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Seattle Human Services news and events

HSD Announces Availability of Funding to Increase Licensed Capacity in Preschool and Child Care Facilities Across the City of Seattle

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Photo of Back to School Corner with books and tables in an empty child care facility
Photo by Pavel Verbovski

The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce the availability of up to $5,000,000 of Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery (CLFR) Funds and up to $1,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to increase licensed capacity in preschool and child care facilities across the City of Seattle. Providers interested in applying for this RFP must have experience in:

  • providing developmentally and culturally appropriate early learning programming;
  • working with Seattle children and families most disproportionately impacted by the effects of COVID-19; and
  • working with Seattle children 0 – 5 years old.

The American Rescue Plan Act states that “the pandemic and the necessary actions taken to control the spread had a severe impact on households and small businesses, in particular low-income workers and communities and people of color.” As a result, CLFR funds should provide “assistance to those households, businesses, and non-profits in communities most disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.”

At the national level, mothers of children aged 12 years and younger lost jobs at a rate three times greater than fathers of young children between February and August 2020. Throughout the pandemic, women, particularly women of color, have experienced higher levels of unemployment, threatening to undo decades of progress towards gender equity. Early learning programs are vital to an equitable COVID-19 recovery. Seattle Ordinance 126371 allocated CLFR funding to be invested specifically toward child care capital improvements.

In working with community to identify the challenges of participating in the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP), the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) received feedback from partners citing the following as ongoing challenges for sustainability: (1) the lack of available and licensable space as a barrier to SPP program expansion, and (2) organizational capacity related to board development, fundraising plans, human resources, and financial management.

HSD is supporting the expansion of early learning facilities and environments by investing in the capacity of licensed early learning programs across Seattle:

  1. Nonprofit, center-based providers and preschools are eligible to apply for $25,000 (min) to $2,000,000 (max)
  2. Nonprofit, home-based agencies are eligible to apply for $10,000 (min) to $75,000 (max)

For more information, and all RFP materials, please visit HSD’s Funding Opportunities web page: http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/funding-and-reports/funding-opportunities. Completed application packets are due by 12:00 Noon PDT, on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

Questions?

Please contact Ken Astrein, Funding Process Coordinator, via email with any questions about this RFP or to request an accommodation for the information session: childcarefacilities@seattle.gov

HSD Seeks Consultant to Conduct Comparable Worth Wage Analysis of Human Services Work in Seattle and King County

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**Updated May 11, 2022

The City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD), in partnership with the Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC) is seeking applications from individuals, teams, and organizations interested in conducting a comparable worth wage analysis of the City of Seattle and King County human services sector.

Governments at all levels rely on the skills and expertise of nonprofit organizations to support well-being in communities so that individuals can reach their potential at every stage of life. Recruiting and retaining effective, experienced human services workers is essential for meeting the goals shared by funders and human service providers. These goals include supporting people to build well-being in communities across Martin Luther King County. Significant pay gaps create hurdles for recruitment and retention of human services workers.

Human service providers and elected officials agree that human services workers are significantly underpaid for the difficult work they do, which puts the whole sector in a precarious position. The people who take care of our children, provide healthcare in community-based clinics, help people without homes connect with resources, engage our elders, support our youth, and care for people with disabilities are often paid at such low levels that they qualify for public support programs themselves. A 2017 report on nonprofits in New York State revealed that pay was so low that 60 percent of those working in the sector were utilizing or had a family member utilizing some form of public assistance benefit such as Medicaid or food stamps. Their pay does not reflect the education required, difficulty, or value of their work to build economic, emotional, physical, developmental, and social well-being for all community members.

Substantial literature on job gendering in economics and sociology indicate that one of the reasons such work may be undervalued is the extent to which care work and the field of human services is associated with feminized labor. Because this work has historically been accomplished by women and people of color, gender and racial discrimination may have had an ongoing impact on human services sector pay.

One policy strategy to address this issue is basing salaries on a comparable worth analysis. This type of analysis looks at wages and benefits paid in jobs and industries that require equivalent levels of skill, education, responsibility, and difficulty as those found in the nonprofit sector. This can provide an opportunity to correct low wages found in the nonprofit sector by providing an alternative to continuing to align wages with a market rate that has been historically suppressed by gendered and race-based discrimination.

