SPOKANE, Wash. — The City of Spokane is launching two new outreach efforts to strengthen its homeless response.
During the first week of October, the city will launch a new coordinated street outreach model and transition the navigation center into a day-use resource hub.
The city says this new street outreach model will address four primary bodies of work: traditional street outreach, coordination with the encampment resolution program, coordination with the Spokane Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team and community and officer-initiated calls.
Outreach teams will be located in all four of SPD’s precincts. Members of the public who see people experiencing homelessness in need of help will be able to call 311 or file an online report to have an outreach team dispatched to help. Officers will also be able to dispatch the outreach teams to those in need.
“It is my hope that these changes to our engagement and enforcement response will improve coordination between SPD and the outreach teams that connect unhoused individuals with the services they need,” Police Chief Kevin Hall said. “Enforcement places a critical role in our homelessness response, but it must be paired with the outreach, mental health care, and treatment that we know is what moves the needle.”
The navigation center located in the Cannon Street Shelter will also serve as a place for people experiencing homelessness to access wraparound services during the day. The city says this will increase its ability to meet the daily needs of people on the street in need of services and housing. Under the new day-use model, the center will be able to serve around 80 people at a time
“One of the biggest gaps in our system has been the lack of safe, supportive places for people to go during the day. By transitioning the navigation center to day use, we are filling that gap and creating a place where people can access services, connect with case managers, and take steps toward stability,” Housing and Human Services Director Dawn Kinder said.
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