Homelessness authority's uncertain future
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
With the high-profile resignation of its leader last year and the announcement this month of the loss of $11.7 million in annual funding from Seattle, the fate of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is up in the air.
Why it matters: The agency was created in 2019 as a multimillion-dollar experiment that sought to craft a unique approach to addressing regional homelessness — a long-standing issue in numerous West Coast cities.
- Its mission includes consulting and hiring formerly homeless people who have "insights into how the system works (or doesn't work) that are based in real life."
Yes, but: Increasing costs, unstable leadership and murky results has some leaders expressing disappointment with the agency and others calling for its elimination.
Catch up quick: Formed with an initial budget of about $170 million, the authority was heralded as an "evidence-based, accountable and equitable" agency that, according to County Executive Dow Constantine, would "repair the fractured system of governance that currently exists."
- But a series of high-profile incidents seemed to erode public confidence.
- Former CEO Marc Dones stepped down suddenly last year amid rancor over a budget request of $25 billion over five years, calls for an audit and reports that the authority had not been paying bills on time.
- The authority abandoned its highly touted Partnership for Zero — to eliminate visible homelessness — after securing housing for 230 people from the estimated 53,000 unhoused people in King County.
An audit by the Office of the Washington State Auditor, released last year, found the agency did not have effective internal controls in place to ensure accurate and reliable financial reporting.
In a Feb. 16 letter to the authority, Seattle's human services director said the city would be taking back $4.2 million annually in funding starting this year and an additional $7.5 million annually starting in 2025.
- City spokesperson Lori Baxter told Axios that Seattle will continue to fund many services through the authority and that the mayor remains committed to building a "strong regional approach to addressing homelessness."
The authority did not respond to requests for comment from Axios but King County spokesperson Chase Gallagher told Axios the authority is moving forward with recruitment for a new CEO (with an advertised salary of $250,000 to $300,000) and "taking on other governance improvements."