Approximately $496,000 in HSD General Fund is available through this RFQ from City Council add CBA HSD-002-B-001. HSD intends to fund one proposal. The award will be made for the period of August 1, 2022–September 30, 2023 July 15, 2022–June 30, 2023. The final report will be due no later than January 31, 2023 October 31, 2022.

All materials and updates to the RFQ are available on HSD’s Funding Opportunities web page: http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/funding-and-reports/funding-opportunities. Completed applications are due by 12:00 Noon PDT, on May 31 May 24, 2022.

Questions?

Please contact the Funding Process Coordinator Ann-Margaret Webb via email with any questions about this RFQ at ann-margaret.webb@seattle.gov.

HSD Announces Funding Opportunity to Provide Behavioral Health Support to Young People

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Positive young black guy laughing near graffiti wall with rainbow flag
[Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels]

The Youth and Family Empowerment (YFE) Division of the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is seeking applications from organizations to provide behavioral health support to young people. Eligible services through this Request for Proposals (RFP) include non-residential behavioral health support through clinical treatment and/or non-clinical, culturally specific approaches. Organizations must have documented experience:

  • engaging Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) youth and/or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ+) youth of color;
  • providing culturally appropriate behavioral health services; and
  • engaging with Seattle’s young people between 8 and 24 years old.

This RFP is investing $938,841 from HSD General Fund. Initial funding will be for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2023. Contract renewal for an additional three years will depend on agency performance and funding availability.

Depending on the number of applications received, HSD intends to fund six to eight proposals. Each applicant is limited to one proposal. For collaborative programs, only the agency identified as the lead should apply. If an agency is also partnering in another application, the services provided, and budget requested should be clearly defined and not duplicative.

This is an open and competitive process. For more information, and all RFP materials, please visit HSD’s Funding Opportunities web page: http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/funding-and-reports/funding-opportunities. Completed application packets are due by 12:00 Noon PDT, on Monday, May 16, 2022.

Questions?

Please contact Tan Mei Teo, Funding Process Coordinator, via email with any questions about this RFP: tan-mei.teo@seattle.gov

HSD Announces Farm to Table Support Services Funding Opportunity

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A young boy lifts a prepackaged bag of produce off a table full of bags
Preschool student picks up his family’s Good Food Bag. Photo provided by Tilth Alliance

*Updated April 19, 2022

The Youth and Family Empowerment (YFE) Division of the City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is seeking applications from organizations and farmers interested in food equity for Seattle Preschool Programs serving low-income children and families. This Farm to Table Support Services RFP invests in healthy, local, sustainable, culturally relevant food access and education in approximately 50 Seattle Preschool Programs located across the City of Seattle serving 2,000 children ages 3-5 years old. This RFP investment has two program components:

Component 1- Nutrition Education: Increase education on healthy, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods for children, families, and staff in Seattle Preschool Programs:

  • Increase nutrition awareness
  • Reduce health disparities among preschool children and their families
  • Increase connections and relationships between farmers, children, and families
  • Increase education about water consumption

Component 2- Farm to Family Food Bags: Increase access and consumption of fresh and local produce to Seattle Preschool Program children, families, and staff by providing take-home Farm to Family Food Bags including:

  • Food that is culturally relevant
  • Food sourced from Washington State farmers
  • Food sourced from farms owned and operated by Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers and business owners, immigrants and refugees, and women

Applicants may apply for one or both program component(s). All funded organizations in both program components will be required to participate in a community-based program evaluation designed by program participants and facilitated by a community-based evaluator.

Three images, left to right, showing animals on a farm, boxes of fruit stacked up on a table, and a hand holding a single carton of fresh, green beans
Photo provided by Farmstand Local Foods

This RFP is investing approximately $839,815 from the following sources: $766,158 in Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax (SBT) funding and $73,657 in City of Seattle General Fund. Initial funding will be for the period of January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. 

While it is the City’s intention to renew agreements resulting from this funding opportunity on an annual basis through the 2026 program year, future funding will be contingent upon performance and funding availability. HSD seeks to contract with a diverse group of providers to help ensure that the result of HSD’s Farm to Table Support Services investment is that all people living in Seattle can meet their basic needs.

This is an open and competitive process. For more information, and all RFP materials, please visit HSD’s Funding Opportunities web page: http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/funding-and-reports/funding-opportunities. Completed application packets are due by 4:00 p.m. PDT, on Thursday, May 5, 2022.

