described
opportunities for state-based threshold or principles for programs and workforce training that
would facilitate consistency in the quality of programs, while also allowing for community-based
innovation.
Accountability
Participants variously described accountability in terms of transparency, effective use of
resources and capacity, reporting progress, and consequences. Some participants raised
concerns around an increase in flexibility leading to a decrease in accountability—a greater
variation in programs could create challenges in consistent reporting, monitoring of progress,
and incorporating learnings from other communities. Many participants also converged on
a perspective that accountability can still be achieved—in a system with more flexibility in
meeting a person’s needs—through collaboratively determined markers that are tailored to
the increasingly localized context rather than a universalized accountability set at the federal or
state level.
Balancing flexibility, consistency, and accountability will be an important element of addressing
housing security within a long-term approach. As this balance is tended, in consideration with
local context and guiding principles, it is important to continuously re-evaluate and discuss how
best to engage both of the aspects in ways that ensure an overall movement towards housing
security for everyone living in Washington State.
Foundational Component: State Partnership with Tribal Governments
As noted in the Overview of the Landscape of Housing Security, each ribe has a legal
relationship with federal and state governments. The Federal government has a trust obligation
to provide housing. The Centennial and Millennial Accords provide a framework for recognizing
the government-to-government relationship between each ribe and the State and for working
44 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Foundational Themes and Components
“cooperatively on issues of mutual concern.” Within that context, the project team focused
questions on how the State could better partner with tribes.
In response, participants emphasized that each tribe has a unique system of governance and
culture, varying access to resources, and differing relationships with governmental entities.
Some participants described projects and inter-governmental partnerships that have been
successful; some shared challenges regarding a lack of trust and cultural awareness and
understanding. While the specific needs may vary, State partnership with ribal governments
and organizations to meet the specific housing needs of tribal citizens and communities is a
foundational component of a state effort to advance housing security.
Understanding Unique Needs of Tribal Citizens and Communities around Housing
During conversations with individuals working within tribal governments, Urban Indian
Organizations, or working in partnership with tribes, many of the same foundational
themes emerged: the multiple, co-occurring contributing factors to housing instability and
homelessness; recognition of the complexity of housing security; a desire to better match the
response to the needs of tribal communities; and call to tend to the complex aspects of the
response. However, attention to the unique needs of tribal citizens and communities around
housing and homelessness is critical in a state effort for creating pathways to housing security.
Some participants described challenges in connecting and building relationships with individuals
living unhoused. For example, individuals may live in small and/or difficult to find encampments
and outreach workers may have to travel long distances across reservations.
Some participants described the prevalence of unsafe, unsanitary, and/or overcrowded
housing conditions. Examples shared include substandard HUD housing, multiple families
sharing a home, and the disproportionality of homes in tribal communities that are behind in
maintenance and upkeep.
Many participants described the insufficient housing supply, as well as insufficient resources,
needed to meet the needs of individuals and families within their respective reservations
and communities. These needs include housing for elders, for individuals in recovery, as well
as for individuals or families currently living in overcrowded and/or unsafe living conditions.
Participants also noted that the current housing supply is increasingly becoming financially out
of reach for individuals, especially within tribal communities near urban areas.
Participants described misperceptions that programs and services that are successful in non-
reservation communities will replicate that success within reservation and tribal communities.
37 Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs. (2023). Centennial Accord – 1989. Washington State. Online: https://goia.wa.gov/
relations/centennial-accord
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Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
Housing security is a cornerstone of a flourishing society and a functional economy because
it intersects with so many other factors, such as economic security, health, and safety,
which contribute to whether individuals, families, communities and the state as a whole can
thrive. Furthermore, housing security is advanced when housing for low- and middle-income
individuals and households is available and affordable, when circumstances of precarious
housing are stabilized, when homelessness is prevented as much as possible, and when
experiences of homelessness are mitigated as quickly as possible.
Building on the foundational themes emerged throughout facilitated discussions, the
project team also heard participants identify three primary conceptual shifts as important
drivers to the state establishment of a long-term strategy for housing security. Mindsets
shape the actions and initiatives developed to address homelessness and housing insecurity.
Participants emphasized that the underlying mindsets, or ways of thinking, need to change in
order to enhance success and make progress towards advancing pathways towards housing
security. These shifts are:
to a holistic and integrated understanding of the multiple contributing factors of housing
insecurity and homelessness,
to a shared aspirational future rather than separate responses, and
to actions and policies along the continuum of housing and across other interrelated
forms of assistance dedicated to building relationships of support and increasing
alignment and coordination.
The following sections provide a description of those shifts, including additional considerations,
challenges, and opportunities for decision-makers across jurisdictions to consider and integrate
into a long-term strategy for the S
Conceptual Shift: To a Holistic Understanding of Multiple Contributing Factors to
As discussed in previous sections, participant discussions highlighted a multitude of co-
occurring factors that all contribute to housing instability and homelessness. These contributing
factors are a mixture of both individual vulnerabilities and systemic conditions that compound
upon one another to create a society that is far from flourishing. As the issue itself is a result
of multiple causes, the State’s response must actively and sustainably start from a point of
recognizing the holistic complexity.
By moving from identifying singular root causes, a shift occurs in which actions are no
longer based on isolated cause identification. For example, although more housing is needed,
putting all focus on building more housing is not enough in isolation. More housing will not
help establish overall housing security and thriving communities if there is not also dedication
towards aligning housing security with economic security, overcoming systemic related
46 DECEMBER 1, 2023
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
disparities, and increasing access to for physical, mental, and behavioral health
needs. As a reminder, here are the multiple co-occurring factors discussed as collectively
needing to be addressed to increase housing stability in Washington State:
availability and accessibility of affordable housing,
economic insecurity,
access to care and support, and
structural racism and other forms of systemic disadvantage.
The patterns prevalent in participant insights across facilitated discussions closely parallel
the ways in which many scholars increasingly use a holistic and integrative framework
for interpreting the research, recognizing that “micro-level” individual circumstances are
nested within “macro-level” structural conditions. Therefore, it is the interactions of these
circumstances and conditions that produce homelessness and housing instability collectively.
For example, anyone who faces ongoing or sudden financial insecurity could be at risk of
unstable housing, but where there are few affordable housing options the risk of facing
homelessness is greater. When there is wide income inequality and limited housing stock,
those who can afford to pay more for housing can outcompete families who have fewer
financial resources, leaving those with the fewest resources with no housing options. A lack
of services can exacerbate the risk of homelessness that could otherwise have been mitigated
by providing resources and support in the face of adverse life events or co-occurring health or
behavioral health conditions. Compounding and intergenerational effects of structural racism,
discriminatory policies, and displacement result in inequitable risk of housing insecurity for
those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
This integrated understanding of housing insecurity recognizes that the relative contribution of
different factors will vary based on the local context and the specific individual circumstances.
What is consistent across contexts is that a place experiences high rates of homelessness and a
person experiences housing insecurity not because of any single cause but because a collection
of intertwined structural factors amplify a combination of interrelated individual vulnerabilities.
This produces a complex reality that includes many different patterns of need and different
pathways into housing insecurity.
E ultiple ontributing
Although scholars are increasingly interpreting the totality of research in this integrated way,
participant discussions surfaced differences between what is needed for practical application
and the ways these many factors tend to be studied. The implications of those differences
38 Further discussion of interpreting the research literature through a framework of “micro-level” individual circumstances that
are nested within “macro-level” structural conditions can be found in the status of fact-finding reports for this project.
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are worth describing, to inform how that research is used in the practical development and
implementation of a strategy.
One implication relates to the challenge of drawing conclusions across the diverse available
research. Studies are often designed narrowly to address specific questions in a specific
context. Much of the research has sought to disentangle the multiple factors that contribute
to homelessness and assess their singular contribution. This constrains the usefulness of the
findings because, as our discussions highlight, in practice the factors remain entangled, and a
comprehensive strategy needs information about how they operate in combination. Further,
isolated research findings about individual factors have the potential to reinforce narratives
that blame housing insecurity and homelessness on personal traits, weaknesses, or failings,
rather than recognizing that individual identities, circumstances, or co-occurring conditions are
not of homelessness; but instead interact with structural factors to disproportionately
amplify vulnerability.
Studies are also conducted in different timeframes, contexts, geographies, and populations.
Different factors tend to be studied from different disciplinary perspectives, using different
conceptual framings and different methodologies. For example, research about economic
factors is done differently than research about behavioral health. Quantitative methodologies
are well suited to some questions, while for other questions qualitative methodologies are
essential. Some factors that matter in practice and in the lived experience of those most
affected are not widely studied in the research. Socially constructed ideologies can shape the
way researchers study homelessness. Decisions about what is included or excluded in research
influence what conclusions can be drawn, and how generalizable and applicable conclusions will
be across contexts.
There are two dominant purposes of research that emerged in the Center’s discussions
with participants around how entities use research to recognize the contributing factors of
homelessness. One research purpose is explaining the per capita rate of homelessness in a
given location, such as statewide or in a county or community. Another purpose of research
is explaining how to identify and meet the needs of individuals and families who are currently
experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The research questions asked and approaches taken
depend on which purpose is being pursued. Further, the markers of a successful outcome are
different depending on the purpose of the research. For example, when studying how to reduce
rates of homelessness, a 25% decline would be a success. However, for those who continue to
experience homelessness, that decline means very little, especially if these declines continue
to overlook individuals and communities who have historically and are currently marginalized
within society. For these individuals experiencing homelessness, studies that inform how to
meet their varied and sometimes complex needs are more meaningful and measurements of
success are more closely tied to helping them overcome barriers to establishing stable housing.
