As Seattle Council continues to explore long-term and sustainable changes to Seattle Police Department’s funding in ways that make sense for local communities, here’s a look at how policing budgets in King County can be better spent.

We ask the police to take on too much.

911 calls commonly involve responding to homelessness – often from someone in crisis or in need of mental health support.

Across the country, people experiencing homelessness average more than 20 interactions with police over a 6 month period. The problem? Police aren’t equipped to help people who are in a behavioral health crisis.

Instead, once they arrive, the police call mental health professionals who are trained in de-escalation and crisis management. The end result? A wasteful and inefficient process that doesn’t work for anyone.

The good news is, we don’t have to look far for real solutions – they’re already in our own backyard. Seattle Police Department often calls DESC’s Mobile Crisis Team, which travels to the individual & provides the specific services they need.

Providing these kinds of services shouldn’t require a police referral. By reallocating some of our police budget to these outreach agencies, we can empower them to reach more people with the services they need. We all stand to benefit when homelessness response and outreach is put in the hands of trained professionals. This means:

👮Police are able to focus on crime
🙍People in crisis are met with help and compassion
💰Costs are lower for everyone

A better system for all is possible, but we can only get there if our budgets and priorities reflect our values.

How you can support our neighbors experiencing homelessness

We understand that the outbreak and precautionary measures around COVID-19 have made this a very uneasy and difficult time for our community.

It is a particularly tough time for our neighbors experiencing homelessness, who are especially vulnerable to contagious illnesses like COVID-19. Homelessness is already hard on a person’s health, but adding another illness makes it even harder, especially without ready access to health care or a safe space to stay while they’re sick.

We’re grateful to our city and county workers and service providers who are coordinating efforts and working tirelessly to slow the spread of COVID-19 by providing sheltered spaces, sanitation measures, and health services to keep everyone safe.

Want to know what you can do? Here are a few ways to help keep our community safe and healthy:

• Stay updated and respect the precautions and guidelines laid out by officials. This will help prevent the spread of the virus and make sure those most vulnerable can access health care services. Learn more about the personal precautions you should take at the King County Department of Public Health COVID-19 page.
• Donate to the COVID-19 Response Fund, a partnership of philanthropic, government and business partners, that will deploy resources to improve response efforts in communities disproportionately impacted.
• Check out this article from Seattle MET on other ways you can help – like donating goods to shelters and ways you can limit your personal activity in smart ways.
• Visit our We Are In partners page here. Many of our partners are service providers who are working hard to aid our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness. Visit their websites to find out more about what they need and how you can help.
• Spread the word! Share this post to your networks, friends, and families so that together, we can keep our community – especially those most vulnerable – safe.

From all of us at We Are In, we wish you a happy and healthy year ahead.

Along with the new year, January has also brought some extremely cold weather, and incredibly difficult conditions for our unsheltered and unhoused neighbors. The longer we wait to take action, the more our neighbors are in the cold, at great personal risk.

That’s why We Are In is ready to act on innovative, regional solutions to homelessness in King County, and to boost the important work happening on the ground every day. Thank you for joining us.

2019 ended with both Seattle City and King County Councils committing to create the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, which will unite our region’s efforts under one roof for the first time ever. This is a critical first step in coordinating our response systems and the successful programs we see working on the ground everyday.

However, there’s more work to do to make sure the voices of experts, nonprofits, service providers and those who have experienced homelessness are at the center of solutions. We Are In’s partners will be working alongside government leaders this year to identify the next steps for our region to prevent and solve homelessness.

Learn more about the Regional Homelessness Authority in this article from the Seattle Times , and read We Are In’s statement on the vote here.

What you can do to help our neighbors experiencing homelessness in Seattle and King County

We’re thrilled you’re “in” for smart, regional solutions to ending homelessness in King County. If you’re looking for more ways to get involved, here are some things to look out for:

Volunteer your time

Join the annual Point In Time count in the early morning of January 24 to collect data on the needs of people experiencing homelessness in King County. Counts like this are crucial for service providers, and help raise awareness in the community to spark action.

As a volunteer, you’ll drive or walk a pre-assigned route with your team, and training will be provided. Encourage your family, friends and neighbors to join too!

Spread the word

United Way King County is holding a Resource Exchange in Renton on MLK Day, January 20, and they need help spreading the word. You can help by tweeting or posting on Facebook:

Free resources for families experiencing homelessness at @UnitedWayKC’s Resource Exchange at Lindbergh High School, 10am-2pm on January 20. Housing resources, legal and financial advice, job opportunities, meals, and more. Help spread the word!

Share our video

Watch and share our video on why a regional approach is needed for King County. Share with your networks and encourage them to say ‘We Are In’ by joining us.

