Families with children now make up about half of the people in our country who are homeless. Data also shows that homeless families are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population. This national trend mirrors the reality of thousands of families in communities across Washington state.
Despite much progress and support, there is good reason to believe the problem is growing. The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction identified nearly 22,000 homeless children attending public schools in Washington state this year, an increase of 8,000 in just four years. The impact on children is significant: Children who experience homelessness are often exposed to trauma that affects their health and ability to succeed in school and in life.
“Today’s homeless children often become tomorrow’s homeless parents with children. We must do all we can to stop the cycle of family homelessness,” said David Bley, director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Pacific Northwest Initiative.
A New Model
In 2004, to meet the needs of these families, the Washington State Legislature established the Washington Families Fund, a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership devoted to long-term funding for service-enriched affordable housing for families throughout the state. In just five years, the Fund has awarded $16 million to 43 programs statewide—creating 618 units of service-enriched housing and supporting more than 1,000 families.
Families such as Natalie Jimenez, who, three years ago, became pregnant with her second son and couldn’t find a job or a place to call home. Through support from Hopelink, a Washington Families Fund grantee, Natalie now has a job a Swedish Hospital, and has a permanent home for her family. Natalie is now working to become a surgeon so she can put her two sons through college.
New Approach
In 2009, the Fund announced a bold, new approach to reduce family homelessness throughout the state by 50 percent over the next decade. Through this new work, the state and partners from King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties; the cities of Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma; six housing authorities; and several philanthropic and corporate organizations have agreed to align existing funding streams to provide more efficient and effective support services for homeless families, and those on the brink of becoming homeless.
Each county has a comprehensive plan to test innovative strategies for solving their community’s unique needs. These plans focus on five proven principles: prevention efforts, coordinated entry, rapid re-housing, tailored services, and workforce development.
Building Changes, who has administered the Washington Families Fund since its inception, will manage these activities, and will work with providers and public-sector partners to put these innovative new strategies into action and help reinvent our region’s approach to combating family homelessness.
“We have a unique opportunity to reduce, and one day end, family homelessness through stronger prevention efforts and helping families increase their incomes and stability,” states Betsy Lieberman, executive director of Building Changes.
Lessons learned from each plan will eventually be applied statewide to ensure that no more Washington children are without a safe place to sleep at night. As a lead investor in the initiative, the Gates Foundation has committed up to $60 million over 10 years for this initiative.