As the backbone of Partnership for Zero implementation, the Housing Command Center has been activated in Seattle/King County. The HCC is a centralized emergency operations management system that coordinates and streamlines the actions required to house people. Currently, the HCC is focused on permanently housing people living unsheltered in Downtown Seattle. 

A command center takes best practices learned from years of emergency response to disasters like floods, fires and other major displacements, and applies them to homelessness response. To set up a command center utilizing these practices, KCRHA is receiving technical assistance from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

The HCC leadership team includes representatives of the Lived Experience Coalition, the City of Seattle, King County, the KCRHA, and We Are In. The HCC also includes System Advocates, a Housing Acquisition Team, a Data Management Team, and more.

The second phase of Partnership for Zero will focus on the development of a “By-Name List,” a comprehensive list of all the people experiencing homelessness in a designated area and their specific needs. A By-Name List is more than just a list of names — it includes granular, real time information about who is experiencing unsheltered homelessness and what they need to move to stability. This tool relies on relationships built by outreach workers and enables effective case planning and service matching.

KCRHA’s By-Name data capacity is being developed with in-kind support from Microsoft. The tool is meant to replace duplicative, burdensome, and traumatizing intake sheets with secure records of clear, relevant, up-to-date information, similar to a medical history like a primary care “My Chart.”

A majority of the shelter and housing placements will take place during the third phase of Partnership for Zero with the help of Systems Advocates, who provide individualized, trusted support to people experiencing homelessness as they move from homeless to housed. Systems Advocates have lived experience of homelessness and an understanding of how the system works and how to access resources. Navigating multiple social service systems can be challenging. It is not enough to have resources available — we must actively work to ensure that folks are getting the resources they need.

With funding from We Are In’s business and private partners, KCRHA has hired more than two dozen Systems Advocates who are out in the field providing the longitudinal support needed to get people to stable outcomes.

Here is a hypothetical example of the support that System Advocates provide: A 52 year-old man is experiencing homelessness in Downtown Seattle. He’s diabetic, has a dog, is currently employed, and lives out of his car. Because he moves from location to location, he might be harder to find from week to week. Because he has a dog, he doesn’t want to go to a shelter that won’t allow him to keep his pet. Because he has diabetes, he should have access to regular medical care that can prevent more serious health problems. A Systems Advocate would get to know him by name, build a relationship to better understand his needs, and be able to reach him if he has to move his car. The peer navigator would understand that he has limited ability to meet or access services during the work day, and would also know that he needs a place that will let him keep his dog. When an appropriate housing opportunity arises, the Systems Advocate would be able to connect him with that opportunity immediately and would stay in touch after placement to act as a coach and ally who can support him in accessing services.

For each of Partnership for Zero’s geographic targets — the first being Downtown Seattle — the model will include five phases. In Downtown, we expect to reach phase five in what could be as fast as 12 months, though we expect some variance in timeline due to command center development and project staffing, client needs, and the availability of appropriate resources. We are not setting a strict timeline and instead committing to doing whatever is necessary to implement this program successfully — we want to do this once, do it well, and make sure it’s sustainable. Partners expect that there will be learning and adjustment over the course of the project and will operate with full transparency to keep the community updated.

The Partnership for Zero model enables us to break down silos, consolidate our approach, and work together to provide shelter and housing for everyone in need. The City and County retain responsibility for housing, zoning and development, so KCRHA will work with them to assess what resources are needed to successfully place people experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the path to stable, permanent housing. We will identify the gaps between available resources and population needs and expand our infrastructure and capacity accordingly. We will then be able to provide folks experiencing homelessness with available shelter or permanent housing that matches their needs and then maintain the infrastructure necessary to quickly respond to new incidences of homelessness.

Yes. There will be an additional community in King County, outside of Seattle, announced in the coming months. KCRHA and its partners will work with the initial Partnership for Zero communities to adjust and improve the model, learning lessons so that we can bring it to other communities in King County.