If you have any questions, or would like to receive a copy of the RFP in the mail or by email, please contact Pamela Maskara, Funding Process Coordinator, at pamela.maskara@seattle.gov.

HSD’s Economic Recovery Investment Spreads The Good

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Good Food Kitchens and local restaurants transform Seattle’s food economy.

The City of Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to share that we have partnered with Good Food Kitchens, a local food assistance and economic development program that is a part of the Seattle Good Business Network Good Food Economy initiative. As COVID-19 pandemic recovery continues, HSD’s investment in Good Food Kitchens and Seattle’s food pipeline supports community members facing food insecurity by building a more resilient, sustainable, and just local food economy.

Good Food Kitchens was created to address the needs of the entire local food system. It is not just a food assistance program – one that importantly ensures people in need receive fresh, nutritious, culturally relevant meals – but it is also an economic assistance program, an employment assistance program, and a local food system resilience program.

Mariah DeLeo, Good Food Economy Program Manager
A smiling Chef Kristi Brown poses for a photo at That Brown Girl Cooks!
Chef Kristi Brown at That Brown Girl Cooks!

The program, created in response to growing food insecurity and the economic impacts of COVID-19 throughout the food system, supports a diverse array of local restaurant and catering partners who are preparing free meals for community members in need. Good Food Kitchens programming takes a holistic approach to service that centers care and dignity for those receiving meals by funding restaurants and caterers who create nourishing and culturally relevant meals that feature locally sourced ingredients. The program simultaneously provides economic relief for restaurants and farmers hit hard by lost revenues and pandemic closures, leading to a more resilient and connected local economy.

Mariah DeLeo, Good Food Economy Program Manager, added, “2020 stay-at-home orders and ongoing COVID-19 related impacts have had a crushing economic effect on restaurants, farms, and our communities. Food insecurity more than doubled to up to 2.2 million individuals in WA state. Good Food Kitchens is a community-led program, inspired by the work of Seattle Community Kitchen Collective and other restaurants and food businesses who stepped up to provide for their communities at a time of increased need. Many have been doing this with the help of donations or otherwise at their own expense for nearly two years now, and we’re so happy to be able to support their efforts financially so that they can continue this vital work.”

The pandemic especially harmed communities of color, and Good Food Kitchens prioritizes partnerships with BIPOC-owned restaurants and catering partners, with 97% of restaurant partners and 81% of local farms being BIPOC-owned. Good Food Kitchens partners include 29 restaurants and caterers, who source in part from 10 local farms, and support 21 different community organizations. Their programming is best demonstrated in this video they posted on their website, which shows the community resilience created between Musang, Oxbow Farm, and SE Seattle Senior Center in Rainier Beach.

Chef Melissa Miranda at Musang fills containers ready for meal delivery
Chef Melissa Miranda at Musang

Good Food Kitchens primarily funds existing community kitchens with established community meal-provider partnerships or those who provide direct distribution to individuals in need. The program also provides matchmaking resources to community organizations and local producers as needed. This program helps keep restaurant doors open and workers employed safely, while supporting local farms and producers, and building long-term local supply chain relationships. “While the economy reopens, many restaurants are still holding on to accrued debts and unstable dining traffic as the pandemic risks continue to fluctuate, impacts of which reverberate throughout the supply chain,” DeLeo said.

Funding for Good Food Kitchens comes from individual donations as well as public and private funding. HSD’s support comes through the Seattle Rescue Plan, which invests federal Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief (CLFR) funds in programs and initiatives that strengthen the city’s recovery.

Good Food Kitchen Partners (link to PDF of list):

Restaurant/Caterers:
• That Brown Girl Cooks!
• Musang
• Mojito
• Pancita
• Ayako & Family
• Frank’s Oyster House
• Feed the People
• Project Feast
• Taku
• Salare
• SCIDpda (Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority)
o Gourmet Noodle Bowl
o Ho Ho Seafood Restaurant
o Ton Kiang Barbeque Noodle House
o Dim Sum King
o A Plus Hong Kong Kitchen
o Gan Bei
o Henry’s Taiwan
• Neighborly Needs (a program of Wasat)
o Musang
o Mugi’s kitchen
o Masakan
o Phresh Eats
o Andrew Hype
• FIN (a program of Global to Local)
o Jazze Afghani Fusion
o Taste of Congo
o Afella Jollof Catering
o WUHA
o Wengay’s Kitchen
o Monique’s Hot Kitchen
o Moyo Kitchen
o Theary Cambodian Foods

