All Home Weekly News

all home

weekly news


September 21, 2016

contents

The Intersection between Race and Homelessness

vimeo

A powerful new video underscores what many persons with felony convictions in Washington state are never told: Once out of custody and no longer under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections, he or she can register to vote. The 4-minute video – with clips from persons with felony convictions who said they went years thinking they had permanently lost the right to vote – was released by the 2016 graduates of the Washington Leadership Institute (WLI), a program that recruits, trains, and develops minority and traditionally underrepresented attorneys for future leadership positions in the legal community.

As a result of strategic reforms across the criminal justice spectrum, combined with steadily declining crime rates since the mid-1990s, prison populations have begun to stabilize and even decline slightly after decades of unprecedented growth. Still, America maintains its distinction as the world leader in its use of incarceration, including more than 1.3 million people held in state prisons around the country. Mass incarceration has had and continues to have a vastly negative impact on our country and particularly in communities of color. According to The Sentencing Project, African Americans are incarcerated at 5 times the rate of whites and Latinos are incarcerated at 1.4 times the rate of whites.

In The New Yorker piece by Adam Gopnik, The Caging of America” he states, “Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today — perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850.”

As many as 100 million U.S. adults – or nearly one-third of the population – have a criminal record of some sort. When individuals are released from prisons and jails, their ability to access safe, secure and affordable housing is critical to their successful reentry to society. Yet many formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as individuals who were convicted but not incarcerated, encounter significant barriers to securing housing, including public and other federally-subsidized housing because of their criminal history. Because African Americans and Hispanics are arrested, convicted and incarcerated at rates disproportionate to their share of the general population, criminal records-based barriers to housing are likely to have a disproportionate impact on people of color. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued guidance earlier this year concerning how the Fair Housing Act applies to the use of criminal history by providers or operators of housing and real-estate related transactions.

Truly meaningful reforms to our homeless service delivery system cannot be accomplished without acknowledgement of racial and ethnic disparities in our system, and focused attention on reduction of those disparities.

King County Council Unanimously Approves Implementation Plan for Best Starts for Kids

King County Executive Dow Constantine’s plan to implement Best Starts for Kids was unanimously approved by the Metropolitan King County Council, a key milestone for the child and youth initiative considered the most comprehensive of its kind in the nation.

The approved plan will guide how the county invests nearly $400 million over the next six years to increase the number of children who are born healthy and reach adulthood ready to succeed. Half of the revenue generated by the voter-approved levy will invest in strategies that focus on birth through age 5, when 92 percent of brain growth occurs.

The Children and Youth Advisory Board – which includes researchers, educators, community leaders, content experts and nonprofit organizations representing the geographic and cultural diversity of King County – will help guide the implementation and monitor progress.

“With the passing of BSK comes a huge victory for children and youth in King County. This innovative effort is the result of unprecedented support by King County residents and the King County Council,” said Abigail Echo-Hawk, Co-Chair for the Children and Youth Advisory Board. “The Children and Youth Advisory Board is dedicated to ensuring BSK has a strong focus on equity and social justice for all.”

While other initiatives provide needed services to people in crisis, Best Starts for Kids will promote positive development and strengthen families and communities, in addition to preventing negative outcomes such as homelessness, domestic violence and mental illness.

The implementation plan was informed by input King County collected during 10 regional community conversations, such as strong support for focusing on racial equity and programming that can simultaneously improve outcomes across generations within a family. Programs funded by Best Starts for Kids will roll out in phases with an emphasis on innovation and adapting proven programs to fit local community needs. A robust evaluation framework will provide data to course correct along the way.

HUD Releases Fair Housing Act Guidance

Marking the 22nd anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), HUD issued guidance on local “nuisance ordinances” and “crime-free housing” which often have discriminatory impacts on protected classes in housing, particularly for survivors of domestic violence. Nuisance ordinances require housing providers to address “nuisance” conduct in housing under the threat of potential penalties. Nuisance behavior is often broadly defined and may include frequent calls for emergency services. The enforcement of these ordinances often results in evictions, even for victims of crime and survivors of domestic violence.

The guidance informs state and local governments, as well as providers of private and public housing of how HUD will assess ordinances, policies and practices alleged to have a discriminatory impact. The guidance provides an overview of:

  • Examples of nuisance and crime-free housing ordinances
  • The potential discriminatory impact, whether intentional or unintentional, on protected classes
  • The assessment and enforcement of claims of discrimination occurring as a result of these ordinances

All Home encourages all local jurisdictions and housing providers to reassess their policies and practices, including neighborhood agreements, to ensure they do not inadvertently have a disparate impact on protected classes. If you have questions, please contact your local or state offices of Civil Rights.