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Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
While both of these research purposes were emphasized in participant discussions, intervening
to reduce the overall rate of homelessness in Washington State was described by most
participants as critical for long term progress at the current scale.
At the same time, many participants cautioned that the available options to affect the supply,
affordability, and accessibility of housing can be challenging to adopt and implement. Housing
options often vary according to local context, will take time to have the desired effect, and,
unless designed with attention to equity, may have the longest lag for those who are most
affected and most vulnerable. Hence, the perspectives of participants, taken together, made
clear that a comprehensive and useful strategy needs to consider how to both reduce the
overall rate of homelessness and improve outcomes and the experiences of programs and
services for people who continue to experience homelessness.
Exhibit 2. Structural Factors and Individual Vulnerabilities
SYSTEMIC/STRUCTURAL FACTORS AND ACTIONS THAT ADDRESS THEM
SUPPLY AND COST OF HOUSING
Access to and Stability In Housing
SYSTEMS OF CARE AND SUPPORT
Co-Occurring Conditions
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY
Employment and Earning
Potential
SYSTEMIC DISADVANTAGE AND MARGINALIZATION
Disparities
Factors that Amplify Vulnerability and Actions that Mitigate Them
During discussions about the second purpose, i.e., informing housing assistance programs
and services, participants highlighted an important interplay between who is at greater risk
of experiencing homelessness and the factors that contribute to whether that risk is made
real. For a strategy to be cognizant of this interplay, the research on the individual and familial
circumstances that amplify vulnerability and the research on the structural mechanisms that
produce homelessness are most useful when understood in combination. This integration is
useful because one helps identify who needs or might need assistance and the other yields
options for how to intervene. For example, understanding racial disparities, is useful when
integrated with an understanding of the structural racism that, if addressed, could reduce those
disparities. Assessing how employment affects an individual’s ability to afford a home is useful
when integrated with an understanding of income inequality and trends in the labor market.
Understandings about the subset of individuals experiencing homelessness who are living with
co-occurring mental illness, substance use disorder, or other chronic illnesses is most useful
when integrated with an understanding of structural factors that can be addressed to improve
the availability and accessibility of health and behavioral health services.
49
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
itigate
With regard to the state of knowledge about how to intervene to address homelessness and
housing instability, two main views emerged among participants. Some participants described a
variation of we still have more to learn. Specific examples included needing more data about
the causes of homelessness and housing instability in Washington in order to better understand
how to address them and more data about what works. Other participants described the
view that we already know what we need to know about causes and solutions, we just don’t
have the will to act on that knowledge. One put it as, “we have the answers, we just don’t
like them.” However, among those who expressed a sense of certainty about what actions are
needed, the actions they were each certain about were often not the same as one another.
Some participants expressed a more intermediate position, with common ground about some
areas where more information is needed. Participants expressed interest in building more
knowledge about how best to apply available research and examples of successful approaches
to diverse contexts and on a larger scale. Some raised concerns about the accuracy, accessibility,
comprehensiveness, and utility of some of the current data being collected. Among those
sharing this more intermediate perspective on the state of the knowledge base, some were
comfortable with proceeding based on best available knowledge while others saw a need to
wait for more clarity on what is most likely to work.
Across both the insights from participants and the available research about the ways to
intervene, combined with the reality of the multiple factors that contribute to homelessness
and housing instability, it becomes clear that effectiveness is not determined by which program
or housing option is universally best. Rather, success relies on how well matched the available
options are to the local context and how well matched the specific interventions provided are
to the specific circumstances of the individual or family. A strategy that supports options for
best fit pathways rather than seeking single best answers would align the robustness of the
response to the complexity of the challenge.
Implications for a
Taken together, what emerges across various sources of information about the factors that
contribute to housing insecurity is that to be comprehensive and useful, a strategy cannot seek
to address some factors at the exclusion of others. Instead, a strategy will need to grapple with
multiple factors and how they interact with each other. Attempting to identify and address an
isolated shortlist of priority causes will mean that progress on those factors can be undermined
by the lack of attention to others. While this adds to the complexity of designing a strategy, the
interactions among factors also provide an opportunity for a strategy to support multiple areas
of intervention that can amplify each other in advancing housing security.
Conceptual Shift: To a Shared Aspirational Future
In connection with recognizing the need to address multiple co-occurring and interrelated
causes of homelessness and housing insecurity, participants made a strong call for building
50 DECEMBER 1, 2023
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Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term Strategy
more connection between the various related aspects of the entire housing security landscape
to ensure a breakdown of siloing and isolated actions. The more networking and connection
that can be built between the interrelated entities, actors, and organizations, such as affordable
housing, poverty reduction, health services, first responders, state agencies, nonprofits,
transportation, private sector, shelters, and others, the more a shared goal of overall housing
security can be realized through collaboration.
It was not uncommon for many people who attended workshops to newly meet others
working on similar issues in their community. Participants expressed desire for more dedicated
opportunities for entities to come together on a regular basis and recognized such gatherings
as a means of breaking down isolation and moving towards more coordinated efforts to meet
the varied needs of individuals. Dedicated resources and capacity will be critical to facilitating
meaningful opportunities for more communication and coordination.
Conceptual Shift: To Relationships of Support, Alignment, and Coordination
Across a wide range of roles, perspectives, and experiences, participants observed a common
pattern in the current systems of responding to housing insecurity: that policies and practices
often foster exclusion and isolation in ways that are counterproductive to the goal of advancing
housing security. This pattern was described in many contexts, sometimes as an unintended
consequence of something else, such as resource scarcity. For example:
eligibility criteria that exclude individuals, such as based on their prior history or ability
to meet follow up requirements, who otherwise have financial need,
housing or shelter placements that separate people from their families and their support
systems (individuals, pets, or collectives),
competitive or restricted funding processes and policies that exclude actors who could
contribute to the response, or that limit collaboration between government entities, the
private sector, and community partners,
timelines and duration of resources and support that do not match the needs of
individuals to be served or organizations, and
a real estate market that does not function to meet a diversity of housing needs.
While there was extensive convergence on concerns of exclusion and isolation, participants also
converged on the desired alternative. Participants expressed an overall desire to move towards
practices that aim at building relationships of support, coordination, and collaboration. They
desire an approach that centers meeting the needs of people and communities, rather than
what they may be eligible for.
This shift can be viewed as one that works to move away from siloing practices and policies to
ones that foster rewards, agency, relationships, understanding, and collaboration among all
those involved in the diverse aspects of housing security. This shift was presented as a necessity
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
to ensure stable and thriving individuals, communities, and systems—at all levels. Examples of
needed changes include:
increase investments to build relationships of support, such as mentors and navigators,
for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness,
distribute resources through a less competitive process,
broaden definitions of family beyond legal marriage and blood relationships,
incentivize and support cooperative relationships among providers from multiple
jurisdictions, sectors, and levels,
develop policies and make investments that enable a community to grow, diversify, and
foster equitable access to housing,
provide access to programs that offer guidance and support, rather than punishment,
when a person’s path towards housing security is nonlinear, and
support individuals experiencing homelessness or instability regain a sense of agency, autonomy, efficacy, responsibility, and belonging.
Guiding Principles for a Long-Term Strategy
Section 6 of HB 1277 calls for facilitated discussions to inform the development of guiding
principles. The project team reported updates on progress in the two prior reports. The
following guiding principles were informed by reviews of existing strategies and plans related to
housing and homelessness in Washington and further developed and clarified through iterations
of facilitated discussions in 2023.
Rationale For Guiding Principles
In developing a state, long-term strategy for something as complex as housing security, it will
not be possible to identify every situation that exists or that may arise and then specify exactly
what actions to take in response. It is also difficult to effectively specify or prescribe top-down
solutions for an issue about which there can often be a wide range of views. Advancing housing
security means navigating grey areas and working out how to stay within blurred boundaries.
To help with this, a strategy needs to create a scaffold for enough consistency in the response
across the state and over time while also facilitating the flexibility, adaptation, and innovation
that will be needed in different places, for different people, and as the context changes over
time. A successful response will require conditions in which the strategic approach and the
framework for accountability are less about compliance and more about the extent to which key
underlying principles are met. In this context, a principle is a fundamental premise that serves
as the foundation for decision-making. Although realistically some aspects of the response may
need to be more prescriptive and compliance based than others, whenever possible how the
principle is met is left largely to the expertise and ability of those who are implementing the
response.
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Guiding Principles for a Long-Term Strategy
The following principles, summarized and described in more depth below, emerged from
facilitated discussions among participants. The purpose of these guiding principles is to help
align decisions and actions to the goal of advancing housing security in connection with the
three primary conceptual shifts advocated for above in Conceptual Shifts for a Long-Term
. They serve to:
guide ongoing decision making about actions to advance housing security,
serve across government entities and sectors—for strategy, policy, program design,
service provision,
help navigate aspects of the response that can seem to be contradictory and reduce
adversarial approaches to finding solutions,
create conditions that balance flexibility for different parts of the complex response to housing insecurity with consistency for the response as a whole, and
taken together, contribute to a comprehensive approach to advancing housing security.