Meal Recipients:
• Southeast Seattle Senior Center
• YouthCare
• Wa Na Wari
• South Park Community Center
• Seattle Housing Authority
• Food Intentions
• Real Change
• Cham Refugees Community Center
• Nickelsville
• Tiny House Village
• SCIDpda Residents
• FamilyWorks
• Catholic Community Services
• Partners In Employment
• SHAG residents
• International Rescue Committee
• SNAP Customers at Tukwila Village Farmers Market
• Communities in School – Kent
• UGM KentHope
• Iraqi Community Center of WA
• Direct delivery to community partner

Farms:
• 21 Acres
• Oxbow Farms
• Namuna Garden
• Lee’s Fresh Produce
• Friendly Hmong Farms
• Sariwa Farm
• Wakulima USA
• Black Farmers Collective / Yes Farm
• Nurturing Roots
• Clean Greens
• Black Star Farmers

Additional Facts and Information:

Chef Shota Nakajima at Taku managing multiple pans on the stove
Chef Shota Nakajima at Taku
  • Food insecurity reaches more people than ever before: Food insecurity more than doubled to up to 2.2 million individuals in WA state in 20201 and has remained elevated through today. In King County, food insecurity was experienced in 30% of households and of those, 57% had children. Of those surveyed, people of color were 1.5x more likely to be food insecure than their white counterparts, with South Seattle and South King County experiencing a higher prevalence of food insecurity than anywhere else in the county.2
  • Restaurants remain in crisis: As of December 2020, over 1,000 restaurants and bars in King County have closed permanently, 90% of those being independent businesses.3 As of 2022, the leisure and hospitality industry has accounted for 50.1% of all jobs lost in Washington since March 2020.4 This has particularly hit communities of color, as workers of color represent 46% of the employed restaurant workforce versus 30% of the employed population in Seattle as a whole5, including many undocumented workers who were unable to access most relief funding. A June 2020 report found that 41% of Black-owned businesses have ceased operations as of April 2020, compared to 17% of White-owned businesses.6
  • Local suppliers and farmers are suffering: Independent restaurants redistribute an average of 94% of all revenues back into the economy, 79% of that to local businesses, including farms and food producers.7 In a January 2021 survey, nearly half of all farms surveyed in WA state (48%) experienced revenue loss in 2020 compared to 2019, with the largest impacts related to closure of restaurants and other market closures.8
  1. Katie Rains, WSDA estimates 2.2 million food insecure individuals in WA, Nov 2020
  2. UW, WSU: Economic Security and Food Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic: King County, June to July 2020.
  3. WHA via Eater, Nearly 20 Percent of Seattle Restaurants Closed Permanently During First Six Months of Pandemic, December 2020.
  4. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington at a glance
  5. ROC United, The Great Service Divide, ROC Seattle (July 2020)
  6. National Bureau of Economic Research, The Impact Of Covid-19 On Small Business Owners: Evidence Of Early-Stage Losses From The April 2020 Current Population Survey, June 2020.
  7. Sonntag, Viki. Why Local Linkages Matter: Findings from the Local Food Economy Study. April 2008.
  8. UW, WSU, WSDA, WA Farm Brief 1 – COVID-19 Impacts & Adaptations Among Washington State Farm Businesses, March 2021.

Support Survivors of Violence

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Victim support advocate volunteers needed – Training will be provided

Smiling, young Black woman pictured with quote "I started volunteering because I wanted to know how to help survivors of domestic violence" with additional text about accepting applications for new volunteers through March 17, 2022.

The Human Services Department would like your help! HSD’s Safe and Thriving Communities Division is seeking help recruiting community volunteers to become trained support advocates to victims of domestic violence and other crimes. Victim Support Team (VST) volunteers offer support to survivors in a unique time of need, and their commitment and impact make this program a vital part of the City’s response to violence. 

