The King County Regional Homelessness Authority requested HUD’s help setting up a command center. The goal, according to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, is to set up a “incident response system” plan for homelessness, treating it like an emergent crisis rather than a perpetual, unchanging problem.
Homeless Camps are beginning to wreak havoc on the city. Contractors with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development convened at the city’s Emergency Operations Center last week to begin setting up a formal “housing command center” for addressing homelessness in downtown Seattle.
HUD funds housing through housing vouchers and other programs. The national organization has been meeting quietly with officials from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, King County’s Department of Community and Human Services, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office, and officials from the city’s Human Services Department over the past two weeks.
Economics is a major issue that some may hope this could help However, the command center doesn’t come with additional funds for housing. Still, those familiar with the effort expressed hope that it could open the door to additional HUD funds in the future. In 2020, a McKinsey report estimated that it would cost as much as $1 billion a year to fully address homelessness in King County—more than eight times the KCRHA’s current annual budget.
Mayor Bruce Harrell has indicated that he has little interest in contributing tens of millions more to the KCRHA’s budget, as the authority has requested. Still more economics.
The Office of Emergency Management won’t be directly participating in the command center’s operations, but they will provide meeting space and a press room for regular briefings. Because the EOC’s operations are sensitive, the question of access has been the subject of some internal debate.
The building where the KCRHA is located, a former jail that also houses the county’s sobering center, and the Seattle Municipal Tower across the street from City Hall, were both reportedly considered but rejected in favor of the high-tech, visually appealing emergency hub.