In keeping with a principles-based approach, the identified principles are not specific,
prescriptive actions. The recommended current actions that emerged from the facilitated
discussions are described later in this report. Rather, these principles are an enduring guide for
choosing or designing a wide range of actions and for different types of actors to work together
to serve a consistent purpose. Entities and actors working to advance housing security can use
the guiding principles, both immediately and over time, as the context changes, progress is
made, and the response to housing security evolves. Guiding principles are a tool for decision-
makers and implementers, who can assess how to incorporate relevant principles in each
decision or action they are considering.
Many of the principles reflect some of what is already occurring in parts of the response to
housing insecurity. As such, they are not necessarily new; indeed, many participants described
their way of working as consistent with some of the concepts represented here, and there are
commonalities with the purpose statements and objectives of strategies and entities involved in
the response to housing insecurity that were reviewed in gathering information for this project.
This report consolidates participant perspectives and principles articulated in existing plans
in communities across Washington into one collection of guiding principles. If applied more
consistently and comprehensively, these guiding principles would help make the response
more intentional and more consistent across systems, sectors, levels of implementation, and
jurisdictions.
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Guiding Principles for a Long-Term Strategy
DECEMBER 1, 2023
BOX B
Summary of Guiding Principles to Advance Housing Security
Guiding Principle A:Foster productive narratives around housing security and
homelessness.
Guiding Principle B:Mobilize a multi-sector response to advance housing security.
Guiding Principle C:Respond to the holistic and interdependent nature of housing security.
Guiding Principle D:Design the response to housing insecurity around what people and
communities need to thrive.
Guiding Principle E:Undo the harm of structural racism and other forms of systemic
disadvantage that produce housing inequity.
Guiding Principle F:Employ a sense of urgency about both meeting immediate needs and
initiating steps for long-term progress.
Guiding Principle G:Amplify the influence of those most affected by homelessness and
housing instability.
Guiding Principle H:Create conditions that reduce competition and facilitate cooperation.
Guiding Principle I:Address the inability of the housing market to meet housing needs.
Guiding Principle J:Sustain the response to housing insecurity through stability in
infrastructure, relationships, and appropriately scaled resources.
Guiding Principle K:Prepare to adapt to changing circumstances, unanticipated disruptions,
and new knowledge.
Guiding Principles are associated with letters for clarity, not to give weight or rank.
Guiding Principle A: Foster productive narratives around housing security and
People in a range of roles and with varied forms of relevant experience and knowledge
highlighted an array of current views or narratives that are counterproductive to the goal of
sustained progress towards housing security. The ways in which a challenge like housing security
is viewed and understood deeply affects the possibilities for action. Fostering productive
narratives not only includes individuals with lived experience, but also gives thought and careful
attention to how those painful personal experiences can inform policy and programmatic
changes.
Guiding Principle B: Mobilize a multi-sector response to advance housing security.
Given the complexity and scale of housing challenges, there is a need to maximize opportunities
and minimize competitive or exclusionary restrictions in order to encourage solutions through
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Guiding Principles for a Long-Term Strategy
a wide range of government, business, nonprofit, philanthropic, and community-based actors.
This mobilization toward advancing housing security may come in the form of direct funding
support to a diversity of implementers, incentives to take actions that advance housing security,
or regulations to prevent actions that are counterproductive to housing security. The State’s
mobilizing role may also be less direct, providing a scaffolding for alignment and coordination
and the technical assistance and capacity building needed to ensure quality.
In addition, the State legislative and executive branches have an important role to lead by
example in a whole-of-government approach to advance housing security, one that aligns
actions that directly or indirectly affect housing security. Advancing housing security will depend
on actions beyond the systems dedicated specifically to affordable housing, housing assistance,
and homelessness services. Success in housing both depends on and contributes to success in,
for example, economic development, growth management, education, healthcare, behavioral
health, public health, food security, criminal justice, climate security, and the environment. To
support people living and working in Washington State, those responsible for each of these
contributing components need to consider the context of the whole along with their functional
Guiding Principle C: Respond to the holistic and interdependent nature of housing
Multiple interacting factors contribute to housing challenges, from structural factors related
to housing supply and economic conditions to factors related to accessing care and support
services to systemic disadvantages that amplify risk for some individuals and families. A
comprehensive, long-term strategy for housing security needs to respond within the reality
of these multiple and compounding contributing factors. Just as there are multiple interacting
factors that contribute to housing challenges, participants described the many interdependent
needs that, if met, would work together to advance housing security. A strategy should help
align the wide range of actors and actions that are relevant and dependent on each other.
Guiding Principle D: Design the response to housing insecurity around what people and communities need to thrive.
In many endeavors operating on a large scale, whether in governments or nongovernmental
organizations, the default can become that policies, programs, and other functions are designed
around the ways systems currently operate and are structured, rather than around what the
system is for: people. Greater success in achieving housing security will come if systems can
provide housing and services in ways that are flexible enough to be situationally appropriate
and can be adjusted as needed when circumstances change. Circumstances vary from person
to person. Services and assistance are most likely to have lasting effectiveness when they are
guided by people’s sociocultural context and individual preferences, support their realistic
housing and life goals, and cultivate opportunities for self-sufficiency and self-determination.
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
Affirm humanity, compassion, hope, and the capacity to thrive.
A legacy of shame and punishment for people experiencing or at risk of housing instability and
homelessness undermines the success of the State’s response to housing challenges. A strategy
that intentionally replaces this legacy with humanity and mutual accountability will enhance
the ability of policies, programs, and practices to make progress toward housing security at all
levels, from individuals to the state as a whole.
Recognize how place matters.
Conditions are very different across the state. Each community has its own social, political,
economic, cultural history, and current story. Housing strategies will have the greatest chance of
success if they contribute to state goals in ways that are flexible enough to operate within the
local dynamics and identity of each place.
Guiding Principle E: Undo the harm of structural racism and other forms of systemic disadvantage that produce inequity.
Undoing harm requires understanding the effects of past and current laws, policies, and
programs that produce current inequities in housing security. It then requires assessing actions
under consideration for the potential to exacerbate disproportionate vulnerabilities due to
structural racism and other forms of systemic disadvantage. The design and implementation of
trauma-informed actions to advance housing security can then incorporate ways to undo past
harms and mitigate future inequities.
Guiding Principle F: Employ a sense of urgency about both meeting immediate needs and initiating steps for long-term progress.
Adopt both short- and long-term planning horizons and desired outcomes, with transparency
about aspirations, priorities, limitations, and uncertainties. This also includes anticipating
potential unintended long-term effects of actions that are taken to respond to immediate needs
and planning for how to mitigate harmful long-term effects and amplify potential beneficial
long-term effects of those immediate actions.
The goals of meeting the needs of individuals and addressing systemic contributing factors
may or may not be best served by the same actions. Both need to be explicitly considered
when prioritizing, designing, and allocating resources. In some cases, mitigating actions may
be needed because focusing too narrowly on one level may hinder progress on another. For
example, increasing the supply of affordable housing may not advance equitable housing
security unless attention is paid to individual needs in accessing that housing.
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Guiding Principle G: Amplify the influence of those most affected by homelessness and
Incorporate the insights, expertise, and influence of communities and individuals affected by
homelessness and housing instability and include them in making decisions about laws, policies,
programs, and services related to housing security.
The pathway to housing security will be more robust and effective if there is intentional space
for the power and influence of people and communities disproportionately affected by housing
insecurity. Individuals who experience homelessness, like all people, are capable, adaptable, and
knowledgeable. They are highly qualified to inform services and models of care to address their
needs and should have opportunities to be involved in every level of advocacy, planning, and
implementation.
Guiding Principle H: Create conditions that reduce competition and facilitate cooperation.
Progress toward housing security requires that the concept of a thriving community encompass
the availability of the whole of housing needs, on the entire continuum from emergency shelter
for those experiencing homelessness to affordability in the housing market. Similarly, a thriving
community is one in which the provision of services facilitate stability. Coordination is needed not
just upon entry into homelessness services, but also in moving along the housing continuum and in
accessing the appropriate supportive services needed to stabilize and thrive.
Guiding Principle I: Address the inability of the housing market to meet housing needs.
The supply and cost of housing varies by market conditions; this has been complicated because
homeownership in the United States has been commodified as an investment. The purchase and
sale of real property has been fundamental to the accumulation and generational transmission of
wealth. These often become divergent objectives—property ownership to increase wealth versus
a housing stock that meets housing needs. As housing costs rise in response to supply and demand
in the housing market, there are too few affordable dwellings in a community and more people
than can be accommodated based on what is possible to afford. In the shortage that ensues, some
people are left without somewhere to reside. Higher-income households outcompete lower-income
households for the same housing inventory, which excludes those with the fewest resources from
the housing market. Homelessness and housing insecurity increase when there are not enough
affordable housing options and significant within-community income inequality.
In the housing market, there is a mismatch between the supply/cost and needs of individuals
and families. In the labor market, there is a mismatch between wages/income and the costs of
living, especially related to housing. Compensating for those mismatches can create more housing
stability:
stabilizing the rental market requires stability for both renters and property owners, and
stabilizing the ownership market requires stability for both builders/developers and buyers.
