Mitigating homeless encampments through coordinated, wraparound stabilization services in high-impact areas of seattle/king county, WA - colead mitigates identified homeless encampments by providing…

Mitigating homeless encampments through coordinated, wraparound stabilization services in high-impact areas of seattle/king county, WA - colead mitigates identified homeless encampments by providing outreach, needs assessment, shelter matching individual needs, wraparound stabilization services and coordinated care, short-term shelter, and transition to permanent housing for unhoused people in high-impact areas of seattle/king county, WA. Operating at the intersection of health, safety, and equity, colead represents an effective strategy to address crime and public disorder associated with people who have complex behavioral health conditions, are unhoused, and have disproportionately high rates of contact with law enforcement and the criminal legal system. Colead serves individuals 18 years and older who commit, or are at high risk of committing, law violations related to unmet behavioral health needs and/or impoverishment. They are people whose behavioral health issues have typically been met with arrest and prosecution; who are commonly estranged from systems of care; and who require field-based engagement and RE-imagination of access points. In addition to their disproportionately high rates of contact with the criminal legal system, participants often lack safe and stable housing, legal income, public benefits, and access to health care. According to a 2023 study, 62 percent of participants reported both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder. More than 94% of people surveyed reported that they had been homeless for more than a year, while 57% indicated that they had been living unsheltered for five or more years. In the one-year funded period, colead will conduct rapid assessments for at least 200 people with complex conditions living unsheltered in the identified areas of focus; provide harm reduction and overdose prevention supplies and instruction for at least 200 people; provide intensive case management supports for at least 200 people; enroll or renew enrollment at least 100 people in medicaid and/or medicare; and place at least 50 people in permanent supportive housing. By combining evidence-based wraparound case management, multi-agency coordination, and short-term, non-congregate, supportive shelter, colead reduces barriers to services and care for people who otherwise cannot access existing resources; reduces reliance on police and the criminal legal system to address problems of public disorder; and serves as an alternative or supplement to 911 as a primary response to requests for service related to unmet behavioral health needs.