About becoming a Victim Support Team volunteer:

  • VST Community Volunteers come from all backgrounds and walks of life.
  • No experience in social work or counseling is required.
  • Free onboarding, training, and mentorship will be provided as a part of the program.
  • The Victim Support Team provides short term advocacy, safety planning, and referrals to culturally relevant resources.
  • VST volunteers operate in-person on the weekends as a mobile crisis response team, and during the week offering remote phone advocacy.

Benefits of volunteering with VST:

  • Make an important impact providing compassionate and non-judgmental support to survivors.
  • Join a professional community of practice that includes experts in the field of victim advocacy.
  • Gain skills and knowledge in survivor advocacy and build community connections and relationships.

More information and application materials are available online, please visit VST Volunteer Opportunities – HumanServices | seattle.gov today:

  • Applications are open now, deadline to submit is March 17, 2022
  • Must be 21+ and pass an SPD background check

HSD Announces Funding Awards to Address Reentry Services and Rerooting Programming

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The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce the results of the Supportive Reentry RFP which closed November 5, 2021.

Last year, thanks to the recommendations of the Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force, $1,383,000 in City of Seattle General Fund was allocated to funding culturally appropriate reentry services and rerooting programming for BIPOC currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. The Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force is a diverse group of people of color and community leaders representing a cross-section of industries, including environmental justice, who came together to spearhead the process of developing recommendations for a $30 million investment into our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. Initial funding is for the period of December 15, 2021-December 31, 2022.

In response to this RFP, HSD received 26 proposals totaling $5,885,112 in requested funds from agencies. The 26 proposals were forwarded to the rating panel to be read and rated individually, and then as a group. This rating panel was comprised of community members and staff who were of, and/or work with, the focus and priority populations of this RFP. Raters held content expertise in community-led solutions to supportive reentry programs for BIPOC Communities in the City of Seattle, King County, and Washington State. Raters were age, gender, and ethnically diverse and represented multiple cultures and communities.

The top nine rated proposals were recommended for funding, although none of the agencies received the full amount requested. Read more below about a few of them:

  • Arms Around You
  • Boys & Girls Club of King County
  • Chief Seattle Club
  • Community Passageways
  • Creative Justice
  • East African Community Services
  • Freedom Project
  • Northwest Credible Messenger
  • University Beyond Bars

Arms Around You (AAY) is an organization that works “to increase public safety and reduce recidivism by helping the most vulnerable people become self-sufficient, productive, contributing members of their communities.” Their proposal’s strengths included the diverse range of men, women and young adults they serve, their by and for model, and their strong use of qualitative data. AAY offers services in education, therapy, substance abuse treatment, legal assistance, and job placement. They also offer six different social enterprise businesses where trainees can receive real job training that they can use immediately upon graduation from one of the programs.

“We’re excited to be chosen,” shared Avon Curtis, AAY’s Chief Executive Officer. “We applied for this funding because we wanted the opportunity to support the re-entry community in a more meaningful way,” and grassroots organizations like this often face challenges in getting funding. As a Black female-founded and led organization, 83% of AAY staff are Black women, and 100% are BIPOC women.

When a member of Chief Seattle Club’s Re-Entry Program is first released from prison, Jeremy Garretson is there with a “Day One” package. He takes them to get a fresh set of clothes, a cell phone, and a bus pass. Once the basics are settled, it’s time to make a plan. Garretson works with each member individually to determine personalized next steps for employment and either transitional or permanent housing.

The Club’s Reetry Program will serve 120 members annually and will connect individuals reentering communities to housing, mental health support, employment, and cultural support like healing through drumming and sweat lodges. Their Reentry Manager is Northern Arapaho and is himself, formerly incarcerated. He has “yellow badge” access to all prisons and visits at least two prisons a month to build relationships with AI/AN community members who are incarcerated.

The Freedom Project uses a three-pronged model centered on healing circles. The circles are facilitated using trauma informed approaches, including compassionate communication. All three components were built on requests from community members. The other two are: community-based support, focused on systems navigation, and housing support. The applicant also focused on eradicating anti-blackness.

Northwest Credible Messenger‘s proposal described a healing-centered, community/home-based, culturally-responsive, and customized approach. The organization has a strong emphasis on restorative justice principles and described several established community partnerships including University of Washington (which supports internships, data capacity and more) and the State of Washington. Their application described using cognitive therapy and getting to the root causes of issues, as well as focused on workforce readiness and engagement of positive adult models. Northwest Credible Messenger believes that “communities have the solutions they need.”