Section 4: Elements of a Long-Term Strategy
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
Another area where the market is tied to the response to housing insecurity is the State revenue
sources for housing assistance that are coupled to fluctuations in the real estate market. Being
able to rely on sources in addition to document recording fees for homeless housing services
will reduce the inverse relationship to the robustness of the real estate market and create
greater alignment across all aspects of housing security.
Guiding Principle J: Sustain the response to housing insecurity through stability in
infrastructure, relationships, and appropriately scaled resources.
A sustained effort will require meaningful and productive processes to support relationship
building and coordination. Those processes require financial and other resources to achieve
successful outcomes at the scale necessary to advance housing security statewide.
Guiding Principle K: Prepare to adapt to changing circumstances, unanticipated
disruptions, and new knowledge.
From supporting individuals currently and at risk of experiencing homelessness to advancing
society-wide housing security, this is long-term work at all levels. The work requires that
policymakers, implementing organizations, service providers, nonprofits, and communities have
the capability to adapt to changing patterns, an uncertain future, and a rapid pace of chang
without undermining past progress.
Balance aspects that seem in contradiction with each other.
Part of the complexity of housing security is that many potentially useful options can sometimes
seem to be in conflict, like flexibility and oversight, local control and statewide consistency, or
reacting to acute needs and proactively preparing for a long-term response. New opportunities
could arise if a strategy shifts from trying to decide between seemingly conflicting choices to
discerning how to balance them–which is needed, to what extent, and when?
Recommendations and Actions for a Long-Term Strategy
Section 6 of HB 1277 called for facilitated discussions to inform options and recommendations
for a long-term strategy, including clarity on roles and responsibilities, and considerations of the
manner in which investments should be made.
Interviews and facilitated discussions in 2021 and 2022 informed the development of emerging
options organized around seven thematic areas for workshops and participant discussions:
meeting needs along the housing continuum,
responding holistically to people’s needs,
connecting housing security to economic security,
navigating flexibility and consistency,
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Recommendations and Actions for a Long-Term Strategy
defining success and managing performance,
shifting views of homelessness and housing instability, and
a desired strategic framework of the State’s approach to advancing housing security that
builds a networked system of supports and resources focused on helping communities—
at all scales—thrive.
Discussions among workshop participants in August to October 2023 helped further clarify
and inform the following recommendations and key actions for supporting and advancing the
conceptual shifts with actions, in accordance with the guiding principles.
Participants in facilitated discussions repeatedly described the core actions, policies, funding
and decision-making structures that have been—and will be—vital to meeting the needs of
individuals and families experiencing homelessness and/or housing instability. For an effective
state strategy, participants also repeatedly called for a more holistic approach to housing
security that does not only focus on increasing the housing supply or emphasizes exits of
homelessness as connecting individuals to permanent housing. A more holistic approach
recognizes the many, sometimes nonlinear, pathways towards housing security. Cornerstones
of a holistic approach recognizes that housing security is advanced when housing for low- and
middle-income individuals and households is available and affordable, when circumstances of
precarious housing are stabilized, when homelessness is prevented as much as possible, and
when experiences of homelessness are mitigated as quickly as possible.
The following recommendations were developed and informed by the knowledge and expertise
of a myriad of individuals with knowledge or experience of programs and policies related
to homelessness and housing instability and the project team’s experience in supporting
collaborative efforts. Recommendations and opportunities are organized in the following
categories:
opportunities for state partnership with Tribal Governments,
set the strategy up for success,
respond to the continuum of housing needs,
bolster systems and workforce capacity and stability, and
foster accountability and manage performance and adapt over time.
Collectively, these recommendations embody actions in a more holistic approach to housing
security, where entities and actors consider the common set of guiding principles described in
this report. The following recommendations provide guidance for the S e—the Legislature,
Office of the Governor, and agencies—to lead and encourage a more coordinated framework;
and for entities and organizations across sectors and levels to adopt conceptual shifts and
guiding principles, in the actions they take according to their roles.
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DECEMBER 1, 2023
Opportunities for State Partnership with Tribal Governments
The State of Washington and federally recognized tribes have government to government
relationships and these relationships recognize and respect the sovereignty of the other. The
Centennial and Millennial Accords provide frameworks for consulting on matters of state and
tribal interests. Within that context, this section reflects themes emerging from participant
conversations around how the state could better partner with tribal governments in a long-term
effort to advance housing security.
Participants emphasized the critical role of federal and state resources that are long-term,
predictable, and stable. Some noted opportunities to address barriers to accessing resources
associated with complex application and reporting processes that require staff capacity:
State entities could reduce, or at least not increase, reporting and administrative
requirements.
Oversight relationships could focus on grantees alignment with programmatic intent or
Participants also converged around calling for designated funding specifically for tribes, in a way
that reduces competition.
Participants also described the critical role of resources with criteria and frameworks that align
with sovereignty and are conducive to developing and implementing culturally attuned housing,
programs, and services as a means of amplifying efforts. Specific areas of investment could
include:
supporting administrative infrastructure and operations and maintenance,
rehabilitating and replacing current housing that is unsafe and/or unsanitary, and
increasing housing supply.
Relationships
Participants described the importance of state staff and leadership in listening to and
connecting with Tribal Leaders earlier in and throughout the process, especially regarding
funding opportunities.
Decision-making
Participants emphasized the importance of policy frameworks and funding sources where tribal
governments have the autonomy and flexibility to develop and implement programs that meet
the needs of their respective citizens and community members.
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Recommendations and Actions for a Long-Term Strategy
Recommendations 1 – 3: Set the Strategy Up for Success
Given the breadth of factors needed to create housing security in thriving communities,
strategies at various scales with a wide range of goals and outcomes are needed to fully reflect
progress. Advancing housing security will require the additive effects of successes across
multiple domains and across the multiple perspectives of those involved and affected. The state
strategic framework needs to encompass successes that represent the whole of the landscape,
expect each component to be more transparent about its focus, and make it possible for
different aspects of the response to hold each other accountable for trying to contribute to, or
at least not get in the way of, each other’s forms of success. A narrow understanding of success
can be counterproductive, undermining the interdependencies among different aspects of the
response.
A long-term strategy will be most effective if it helps the state align and track multiple kinds
of successes across scales, domains, and perspectives. Each of these types of successes might
need different actions, investments, and timeframes. This does not mean that success goes
undefined, it means that multiple operating definitions are working in concert with each other.
Rather than resolving a debate about which matters more, the strategic obligation is to discern
what combination of investments will contribute to progress on multiple fronts, together
contributing to advancing housing security.
Recommendation 1
Multiple Successes: Recognize multiple, co-existing ways of understanding success.
The input from participants illuminated many areas in which it is possible, and important, for
multiple ways of understanding success to co-exist. Those areas include:
reducing the rates and experiences of homelessness,
surviving and thriving,
outcomes and pathways,
different successes at different levels, and
equity.
Participants discussed two forms of success in the response to homelessness that need to co-
exist as related but sometimes differing goals. These were the importance of both seeking to
reduce the overall rate of homelessness and addressing individual and household experiences
of homelessness. For the purpose of reducing the per capita rate of homelessness in the long
term, a 50% decline would be viewed as a success; this kind of metric tends to get a lot of
emphasis. However, for those who continue to experience homelessness or housing instability,
an overall decline that does not include them means very little. For them and for the providers
who engage with them, the extent to which varied, and sometimes complex individual needs
are being met—often over extended periods of time—is more meaningful.
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Another associated aspec s different ways of understanding the meaning of successfully
reducing homelessness. Reducing visible homelessness in encampments, rights of way, and
other public spaces is reasonable to pursue as one outcome. Participants emphasized that
it should not be understood as a success if it is achieved as displacement without regard for
where people experiencing homelessness go, for how long, and what sustained support they
receive. Similarly, achieving housing security goals are only successes if they focus as much on
the safety of those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity as they do on community
safety needs. Participants further expressed a desire that reducing homelessness should extend
to those who are sheltering in vehicles or being temporarily sheltered by family and friends—
nd to preventing those who are housing insecure from ever falling into homelessness in the
first place.
Similarly, given the scale and urgency of the need to mitigate homelessness, increasing the
availability of and placement in any form of shelter can be seen as a success. Some participants
who provide outreach or emergency shelter, the immediate form of success they described
for those they support was survival—making it to the next day, providing a meal, being out of
immediate harm.
Yet, they and others also desired the response as a whole to see success as thriving, not merely
surviving. Thus, the quantity of placements is not enough to reflect success. The quality,
accessibility, acceptability, and stability of housing placements also matters, as well as the
extent to which there is facilitated access to needed services. As some participants variously
said, “it’s not the first housing that comes along, but the right housing” for the person or family.
Outcomes and pathways
Another example of important co-existing forms of success are outcomes and the pathways
to those outcomes. Participants described the importance of striving for and tracking key
milestones and outcomes, such as permanent housing placements within a specified timeframe
and expansion of housing supply and closing the gap in housing inequities. These outcomes help
understand the extent to which the response is achieving its purpose.
In parallel, monitoring success along the pathway for each specific situation or circumstance is
also critically important, with the realistic expectation that progress may not always be linear.
Understanding what is happening along the pathway—as much for a person in need of housing
support as for a particular community as for a state strategy—illuminates how and why the
endpoint is or is not being achieved. For example, understanding why a person has not secured
employment can inform what additional supports or interventions may be needed. Greater
understanding of the pathways can also illuminate whether the hoped-for timeframes are
realistic in practice. Seeing the pathway as a form of success also allows different programs and
services to share in each other’s successes as individuals transition among providers.
