SPOKANE, Wash. – The City of Spokane is ramping up its efforts to address homelessness with the launch of a new coordinated street outreach model and a transition of the navigation center to day use starting the first week of October.
This initiative, part of the H.O.M.E. Starts Here Initiative, will introduce a geographically assigned approach to street outreach, the city said in a release.
Teams will focus on traditional outreach, coordination with the city’s Encampment Resolution Program and collaboration with the Spokane Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team.
“We hear too often from the public that they do not know which number to call when they see an unhoused individual clearly in need of assistance, but who may not be dealing with a life-threatening emergency,” Mayor Lisa Brown said.
Under this model, the city said outreach teams will be stationed in all four of Spokane Police Department’s precincts, including downtown. Community members can call 311 or file an online report to dispatch outreach teams for non-life-threatening situations.
“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.”
Starting the first week of October, the navigation center, located in the Cannon Street Shelter, will also transition to a day-use resource hub, serving 80 people at a time, the city added.
The center provides temporary housing and comprehensive support services, focusing on mental health care, addiction treatment and housing placement through individualized case management.