Avon Curtis agrees. “We advocate for individuals… but they have to do the footwork to get there. We want to be here to put our arms around you but you have to be responsible for yourself.”

When asked about the impact this type of funding from the City has, she shared that they are looking forward to getting a bigger office and that this investment is going to open up more doors for her organization. But the important thing is “it’s going to make the community safer because there are organizations like ours. Working together collectively. When you work together it makes a much stronger community.”

She also believes that having the City fund programs like this does more than just reduce recidivism. “We go inside to build the relationship with you. And when you leave we are still here. And that’s huge.” Because when you’re building a relationship with people who may have been failed by the system, you need to that earn that trust.

For more information about this RFP, please contact Natalie Thomson, RFP Coordinator, at Natalie.Thomson@seattle.gov.

Looking Back at 2021 as We Look Forward to 2022

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Our Mission to connect people with resources and solutions during times of need so we can all live, learn, work, and take part in strong, healthy communities continued to hold a greater sense of urgency in 2021. Over this past year, the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) continued to be one of the largest contributors to Seattle’s safety net, and our staff and community of human service providers continued to be a part of the front-line response to COVID-19. HSD also worked to advance our Mission by adapting programs and rising to challenges to ensure all of our communities have access to the opportunity to thrive. And we couldn’t do it without the partnership and efforts of friends and community members.

As we take on new bodies of work in 2022, we move forward committed to helping people grow up and grow old with opportunity and dignity and will work to support and empower diverse communities across Seattle. We are proud to share some of the highlights from 2021, and we are grateful for the help and hard work many of you provided us to realize these achievements.

COVID-19:

Round sticker design with text I got my COVID-19 Vaccine #BestShotSeattle
  1. Aging & Disability Services (ADS) helped 14,000 clients secure COVID-19 vaccine appointments and 1,350+ in-home vaccine screenings. Staff also assisted in standing up 120 vaccine clinics in SHA building and other community-based locations.
  2. Wellspring reported distributing 70 checks totaling an additional $81,200 in cash assistance from the Hospitality Worker Emergency Relief Fund. The cumulative dispersed amount for the Fund is 1,520 checks totaling $2,023,00 in cash assistance. The total amount dedicated to the Fund is $2,170,000.
  3. Seattle Relief Fund provided over $16 million in direct cash assistance for vulnerable low-income residents impacted by COVID-19.

Preparing Youth for Success:

Tilth Alliance staff and two SYEP interns standing out in a field
  1. Seattle Summer Food Service Program distributed 82,903 meals including lunches, breakfasts, and snacks at 39 sites throughout Seattle, including parks and Seattle Public Schools.
  2. Seattle Youth Employment Program (SYEP) supported 328 paid youth opportunities through its Earn and Learn program and employment internships, which ranged from environmental work to media production and much more.

Supporting Affordability and Livability:

Ad graphic with text including "We're here to help." seattle.gov/UDP
  1. HSD provided funding for 214,549 food bank visits (duplicated) and 1,457,972 meals through meal programs (at PSH, ES, and Community meals).
  2. 7,183 new Utility Discount Program (UDP) customers were enrolled.

Promoting Public Health:

  1. ADS staff helped lead the large-scale transition of the state’s “Get Care” Database which involved training and supporting 132 individuals and 32 agencies.
  2. The nationally recognized Mobile Integrated Health Program partnership continued to increase the service area for Health One and added a second Seattle Fire unit to respond to referrals, and announced the launch of a third unit in 2022.

Addressing Homelessness:

City employees assisting with Exhibition Hall shelter operations
  1. As the Homeless Strategy & Investment (HSI) division moved towards its year-end sunset the team held steady on its commitment to increase access to safer spaces and to keep COVID protections in place across shelters. In 2021, a net 380 new shelter beds were created by year-end, with 350 new 24/7 non-congregate shelter spaces in the last quarter. Currently the City funds approximately 2,800 total shelter spaces, a 700-shelter unit increase over levels at the end of 2020. Additionally, 92% of City-funded shelter spaces are now 24/7 enhanced with wraparound onsite services – this compares to 75% pre-pandemic (Q4 2019).
  2. The team has also been working to close out over 160 contracts that the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) will take on starting this month.
  3. And over the course of a nine-day severe weather shelter activation that ended January 3 in response to prolonged cold temperatures and snowy conditions, HSI staff, in partnership with service providers, the KCRHA, volunteers, and City departments, provided a total of 2,116 overnight stays across six emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness.