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Different successes at different levels
While the concept of both endpoints and pathways to those endpoints is consistent across
levels, participants emphasized that the specific ways success looks vary by level of the
response. The success of the system as a whole needs to be conceptualized differently than the
success of a program or service provider. For example, program successes may mean that many
people experiencing homelessness are being rehoused and connected to services. However, if
just as many or more people continue to fall into homelessness, the success of the system as a
whole is not being achieved.
Participants often described how an understanding of success needs to be not just whether
someone is placed in housing and services, but how well-matched the housing placement
and other interventions are to the person’s circumstances, needs, and preferences and to the
local community context. Some individuals may be looking to self-sufficiency
of success. However, expecting self-sufficiency for everyone is unrealistic in the context of an
economy in which wages do not keep up with housing costs. Further, for people living with
complex behavioral, social, and health needs, high quality, permanent supportive housing or
residential care may be the benchmark of success.
Participants expressed a desire that rather than the funders developing measures of success, a
collaborative and responsive approach to identifying what individualized success is and how to
get there is more likely to produce robust and lasting results, including in different demographic,
geographic, community, and cultural contexts.
Equity
For every aspect of housing insecurity, specific attention is needed to advancing equity as
a parallel dimension of success. Otherwise, the gap in getting to housing security will be
greatest and longest for those who are most affected and who are historically and currently
most marginalized. Defining success using targets alone can result in approaches that
default to reaching those who are relatively easy to serve. In parallel to overall targets, closing
the gap in housing disparities and reaching those most on the margins is its own dimension
of success, even if it requires a different type and level of investment. Similarly, goals such as
building the capacity of new and more diverse implementing organizations and providers can be
complementary to meeting short-term targets quickly by relying on experienced partners and
grantees.
Some participants raised concerns that it can be complicated to measure multiple kinds of
successes and it may result in a lack of focus or accountability or not setting ambitious enough
goals. Other participants emphasized that while seeking a singular or simplified approach to
understanding, measuring, and tracking ‘success’ has its appeal, such an approach will be
insufficient, fail to represent the diversity of contributions needed in a response to housing
insecurity, and ultimately be counterproductive to truly understanding how the response to
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housing security is performing. As one participant put it, being narrow about what success looks
like is “far riskier” than incorporating multiple understandings.
Systematically tracking more kinds of success is important to an effective strategy, participants
also observed that not everything needs to be measured and tracked in every context nor at
every level. The recommended approach to gathering and using the diversity of information
needed to monitor and assess a comprehensive response to housing insecurity is discussed
further in Recommendation 18
Recommendation 2 Clarity of Total Investment and Benefit: Capture and communicate the comprehensive investments that advance housing security, the benefits they yield, and for whom.
The complexity of housing security as a goal necessitates that investments be assessed using
a broad, cross-sectoral view of the resources being allocated and the benefits they yield.
While this holistic view may be more than is feasible with a traditional return on investment
analysis, a descriptive mapping, with financial estimates where possible, could be established
and updated periodically.
A more comprehensive sense of the scope and scale of all resources that support housing
security could help clarify the value of investments across the housing continuum, rather than
just focus on the investments in one part of the response to housing insecurity. This more
detailed approach to understanding the investment landscape should include government
spending, contributions from nongovernmental sources, and the value of temporary housing
provided by friends and family, and also consider the relative public costs of permanent
supportive housing compared to likely alternate outcomes such as incarceration or
hospitalization, can also help clarify the value of the response to housing insecurity.
Recommendation 3
Experiential Expertise: Amplify the insights and expertise of those affected by
homelessness and housing instability by supporting them to participate in making
decisions about, implementing, and assessing the performance of laws, policies,
The pathways to housing security will be more robust and effective if there is intentional space
for the power and influence of people and communities disproportionately affected by housing
insecurity. Individuals who experience homelessness and housing instability, like all people, are
capable, adaptable, and knowledgeable. They are highly qualified to inform services and models
of care and should have opportunities to contribute to every level of planning, implementing,
and assessing the performance of the policies, programs, and services that make up the
response to housing insecurity.
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Some examples of opportunities to amplify insights:
include individuals who are BIPOC, living with disabilities, elders, young people, and
LGBTQIA and/or who have lived experience of homelessness and/or housing insecurity,
increase access to compensation and reimbursement for individuals not otherwise paid
to contribute to conversations on programs and policies, and
include individuals with lived experience, who enter and collect data, and front-line
workers in conversations around monitoring progress.
One widely desired aspect of this recommendation among participants is employing people in
the housing response who have experienced homelessness or housing instability. Participants
often described how that shared connection and empathy is important to effectively reach and
engage people authentically and to build the trust needed to foster stability. Along with this, it is
important to not only include people who have experienced homelessness or housing insecurity
in the past, but to also include people currently experiencing it as they are the ones who are the
closest to the realities of it in the immediate context.
In discussions around increasing the influence of individuals with lived experience (current or
otherwise) associated with housing insecurity and homelessness, participants raised several
considerations.
One consideration is that hiring people at relatively low wages may not provide sufficient
income to afford their housing and may put their eligibility for services at risk. Another
consideration is when citizenship or a history with the criminal justice system excludes people
from employment. A process for facilitating exemptions to hiring restrictions on jobs in housing
assistance would help to advance housing security by being able to consider an untapped pool
of job candidates with valuable experiential and peer support expertise.
Recommendations 4 – 8: Respond to the Continuum of Housing Needs
Effective programs or policies anywhere on the housing continuum—from ensuring a supply
of affordable housing to stabilizing precarious housing to mitigating homelessness—ultimately
depend on the state of the rest of the continuum. For example, emergency shelters are
temporary by design but can only serve that function if there is a connection to available
permanent housing options. The availability of permanent housing options is affected by the
affordability of housing, which is affected by the housing market, which shifts alongside patterns
of growth and the economy.
The following set of recommendations address some of the structural housing needs, such the
supply and access to available housing.
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Recommendation 4
Housing Options: Expand the supply, variety, location, and quality of supported
options and pathways for shelter, temporary, and longer-term housing, to better
A variety of facilities, structures, and types of requirements and supports are necessary to make
it possible to stabilize people based on their circumstances, needs, and preferences—therefore
facilitating their pathway to housing security.
The scale and urgency of the homelessness crisis necessitates difficult choices across equally
important factors that can sometimes be in conflict, especially speed, and quality. Perspectives
differed widely about what achieves sufficient quality—careful and transparent consideration is
needed for choices that will inevitably be necessary but not adequate. Similarly difficult choices
are also apparent in responding to the urgency of the affordable housing shortage.
Increased variety and flexibility in what housing options are supported by the State helps better
balance helps expand the possibilities in navigating tradeoffs between quality and speed.
Examples of the desired variety of options and supports for temporary shelter include:
24/7 and continuous stay facilities in various configurations,
day shelters and overnight shelters,
safer encampments with more services, and
coordinated placements for families and other socially linked people.
Participants also recognize that many people and families may lean on family and friends for
temporary shelter. Providing support to mitigate the burden on friends and family as well as
support infrastructure and policies to add and improve spaces and services for those who reside
in recreational vehicles.
For longer-term housing placements, the desired variety includes:
both low barrier and conditional models,
both permanent supportive housing for those with complex needs and temporary
transitional housing for those awaiting longer-term housing options,
both individual and joint placements for those who are socially connected, and
both renting and home ownership.
Other examples of options identified as needed include recovery housing; medical respite and
recuperative care facilities; shared living alternatives, housing responsive to specific needs
such as those who are pregnant or caring for infants, youth, older adults, people living with
disabilities, or people affected by domestic violence; and residential care facilities for those
whose complexity of need is more than can be met in permanent supportive housing.
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Participants made clear that what is effective for one set of circumstances may be ineffective
for another. For example, an effective housing response necessitates that well-implemented
low barrier options be available as entry points for those who, in their current circumstances,
would otherwise have no option. Yet a person currently in recovery may not do well in that
environment. Similarly, a person with multiple complex needs may thrive in permanent
supportive housing, while that level of support may be more than what is needed for some and
less than what is needed for others.
What emerged from the discussions is that continuing the search for a universally best
program model or type of housing can get in the way of investing in an effective strategy. A
variety of facilities, structures, and types of requirements and supports are necessary to make
it possible to stabilize people based on their circumstances, needs, and preferences—therefore
facilitating their pathway to housing security.
A major consideration within discussions about the supply and variety of housing options is a
desire to link people more effectively and more quickly to shelter and temporary housing and
then into longer term housing options, or even directly into longer term housing. Supporting
explicit and transparent cooperation between the acute response and progress on longer-t
options will help ensure that acute solutions are not being developed in lieu of long-term ones
and also that long term aspirations do not inadvertently get in the way of acute needs.
Recommendation 5
Supply of Affordable Housing: Adopt strategies that align homelessness services
and housing assistance with increasing the supply of affordable housing for rental
and ownership. Allocate more funds to be used for operations and maintenance to
preserve the current stock of subsidized and affordable housing.