We Are In partners acknowledge the vote as an important first step, urges prioritization of frontline voices

On Monday, December 16, the Seattle City Council, following a King County Council vote, voted 5-1 to create a regional homelessness authority, the culmination of year-long efforts to coordinate and consolidate countywide response systems to homelessness. The We Are In campaign – comprised of service providers, nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, businesses, and people who have experienced homelessness – released the following statement:

“The vote to create the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is a critical first step to reducing homelessness in King County. By coordinating our response systems and the successful programs we see working on the ground everyday, we can build a transformational system that can effectively respond to this issue in all of our communities. We are encouraged to see our city and county leaders move the Authority forward as a statement of intent to take real action towards ending homelessness.

There will be more work to do to ensure that the voices of experts, not politicians, are at the center of solutions under the Authority. As we enter winter in the Pacific Northwest, let’s remember that this is about the lives of unsheltered people. Service providers, nonprofits, and those who have experienced homelessness remain crucial to making effective solutions a reality. We will champion experts and service providers as they inform and apply proven solutions under the banner of the Regional Homelessness Authority.”

We Are In is a diverse collective of partners in nonprofit work and services, business, philanthropy, and people who have experienced homelessness.

Today, advocates with local service providers, businesses, philanthropic organizations, academia and people who have personal experience with homelessness, partnered together to declare, ‘We Are In.’ We Are In is a campaign to raise awareness and generate momentum for smart, common sense solutions to ending homelessness in King County.

All Home’s Count Us In survey of January 2019 reported over 11,000 people experiencing homelessness in King County. Nearly half of the population experiencing homelessness were unsheltered, living on the street, or in parks, tents, vehicles, or other places not meant for human habitation. According to the latest regional homelessness data from All Home, 12,318 households experiencing homelessness received services in the homeless response system as of August 31, 2019.

The campaign and the efforts to revamp King County’s regional approach to homelessness are unique in prioritizing the voices of those who have experienced homelessness themselves. Their role reflects King County’s effort to uniquely and deeply involve people who know first-hand what it’s like to be homeless and what needs to change to get to more effective solutions.

“We urgently need real solutions to homelessness, informed by those who have lived it,” said Dr. LaMont Green of the Lived Experience Coalition. “Community must include all of us, and everyone has a role to play in making sure that our region is a place where we can all thrive.”

The We Are In campaign launched with over a dozen organizations signing on as partners and supporters, including service providers and philanthropies committed to supporting a regional response.

“We need to remember that people experiencing homelessness are our neighbors, veterans, students, and friends, people escaping domestic violence, turned away from families, or living with disabilities,” said Gordon McHenry Jr., CEO of United Way of King County, one of the founding partners of We Are In. “In the Pacific Northwest – a place filled with brilliant, innovative problem-solvers and compassionate people who care about their neighbors – we have the ability and the drive to solve this problem. Today, service providers, businesses, philanthropists, academics, and voices from every corner of King County stand together to say: We Are In, and we are ready to act.”

“Along with the dedicated service providers and nonprofits that work to address homelessness every day, our friends and neighbors want to see the progress that is being made right now, and show their support for the progress that we know we can make together. Our region is innovative and creative in so many ways—that is the spirit of We Are In and we are proud to support it,” said David Bley, Director of the Pacific Northwest Initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Homelessness in King County affects everyone but some communities are impacted more than others. African Americans make up 6% of King County’s general population but 32% of people experiencing homelessness. Ten percent of people experiencing homelessness identified as Native or of Indigenous descent, despite being less than 1% of the population.

“We all agree that housing is a human right, but the fact is, not all have been extended that right in our community,” said Colleen Echohawk, Executive Director of Chief Seattle Club. “By following the lead of those most impacted by this issue, we can champion solutions that respond to all needs and address persisting racial inequities in our communities.”

We Are In recognizes that homelessness is a regional issue that impacts every city and community across King County and requires all of us to work together on a solution. The campaign will engage the public in support of a collaborative, innovative, and coordinated approach to ending homelessness and center conversations around those disproportionately impacted, from people of color to young adults to veterans.

The current list of organizations who have signed on to the We Are In campaign are:

• United Way of King County
• Chief Seattle Club
• A Way Home Washington
• Housing Development Consortium
• Plymouth Housing
• Statewide Poverty Action Network
• Wellspring Family Services
• LifeWire
• Downtown Emergency Service Center
• The Mockingbird Society
• RISE Together
• Capitol Hill Housing
• Seattle University Project on Family Homelessness
• Ballard Food Bank
• YMCA of Greater Seattle
• Building Changes
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Ballmer Group
• Campion Advocacy Fund
• Raikes Foundation
• Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
• Vulcan

To learn more about We Are In, visit WeAreIn.org, where you can access the full list of our partners, a video featuring a few key voices, and more information on the issue and how to get involved.