Promoting Healthy Aging:

  1. 2,351 people were reached via 22 Age Friendly Seattle virtual events in 2021 as the program continued to support learning and social connection through online programing including Civic Coffee Hours, Close to Home programs, an African American Elders’ Candidates Forum, Memory Sunday Brain Health & Dementia Awareness, and more.

Supporting Safe Communities:

Seattle Great Wheel lit up in purple at night
  1. Work continued in 2021 to stand up our new Safe and Thriving Communities (STC) Division. We hired STC’s first Division Director and acquired two SPD services: Crime Victim Advocates and Victim Support Team. And the Mayor’s Office on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (MODVSA) continued its work after moving into the division.
  2. STC staff conducted several funding processes to invest in community, including:
    • $500,000 in Regional Peacekeepers Collective
    • $600,000 to mitigate increasing gender-based violence during the pandemic

As we look ahead, please join us in celebrating these tremendous contributions and looking forward to what we will achieve together in 2022!

Seattle Mayor and City Council Proclaim January Human Trafficking Awareness Month, January 11 Human Trafficking Day

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City leaders encourage public awareness and action against human trafficking

SEATTLE – Mayor Bruce Harrell and Councilmember Lisa Herbold were joined by other City Councilmembers to declare the month of January as “Human Trafficking Awareness Month,” and today, January 11, 2022, to be “Human Trafficking Awareness Day” to proclaim the equality and freedom inherent to all people. The proclamation sets forward the City’s intent to advocate for legislation and protection for survivors, to educate leaders, and to encourage public awareness and action against various forms of human trafficking.

image of the top part of the City of Seattle proclamation document for Human Trafficking Awareness Month 2022

“Human trafficking is an unacceptable and criminal abuse of power. In this effort, the City is reiterating our pledge to protect and empower survivors of all forms of human trafficking, to pursue and charge traffickers, and to drive forward this important work until the scourge of human trafficking has ended—in Seattle, in the United States, and around the world,” said Mayor Harrell.

U.S. law defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor or services against their will. It also includes the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor, which is considered human trafficking regardless of the presence of force, fraud or coercion.

“People of color, young people, LGBTI people, and people vulnerable through socio-economic barriers, are disproportionately affected by trafficking,” said Councilmember Lisa Herbold, Public Safety and Human Services Committee Chair. “More than 400 trafficking survivors receive advocacy, counseling, and therapeutic services as a result of City investments. I’m grateful to the Domestic Violence Prevention Council and Human Services Department for bringing awareness of how trafficking contributes to the breakdown of families and community, fuels organized crime, and undermines public health,” Herbold added.

To learn more about local efforts to disrupt human trafficking and ways to get involved, visit the Seattle Human Services Department’s Mayor’s Office on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (MODVSA) website. MODVSA works in coordination with the Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking (WashACT) which is informed by survivors, activists, and representatives from our criminal justice response to help expand the conversation around human trafficking in the City of Seattle.  

More information and additional resources related to combatting human trafficking can be found on the following local and national websites: 

To report concerns that human trafficking might be taking place, please call 
the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network Victim Assistance Line at 206.245.0782 or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888.3737.888. 

RECAP: HSD and partners facilitated 2,116 overnight stays at severe weather shelters during record-breaking cold, snow

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Over the course of a nine-day severe weather shelter activation that ended January 3 in response to prolonged cold temperatures and snowy conditions, the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD), in partnership with service providers, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA), volunteers, and City departments, provided a total of 2,116 overnight stays across six emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness.

At their peak capacity, the shelters at Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center, Compass Housing Alliance, City Hall, Seattle Mennonite Church, God’s Little Acre, and American Legion Post 160 of West Seattle, could provide up to 379 shelter spaces per night, serving adults of all genders. The activation, which began on December 25, provided 283 overnight guests protection from the elements during its highest point of usage on the night of December 30.