For recommendations related to affordable housing, the report of this work will cross-reference
the Affordable Housing Advisory Board’s (AHAB) forthcoming updated plan and encourage
alignment and coordination between the approach to affordable housing and other parts of the
housing continuum. It is anticipated that the AHAB plan will include policy recommendations
related to identified housing barriers, developed through an extensive information gathering
and deliberative process. The issue areas covered include, for example, funding, land, local
approvals, regulation, infrastructure, construction cost, expiring affordability, lack of affordable
homeownership, financing options, and manufactured home community vulnerability.
Additional desired areas of emphasis that would complement the AHAB strategic plan include:
allocate more funds to be used for operations and maintenance to preserve the current stock of subsidized and affordable housing,
establish dedicated resources to rehabilitate and restore or replace housing that is unsafe or unsanitary,
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create pathways to homeownership, especially for BIPOC and individuals with
disabilities,
establish dedicated resources for tribes, distributed in a way that reduces competition, and
increase supply of housing that is separate from the housing market, such as subsidized
housing or community land trusts.
Participants generally described recent policy approaches and increases in the State’s
investments to expand affordable housing as progress. However, there are persistent concerns
that added housing units will not be consistent with housing needs assessments, that added
housing units will not remain affordable in the realities of the current housing market in
Washington State, and that there are not adequate mechanisms to incentivize or enforce
affordable housing goals.
Recommendation 6 Equitable Access to Housing: As policies are implemented to increase the supply of affordable housing, ensure equitable access for those transitioning from homelessness
Increasing the supply of affordable housing is a key component of housing security, and there
is widespread convergence among participants that it is critical to mitigating homelessness—
yet there is concern that it is not sufficient to fully meet the needs of all people experiencing
housing instability. Increasing affordable housing supply needs to be paired with explicit
strategies for equitable access to housing. Examples of desired approaches to facilitate access
include:
establish incentives for navigators or peer supports who can support a person’s pathway
along the housing continuum,
increase access to programs that cover up-front housing application and deposit
expenses and/or repair credit history,
address and mitigate disparities related to how credit scores are calculated,
support programs that promote financial literacy and education,
create pathways to homeownership through subsidizing, insuring or providing no or low interest loans, and supporting alternatives to traditional lending, and
reduce barriers to access such as exclusions due to criminal history.
Strategies designed to facilitate access for those currently and historically most marginalized
and least well served by current housing options due to racism, other systemic disadvantages,
and exclusionary practices are likely to facilitate access universally for those in need of
housing assistance. Conversely, designing mostly around the circumstances of the majority
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can perpetuate current inequities and exclusion.hile many hold the perspective that some
exclusionary policies are warranted for some circumstances, in practice these policies—without
alternate strategies for those circumstances—are counterproductive to the goal of advancing
housing security.
Recommendation 7
Geographic Variability: Accommodate the ways in which housing challenges manifest
differently in different places.
Key actions include:
Local Affordability: Allow local communities to determine what is considered affordable
housing and fair market pricing based on their local economic conditions.
Local Affordable Housing Solutions: Support local rental property owners and local
builders/developers with risk mitigation and tailored incentives to participate in
sustaining a robust stock of high-quality local affordable housing.
Localities with widely variable population sizes, densities, and housing markets all currently
struggle with housing challenges. Supporting communities does not necessarily mean support
that is proportionate to the number or percentage of the population experiencing homelessness
or housing instability.
For example, some issues manifest differently in different places and therefore require different
strategies that may be more or less costly. Creating and launching a new program may require
different levels of resources than scaling up an ongoing program. Some comparable strategies
cost more on a smaller scale or in different contexts. Some places experience overflow effects
from rising housing costs and increasing rates of housing insecurity in other localities.
To be effective statewide, the housing response needs to transparently assess, track, and
accommodate these variations and avoid moving housing challenges from place to place.
Recommendation 8
Cooperation Across Jurisdictions: Incentivize greater cooperation across geographic
and political jurisdictions.
Participants widely recognized that a barrier to statewide progress is the potential for a local
response to displace rather than resolve local housing challenges. That pattern could be
interrupted by requiring or incentivizing cooperation across jurisdictions, which could take
various forms from improved communication to coordination and to collaboration.
39 This aligns with the most recent Federal strategic plan’s adoption of a “targeted universalism” framework (https://belonging.
berkeley.edu/targeted-universalism).
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Recommendations 9 – 12: Respond Holistically to People’s Needs
A holistic view of homelessness and housing instability recognizes that multiple interacting
factors contribute to produce both statewide patterns and individual experiences of housing
insecurity.
A person’s ability to access and sustain housing necessitates support based on their specific
circumstances. The following set of recommendations inform the ways a long-term strategy
needs to connect actions and resources related to multiple factors beyond housing in mutually
beneficial ways.
Recommendation 9
Coordinated Pathway: Create a coordinated pathway system that cultivates
operational connections among entities working on outreach, entry into the
homelessness response system, placement in housing, and longer-term housing
Key actions include:
Infrastructure for Coordination: Directly support the infrastructure and effort required
for active coordination and sustained relationships among local implementing
organizations.
State and Local Engagement: Increase engagement across state and local levels to clarify policies, practices, and criteria for coordinated systems.
Advancing housing security requires not only housing options along the continuum but also
support for people to successfully move along that continuum. Currently, people experience
a great deal of difficulty getting from step to step across different providers and disparate
systems. There is a recognition that it is not just entry into homelessness services that needs to
be coordinated but the whole trajectory of housing stability that needs to be more effectively
connected. Participants called for system improvements and pathways to reduce silos along the
housing security continuum—Recommendation 11 describes person-centered improvements.
Key Action: Infrastructure for Coordination
Given the lack of availability of housing and the challenging circumstances faced by some
individuals, many participants described the common occurrence of a nonlinear trajectory from
housing crisis towards housing security. Some participants went on to describe the pathways to
housing security.
Desired features of such a pathway system include, for example:
extend the allowable duration of transitional housing and supports, including augmenting time beyond federal limits,
avoid duplicative eligibility determination and enrollment processes,
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provide access to peer support,
increase flexibility around logistical barriers people face in getting assistance or
employment,
track referral completion between providers,
fund facilitation of cooperation/coordination, and
establish state investments in relationship building among local implementing
organizations, including in neighboring jurisdictions when needed.
Key Action: State and Local Engagement
Dedicated regional “field officers” could work as liaisons across state and local levels to help
with alignment across state agencies whose work relates to housing security. Their role should
include a focus on engaging and exchanging information with local service providers and with
people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
Recommendation 10 Holistic Eligibility: Reconfigure eligibility criteria using a cross-sector, multifactorial, periodic assessment designed to help people access the supports they need over time to synergistically stabilize their housing, health, behavioral health, and socioeconomic
Key actions include:
Income Eligibility Gap: Supplement housing assistance eligibility beyond federal income
limits to compensate for the locally disproportionate mismatch between household
income and housing costs.
Income Eligibility Cliff: Extend housing assistance eligibility to replace binary thresholds
with a sliding scale to help people gradually transition to housing stability as their
socioeconomic stability also gradually improves.
Many participants described the gap between the income support or rental subsidy offered and
actual rent or need. Many also described eligibility cliffs, where supports may completely expire
after a specific amount of time or if income increases above a certain threshold. Participants
also described the mental and emotional stress of both navigating the life circumstances
contributing to housing insecurity and the eligibility criteria, deadlines, and follow-up required
to access supports and housing.
Participants converged broadly on a system that works to match supports to people’s needs and
timelines, while minimizing the administrative burden. Creating such an approach in Washington
requires a process that examines existing services and eligibility criteria for public assistance
across sectors, would need to consider multiple factors contributing to the need for assistance,
and include a process for periodic assessment and adaptation.
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Some participants described challenges associated with calculating the average median income
(AMI). For example, a few high-income earners can distort the median for a community. Some
participants described misalignments between incomes and AMI-based eligibility thresholds for
services/supports that could still leave households rent burdened or not able to make progress
towards greater financial stability.
Participants also described the looming weight of hard deadlines or thresholds for eligibility to
qualify and receive benefits. Some participants saw opportunities to address the eligibility cliff
by creating more of a ramp; however, the ramp would need to consider the complex system
of potential benefits and the exit ramp should be more inclusive of the entirety of a person’s
situation than current thresholds.
Recommendation 11 Person-Centered Navigation: Evolve current case management and care navigation efforts into a cross-sector navigation system that responds to the specific needs of
Currently, people and providers experience a great deal of difficulty connecting across different
services and disparate systems for health, behavioral health, social, economic, and other kinds
of support. A more person-centered approach would strive to align the system to people’s lived
experiences rather than expecting people to organize their engagement according to the way
the system is structured.
Desired features of coordination include assigning long-term culturally sensitive and trauma-
informed navigators and expanding peer support programs. Other features of system
coordination may require system changes, such as reducing administrative burdens on
individuals in completing eligibility and enrollment paperwork and addressing logistical barriers
people may face in applying for assistance.
A potential approach is to create a navigator role whose funding, infrastructure, and entry point
are not tied to any one service, program, or government agency. The scope and relationships of
such navigators could:
facilitate understanding of and access to eligible services and referrals,
integrate support for multiple needs over time,
help coordinate teams of providers, and
provide continuous follow-up that is inclusive of and tailored to what each client on their roster specifically needs.
Better navigation can only contribute to housing security if resources, services and supports are
available in proportion to the need, which may change over time. The current availability and
accessibility of appropriate care and support services are not adequate and would need to be
expanded to match people’s needs.