HUD Issues “Gender Identity Rule”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a final rule to ensure that all individuals have equal access to many of the Department’s core shelter programs in accordance with their gender identity. Following what had previously been encouraged practice by HUD, providers that operate single-sex projects using funds awarded through the Department’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) will now be required to provide all individuals, including transgender individuals and other individuals who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, with access to programs, benefits, services, and accommodations in accordance with their gender identity without being subjected to intrusive questioning or being asked to provide documentation.

HUD’s new rule will require a recipient, sub recipient, or provider to establish, amend, or maintain program admissions, occupancy, and operating policies and procedures (including policies and procedures to protect individuals’ privacy and security), so that equal access is provided to individuals based on their gender identity. This requirement includes tenant selection and admission preferences.

HUD understands that in many communities this will require staff training and changes to program design, and has published a suite of technical assistance materials on the LGBT Homelessness Page on the HUD Exchange to help providers adopt these best practices and determine whether they have done so successfully. In the meantime, if you need assistance, please submit a question to the Ask A Question portal to request policy clarification or guidance. You can also find additional information on requirements related to Equal Access to housing that are already in place and resources for implementing those requirements on the HUD Exchange Equal Access to Housing Final Rule page

King County Landlord Liaison Project RFP

The King County Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) is seeking proposals for a single entity to engage, recruit and establish partnerships with landlords and property management companies countywide to improve access to rental housing. Approximately $465,000 annually is available for staffing and other project costs to support this effort funded jointly by King County, United Way King County and the City of Seattle. The selected entity will employ expert staff to engage landlords large and small, negotiate reduced screening criteria, provide as needed education and assistance to landlords, and maintain a database of property partners. The initial two-year contract will begin January 1, 2017, with contract continuation contingent upon fund availability and performance. To review or download a copy of this RFP, visit: https://procurement.kingcounty.gov/procurement_ovr/default.aspx.

Housing and Stability Services for Low Income People with HIV/AIDS

A Request for Applications (RFA) was released jointly by the Seattle Human Services Department for Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS funding and Public Health – Seattle & King County for Ryan White Part A program funds. As our region faces an ever increasing number of persons experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, we realize that we should be providing complementary rather than competing services and introducing collaboration throughout the entire housing continuum. This is the first RFA to include both funding sources. It is our expectation that the combined funding will support the direct connection between homelessness prevention and housing stability and access to and retention in medical care and viral suppression. The Pre-Submittal Conference is scheduled for Thursday, September 22 from 10:00 AM-Noon at the 2100 Building (2100 24th Avenue South, Seattle). 

Training Opportunities

 1. The City of Seattle is offering Trauma-Informed Youth Work and Suicide Prevention trainings to strengthen and expand trauma-informed education for professionals and adults who work with youth in order to help prevent and respond to youth violence and suicide. Both trainings are available in either 3-hour or 6-hour formats and can be tailored to fit you and your organization’s needs. The City of Seattle covers the cost of the trainer and supplies – free for participants. Participating organizations provide training space and encourage staff and partners to participate.

Trauma-Informed Youth Work: Designed for youth workers, teachers, counselors, nurses and community members to learn more about how trauma impacts youth behavior and how they can respond. This training provides resources and tools to develop a trauma-informed approach that honors the innate intelligence of young people's responses to trauma and oppression, and help adults respond to youth in ways that build resilience, trust and empowerment.

Suicide Prevention: Designed to educate individuals, parents, youth workers and health-care providers about how trauma and suicide intersect across race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, age, etc. We will address how trauma and suicide are related, discuss possible indicators that affect youth, and provide tools and resources on how to develop resiliency building skills with youth.

To request a training and start the scheduling process, please click hereIf you have any questions, please contact Jen Mills at (206) 684-5296 or email Jennifer.Mills@seattle.gov

2. Please join a community effort on October 12 for a cross-training on resources for households experiencing homelessness. Presenters from the King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) and WA State Department Social and Health Services (DSHS) will provide information regarding two over-arching questions: for a mental health provider, If my client/their household is experiencing homelessness, how do they find housing?, and for a housing provider, How does my client access crisis, clinic, or inpatient mental health services? The training will include time for regionally-based community conversations that allows housing and mental health providers to learn more about the resources available in their area. Please RSVP.

Streetwise Revisited

Using the art of the late photographer Mary Ellen Mark and filmmaker Martin Bell, The Seattle Public Library invites the broader Seattle community to be part of an important conversation about our city’s youth and family homelessness crisis, using one family’s journey and the work of these two documentarians. You can visit the exhibit "Tiny: Streetwise Revisited," in the Level 8 Gallery at Central Library. The exhibit is free and tickets are not required. Learn more about the exhibit and see all Streetwise Revisited events.