“For almost two years, the impacts from COVID-19 have put incredible strain on our human service providers. Despite these compounding challenges, HSD staff, contracted providers, other community organizations, the KCRHA, and City employees, came together to quickly stand up and operate six emergency shelters to keep hundreds of people safe and warm during an extended stretch of extreme winter weather,” said Acting Director Tanya Kim. “I want to thank both Mayor Durkan and Mayor Harrell for their leadership, the Office of Emergency Management for their collaboration, Seattle Parks and Recreation and Finance and Administrative Services for directly supporting the shelters, and all those who played a part in supporting our most vulnerable during their time of need.”

Shelter Census 12/25 12/26 12/27 12/28 12/29 12/30 12/31 1/1 1/2 Total 
Compass Housing 28 81 54 51 55 53 41  *21  32 416
Exhibition Hall 59 107 132 142 142 134 118  157 130 1,121
City Hall X X 30 52 55 70 62  68 *60 397
West Seattle X X 12 11 11 16 15  18 15 98
Seattle Mennonite Church X 10 14 15 13 10 6  7 9 84
God’s Lil Acre X 0 0 0 0 0 0  0 0 0
Totals 87 198 242 271 276 283 242  271 246 2,116
(duplicated)
Capacity 180 265 351 371 371 371 371  379 379 
* Indicates a preliminary count that was taken prior to midnight instead of the morning of closure
Photo of Exhibition Hall shelter

Exhibition Hall, operated by The Salvation Army, opened on December 25 and was the most utilized temporary shelter, providing 1,121 overnight stays over the course of its activation. Initially, the shelter had capacity for 100 guests, but expanded capacity to 130 on December 26 and then was expanded to 150 spaces on December 28 to meet the need. The Compass Housing Alliance shelter also opened on December 25 with a capacity for 80 guests and provided 416 overnight stays while also serving as a day center.

City Hall shelter, operated by Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and supported by City employee volunteers, opened as a 24-hour shelter on December 27 and provided 397 overnight stays during its weeklong activation. Through coordination with KCRHA, the HOPE Team provided direct transportation for 27 individuals exiting City Hall on January 3 to hotel placements and permanent shelter locations.

Starting December 26, Lake City Partners operated two severe weather shelter locations in Lake City at the Seattle Mennonite Church and God’s Little Acre. The West Seattle shelter opened on December 27 and was operated by American Legion Post 160 and a faith-based network of volunteers.

City employees assisting with Exhibition Hall shelter operations

To support staffing shortages and operational constraints for shelter providers due to COVID-19, Mayor Durkan signed an emergency order on December 24 to provide monetary incentives for frontline workers and human service providers staffing emergency shelters and warming centers. In response to the Mayor’s call for added staff support, 171 City employees opted into this surge staffing effort, with 18 employees eventually deployed in support of warming shelters and centers or assisting with transportation efforts over seven days.

Emergency shelter spaces followed Public Health—Seattle & King County COVID-19 safety and screening protocols for guests, including added air filtration, physical distancing, and increased sanitation and hygiene. Providers also followed Public Health isolation protocols for any symptomatic guests.

During the inclement weather, HSD’s HOPE Team coordinated outreach and shelter referrals into the City’s temporary severe weather shelters, and other City-funded shelters, in partnership with our contracted outreach providers. The HOPE Team, in coordination with Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) Seattle Fire Department’s Health One and Seattle Police Department’s Community Service Officers, conducted welfare visits, sharing information on emergency shelters, provided transportation to warming centers and shelter, and supported efforts to distribute weather supplies including handwarmers, socks, emergency blankets, hats, and gloves.

Over the course of the winter weather response, the HOPE Team and SPR outreach to unsheltered neighbors resulted in at least:

  • 319 conversations about severe weather shelters
  • 189 people receiving winter weather supplies
  • 30 rides to warming shelters
  • 51 referrals to temporary severe weather shelters
  • 34 referrals to permanent shelters (December 21 – January 3)

Neighborhoods visited included Ballard, SODO, Georgetown, Rainer Valley, Beacon Hill, Downtown, Belltown, Queen Anne, Lake City, University District, Central District, Capitol Hill, Chinatown-International District, Delridge, West Seattle, and Pioneer Square.

This fall, the City and HSD brought online 350 new 24/7 non-congregate shelter spaces. Currently the City funds approximately 2,800 total shelter spaces, a 700-shelter unit increase over last year’s levels (Q4 2020). Additionally, 92% of City-funded shelter spaces are now 24/7 enhanced with wraparound onsite services – this compares to 75% pre-pandemic (Q4 2019).