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To design an optimized system, participants noted the opportunities to draw on both successes
and challenges from existing navigation examples such as veteran service organizations;
community support, the model used by Apple Health and Homes; and the dashboard and other
program navigation related to the Economic Security for All Initiative. Many participants also
went on to raise cautions about implementing something new, particularly without robust input
from the field, clear communication, and support for the costs and time of adopting.
Recommendation 12
Circumstances of Precarious Housing: Expand investments that stabilize individuals
Key actions include:
Bridging Support: Provide bridging grants or loans for unanticipated expenses that may
supersede making rent or mortgage payments on time.
Eviction Mitigation: Shift from policies that merely prohibit eviction to add
comprehensive prevention strategies that mitigate the reasons for and impacts of
impending eviction for tenants, neighbors, and property owners/managers.
One desired approach to stabilize precarious housing is to support people in accessing available
services and resources related to the specific ongoing factors that make it difficult for them to
sustain stable housing in the context of their circumstances. Suggested examples of this include
employment support; income assistance; childcare; education opportunities; life skills coaching;
health insurance and access to health and behavioral health care; financial services; and legal
representation.
Key Action: Bridging Support
Stabilizing housing for people could also include access to bridging grants or loans for
unanticipated expenses that may supersede making rent or mortgage payments on time.
Participants often described the disruption of unexpected expenses, such as auto repair or
medical bills, and the critical role that a grant or loan for a period of months could play in
facilitating re-stabilization.
Key Action: Eviction Mitigation
Stabilizing housing also includes mitigating eviction through comprehensive prevention
strategies. Comprehensive strategies would include ways to mitigate the reasons for and
impacts of impending eviction for tenants, neighbors, and property owners/managers.
40 Feek, C., Zeitlin, D., Probst, T. (2023). Economic Security for All. Legislative Report. Washington State Employment
Security Department. Online: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/ReportsToTheLegislature/home/GetPDF?fileName=2023-05-
EcSALegislativeReport_9012b38c-0f2f-4031-95cb-fdc149bd0c3c.pdf
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Stabilizing current housing requires access, stability, and safety for renters and homeowners;
safety for neighboring tenants or owners; and stability for landlords and lenders of subsidized
and affordable housing. A desired strategy for housing security is to increase the availability of a
first line response that does not treat these multiple needs as inherently in conflict.
This strategy could include for example, ensuring access to educational and support services
that promote both responsible tenants and responsible landlords, relationship building between
tenants and landlords, mediation services for tenants and landlords to explore workable
solutions outside of court,subsidizing lost rent and damage costs that can occur during
mediation or eviction proceedings, and providing bridge loans or grants that help prevent
evictions due to lack of payment due to other unanticipated expenses.
This shift from an eviction prohibition does not preclude the ongoing need for formal eviction
processes for landlords nor for legal protections for tenants, to be used in cases that cannot be
resolved through prevention strategies or in which power imbalances are leveraged to exploit
people who are vulnerable.
Recommendations 13 – 16: Bolster Systems and Workforce Capacity and
Addressing concerns about the well-being of the workforce who implement the response to
homelessness and housing instability is critical to achieving the goal of advancing housing
security.
Recommendation 13 Diversity in Implementation: Increase the diversity of and cooperation among organizations and entities in the public, nonprofit, and private sector with the potential to contribute to the response to housing insecurity.
The scale of the need for affordable housing necessitates an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Some participants described the need for more public-private partnerships, which may require
examining current funding timelines and capital requirements and mitigating barriers to public-
private partnerships.
Participants also emphasized the goal of increasing diversity and rebalancing historic
disparities for the recipients of funding. Creating frameworks to incentivize multi-sector
projects should incorporate additive rather than exclusionary strategies such as expanding
funding opportunities, building technical capacity, and matching partners with complementary
capacities.
41 The Office of Civil Legal Aid recently released a report, produced by researchers at the University of Washington, which
provides baseline information on Washington State’s Appointed Counsel Program, which was authorized by SB 5160:
https://ocla.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Final-Report-on-Implementation-of-Tenant-Appointment-Counsel-
Program-10-2023.pdf
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Recommendation 14
Financial Stability of Implementers: Foster the financial stability of those implementing
the response to housing insecurity by offering a range of funding models to a variety of
Advancing housing security is a long-term effort, which will be more readily achieved through
implementing organizations with financial stability. Desired approaches for funding models to
support this breadth and depth include:
leveraging the capital of private sector partners,
offering up-front funding alternatives to reimbursement models for smaller
organizations,
increasing flexibility in covering operational costs,
explicitly facilitating diversity in awarding funding,
increasing funding periods, such as for three to five years, and adjusting the re-
application period to allow for organizations to seek alternate funding or have a longer
planning horizon if a program is closing, and
building technical capacity for financial management.
Recommendation 15 Working Conditions: Improve working conditions and supports for the frontline
A recent report prepared for the Department of Commerce, “Supporting Homeless Service
Provider Workers Experiencing Workplace Trauma in Washington State,”outlines strategies
that can be used to support frontline workers and relieve workplace trauma. The report
recommends improving compensation, training, and workplace conditions for workers at
Homeless Service Provider (HSP) organizations. Additionally, the report recommends increasing
communication between and reducing redundancies across HSP organizations.
Recommendation 16 Core Competencies: Establish universal core competencies in culturally responsive, anti-racist, and trauma-informed practices for providers, administrators, and leaders
into practice.
Participants described the critical role service providers play in demonstrating cultural
awareness or utilizing a trauma informed approach in building trust and relationships with
42 Reports to the Legislature. (2023). Online: https://app.leg.wa.gov/ReportsToTheLegislature/Home/
GetPDF?fileName=CommerceReports_2023_HSD_HSP%20Workforce%20Trauma_Final_0ccc9740-298e-447e-b942-
8c218b3a2bf4.pdf
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clients. A long-term strategy must articulate these practices and train providers, administrators,
and leaders across sectors to develop and refine these core competencies.
Recommendations 17 – 18: Foster Accountability and Manage Performance, and
Adapt Over Time
Housing security is complex, and the needs are both urgent and long-term. To make and sustain
progress, a state strategy will need to comprise multiple aligned approaches, make the rationale
behind choices transparent, incorporate accountability mechanisms to assess and adjust the
performance of the current response, and avenues to discern whether and how to adapt over
time as circumstances change.
Such a complex response needs a robust framework for gathering, managing, and using
information. Policymakers, service providers, and communities need to be able to use that
information to assess the performance of the current response and adjust as needed, adapt to
changing patterns, anticipate potential consequences of those adjustments and adaptations,
and sustain progress.
Recommendation 17
Alignment of Policymaking: Assess laws and policies in all areas of government for
the potential to affect housing security and assess housing laws and policies for their
potential to affect interrelated goals in other areas.
Key actions include:
Policy Coordination: Support closer coordination among those who set and implement
policies for interdependent forms of assistance within and across levels of government.
Alignment with Poverty Reduction Strategies: Support cooperation among those
implementing strategies that mutually reduce poverty and housing insecurity.
There are interdependencies between housing security and almost every other policy goal of
State, such as economic security, health, wellbeing, and safety. This means that policies
in these areas do not operate in isolation from each other. Changes to many factors that are
priorities in the State will be key to the success of a long-term strategy to advance housing
security, even in areas that are not typically connected explicitly to policies for homelessness
and housing instability. Similarly, many other policies—and the programs and services
developed to implement them—are far more likely to succeed when there is greater housing
security for individuals and in communities. Areas with interdependencies identified by
participants include:
land use and community planning,
income and employment support, and other social services,
health and behavioral health care,
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criminal justice,
structural racism and other forms of historic and current systemic disadvantage,
transportation and other infrastructure,
environmental stewardship,
climate change adaptation,
tourism, and
agriculture.
Because of the complex ways success in any one area depends on the others, a strategy for
housing security will need to rely on cooperative assessments for policy alignment in other
areas, and those who make housing policy need to be as willing to assess for alignment with
the needs of other domains. For example, an effort to increase the diversity of housing types in
communities could include close coordination and consideration of climate and environmental
stewardship goals, as well as with the land-use planning framework. Increasing access to
housing for individuals upon release from a period of incarceration, will require identifying,
tracking, and mitigating potential unintended or counterproductive consequences between and
among individuals with lived experience, service providers, and policy makers.
Key Action: Policy Coordination
For those entities more directly related to housing, the alignment needed is in the form of close
coordination in the development and implementation of policies. At the level of state and local
governments, closer coordination could help ensure mutually beneficial strategy, planning,
policy, and funding allocations. It would also improve clarity and consistency about terminology,
rules, regulations, implementation of new initiatives, and systems for performance management
and accountability.
Key Action: Alignment with Poverty Reduction Strategies
For people to be stable in housing, their economic status needs to be stable—and for people
to maintain economic stability they need to be housed. The housing security of a community is
similarly connected to its economy. Actions related to housing security and actions related to
wages, income, employment, workforce development, and other forms of economic security
need to be mutually reinforcing or at least not inadvertently work at competing purposes.
The recent 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty in Washington provides a roadmap for alignment
with state strategies for improving economic security. In addition, useful implementation
43 Dismantle Poverty in Washington. (2023). Dismantle Poverty in Washington Homepage. Webpage. Online: https://
dismantlepovertyinwa.com/
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lessons may be gleaned from subsequent efforts implemented in response to the poverty
reduction plan, such as the Economic Security for All poverty reduction model.
Recommendation 18
Knowledge Management Framework: Develop a comprehensive framework for the
role of knowledge and learning in the state’s efforts to advance housing security,
including performance monitoring, focused evaluation, a prioritized research agenda,
Key actions include:
Draw on complementary sources of information to design,
implement, and monitor policies, programs, and services.
Connect Research and Practice. Create opportunities for dialogue and cooperation among the research and evaluation communities and the policy and practice communities.
The success of a complex response to housing security will rely on systematically creating or
collecting information, and on using and sharing that knowledge to learn and to monitor and
enhance the performance of the response. This framework should align across the breadth of
state efforts related to housing security, contribute to sustainable management of the response,
and adapt to emerging needs. A comprehensive framework for managing knowledge in this way
would clearly articulate the following:
the purposes of gathering information,
how information will be created or collected and used to achieve those purposes,
the complementary roles of monitoring, evaluation, and research, and
the intended users and audiences and how information will be disseminated to them.
By strategically combining different types of information-gathering, at different scales and
levels, and using different timeframes, such a framework can help the State track the multiple
successes that matter, including outcomes, context, processes and experiences, without being
limited to what is most measurable as a performance metric.
This does not pre-empt existing monitoring systems and measures for different aspects of
housing security. Rather, the purpose would be to use existing data collection with additional
strategic information together to capture and regularly update a picture of housing security
as a whole. For routine performance monitoring, participants reinforced the value of tracking
quantitative metrics, which help track whether outcomes are achieved. They also expressed
the need for more systematic approaches to routinely collecting qualitative information,
which provide critical insights into how and why the goals of the response are—or are not—
44 Workforce Professionals Center. (2023). Economic Security for All (ECSA). Webpage. Washington State. Online: https://wpc.
wa.gov/grants/EcSA-initiative-information
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being reached. In this way the state’s performance monitoring approach can encompass both
trends and statistical patterns as well as patterns in the experiences of those most affected by
housing insecurity and most directly involved in implementing the response. Another desired
development for monitoring data would be to link it more closely with financial data, allowing
better estimation of what available resources can cover given current costs and capacity in the
system.
A practical insight that emerged from the participant discussions is that there is a need for a
manageable number of key quantifiable and comparable indicators of success to be collected,
reported, and tracked statewide. At the same time, there was a widespread desire for more
flexible and tailored performance monitoring to meet needs that vary by demographics, or
geographic location, or type of program.
A state strategy would benefit from a purposeful determination of who needs to track what
information, for what purpose, at what level of operations, and with what frequency. An
efficient use of limited personnel, time, and financial resources could then meet those needs
with a highest yield/least burden approach to collecting and reporting data. To balance
efficiency with flexibility, a tiered approach could be employed. The state’s universal reporting
requirements can be streamlined to core monitoring needs, recognizing that some reporting
requirements are not controlled by the State, while technical assistance could be provided to
support the collection and use of routine quantitative and qualitative measures in a locality or
within a program or for an individual’s progress. These measures could be aligned as a menu
of options that are centrally supported, which would facilitate some use not only for managing
local and programmatic implementation, but also for trends or studies across jurisdictions or
programs that choose to collect them.
To augment monitoring, what emerged from the discussions, is a need for a strategically
coordinated, complementary portfolio of evaluation methods. This would serve to assess
outcomes, context, and experiences that are not captured well by monitoring indicators,
using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. There was particular interest among many
participants in expanding the use of community-based and participatory evaluation approaches.
A coordinated research portfolio can then complement monitoring and evaluation by focusing
on questions that will enhance and advance the effectiveness, scale, quality, and acceptability of
supported actions.
Finally, part of a knowledge management framework is to develop systems and processes that
institutionalize the most needed exchanges of knowledge. One desired aspect of this is avenues
to share timely, secure data across partner agencies and organizations as needed to effectively
support housing goals at individual, community, and state levels while also providing assurances
of privacy. Another is to develop ways to capture innovations at the local level and make it
easier to adapt and spread them to other parts of the state.
Some participants expressed concerns about how challenging new information gathering efforts
can be when those working in the response are already stretched thin. Being mindful of not
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adding work without providing support was identified as critical to realizing the opportunities to
improve the response by evolving the ways in which knowledge is gathered and used.
Key Action: Diversity of Knowledge
There is much existing knowledge about housing and homelessness. Yet, participants also often
described the gaps and limitations in applying that knowledge. Gaps in knowledge may be
attributed to lack of data collection over time or as some programs, regions, and populations
may receive less attention by researchers. Of the knowledge and research available, there
are limitations to the lessons that can be learned and applied in other contexts, for different
individuals. Participants called for knowledge of various types and from various sources are
used together to design, implement and monitor policies, programs, and services.
This will help build a strategy that takes advantage of a broad scope of methodologies, types
of information, disciplines, fields, sectors, and forms of expertise, including the experiential
expertise of those with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability, those most
affected factors that contribute to housing insecurity, and those most directly involved in
practice and policy aspects of the response.
There are a number of reasons that drawing on various forms of knowledge serves complex,
unwieldy, multifaceted challenges well. One is that it allows for a more complete understanding
that includes an overall view of trends and patterns about what contributes to housing
challenges and what works to address them, how those relate to the specific environments
and circumstances of people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, and the
multiple lenses of those working on different aspects of the response. Another is that using
complementary types of information and integrating different disciplinary approaches
compensates for the assumptions, preconceptions, and gaps that inevitably accompany any
one type of knowledge. This can bring to light different effective approaches than what might
otherwise have been considered, and it can help anticipate unintended consequences for
approaches that are under consideration. It can also make it more possible for learning to
happen across different components of the response.
Integrating a diversity of knowledge can also help ensure that no one aspect of the response or
sector or perspective can dominate how information influences decisions about strategy and
implementation. Different parts of the response can learn from each other. Finally, it sets aside
fixed hierarchical standards based on the type of evidence and instead seeks the best possible
match between each relevant question and the type of information and methodology. This fit-
for-purpose approach is increasingly recognized as a best practice for complex policy challenges
that require alignment within and across multiple systems and sectors.
This does not mean a strategy will be able to follow the direction suggested based on every
available type of knowledge. There will inevitably be differences depending on the perspective,
the purpose, and the aspect or level of the response. Advancing housing security entails asking
many questions that do not have a single right answer and making many decisions about
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which absolute certainty is not possible. While some may worry that considering diverse
information can be complicated and unwieldy, it is what makes it more possible to effectively
address a complicated and unwieldy challenge. The value comes from developing a shared
knowledge base that reflects the whole landscape of housing security, clarifying a sound
rationale when tradeoffs need to be made, being transparent about and accountable for
which types of knowledge inform which decisions, having better foresight about unintended
consequences, and making it possible to tailor the response to different contexts.
Key Action: Connect Research and Practice
As described above, a complementary evaluation and research portfolio is an important part
of a comprehensive knowledge management framework. Implementing this would provide an
opportunity to bolster several different kinds of desired connections between the research and
evaluation communities and the policy and practice communities. One is to foster exchange
and collaborative relationships across the multiple disciplines that study aspects of housing.
This could be done, for example, through incentives for collaborative multidisciplinary work,
especially with disciplines skilled in incorporating the experiential expertise of those who are
most directly affected by housing insecurity and most directly involved in the response.
Another desired connection is to structure spaces to bring together those who conduct research
and evaluation and those from the many policy arenas and fields of practice who have applied
knowledge as well as insights into what aspects might benefit from structured research and
evaluation. This will help those who study housing respond to pressing and practical questions,
and also make it possible for the research community to proactively identify useful crosscutting
or longer-term research questions that might otherwise be missed. Another tactic to achieve
this is to collect and communicate research and evaluation questions, even in the absence of
research funding; the research community may be able to be responsive using other resources
available to them.
The shift to housing security as the overarching shared goal will bring with it some shifts in the
knowledge needed to assess the success and manage the performance of the state’s strategy.
This shift will start by identifying the questions that need to be tracked over time. These
questions can then be matched to appropriate information gathering approaches—whether
monitoring, evaluation, or research; to the appropriate scale and context for tracking them, and
to appropriate quantitative and qualitative methodologies and data sources.
The questions below are some examples of questions that emerged from facilitated discussions
as important for tracking progress toward housing security:
To what extent is the State supporting housing and services that can be tailored to
the circumstances, sociocultural context, and preferences of individuals, families, and
households?
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To what extent are laws, policies, and practices reducing disproportionate vulnerabilities
to housing insecurity due to structural racism and other forms of systemic disadvantage?
In what areas is the state’s response exacerbating disproportionate vulnerabilities?
To what extent is the State’s response to housing insecurity being implemented in accordance with trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and antiracist practices?
To what extent is the State advancing compassion and mutual accountability? To what
extent is the State guarding against shame and punishment?
To what extent is the expertise of providers and those with lived experience of
homelessness and housing instability influencing decisions about laws, policies,
programs, and services?
What is the distribution of types of providers, organizations, funders, and other actors
who participate in implementing the response to housing insecurity?
How well is the State incentivizing and facilitating cooperation across jurisdictions
and navigation across agencies and services that provide interdependent forms of
assistance?
To what extent is the State’s response to housing insecurity mutually supporting the state’s responses to other related challenges?
To what extent are the available financial and other resources adequate to advance
housing security?