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Seattle Human Services news and events

HSD Announces Results of the Older Adult Community Transportation RFP

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The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce the results of the 2019 Older Adult Community Transportation RFP that was issued on January 14. Applicants were invited to submit proposals providing health services transportation and/or food access transportation in King County. Health Services Transportation enables older people to access healthcare by providing trips to medical and dental appointments, health-related services, and other essential appointments. Food Access Transportation enables older adults to access healthy food in the setting of their choice.

The RFP guides the investment of $711,500 in Federal Older Americans Act Title III-B funding and Washington State Senior Citizens Services Act funding. Additionally, City of Seattle Sweetened Beverage Tax (SBT) provides $150,048 to enhance and expand Food Access Transportation services for Seattle residents and allow full funding of the two top-ranked applications.

Three applications were received and reviewed by a diverse committee of subject matter experts and advocates for older adult services and community transportation. This included community members with extensive personal and professional experience with program activities, representation of or service to the focus populations, and understanding of participants’ needs, as well as representatives from the City’s human services, transportation, and legislative departments. In accordance with committee recommendations:

  • Sound Generations will receive $711,500 to support their Volunteer Transportation Service, Driver Companion, Nutrition Van Service, and Demand Response Service programs.
  • Catholic Community Services will receive $60,048 for their Volunteer Services Transportation program.
  • Northshore Senior Center will receive $90,000 for their Right Ride program.

“Transportation to and from community meal sites and health services is a service provided by many Area Agencies on Aging throughout the country,” said Cathy Knight, director of HSD’s Aging and Disability Services division, the Area Agency on Aging for Seattle and King County. “Each year, more than 2,000 people use these services to get the nutrition and health care they need for healthy aging.”  

The three funded agencies will engage in coordination activities and conduct client-level data reporting toward HSD goals of results-based accountability and racial equity.

April is Fair Housing Month

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April is National Fair Housing Month. National Fair Housing Month increases efforts to end housing discrimination and raises awareness of fair housing rights. The month also remembers the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, of which fair and equitable access to housing was a key factor. The Fair Housing Act also celebrates its anniversary during April. In 2018, the Fair Housing Act celebrated its 50th anniversary. Designed to protect Americans from discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing based on color, race, national origin and religion, the act later extended to sex, disability and family status.

During 2018, the City of Seattle focused on the second year’s work to implement the 2017 City of Seattle and Seattle Housing Authority Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH). The development of the AFH required significant coordination, facilitation, research and production among 16 different city departments plus the Seattle Housing Authority during the period of 2015-2017. The AFH was adopted and accepted by HUD in July 2017. The 2018-2022 Consolidated Plan integrated the goals of the AFH work plan and as a result, the 2018 CAPER is the first time AFH accomplishments are included in our report. Please see the separate attachment that focuses on the commitments and progress toward AFH goals.

Below are some highlights for 2018 from that plan, though only a small portion of the work overlapped with the Assessment of Fair Housing:

  • The “Fair Chance Housing Ordinance” became effective on 2/19/2018 (SOCR)
  • SOCR worked in partnership with HSD to attend community listening sessions as part of a Racial Equity Toolkit to examine how City Council-designated funds should be distributed for tenant outreach (SOCR)
  • A campaign was launched to educate the public about the “Alternative Source of Income” and “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance (SOCR)
  • 8 free fair housing workshops for housing providers in an effort to make housing laws easier to access for the public (SOCR, SDCI)
  • 26 trainings were held with housing providers on how best to address bias when using criminal records in tenant screening (SOCR)
  • OPCD published its first “Comprehensive Plan Urban Village Monitoring Report” in June 2018. This report gauges the City’s progress in implementing Seattle’s recently updated Comprehensive Plan. The report tracks indicators related to housing and employment growth, housing affordability, and key aspects of livability including access to frequent transit, presence of sidewalks, and access to parks and open space. We’re measuring the indicators for the city as a whole and for individual centers and villages across the city (OPCD)
  • Affirmative marketing requirements for MFTE, MHA, and IZ performance units were published (OH)

I would like to acknowledge and offer my many thanks to the HSD Federal Grants Unit, in particular Debra Rhinehart, for the coordination this local effort requires. This body of work is racial equity in action, and I appreciate your leadership. #NationalFairHousingMonth

HSD Announces Results of the Homeless Outreach RFQ

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The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) is pleased to announce that it has awarded $244,400 to Evergreen Treatment Center’s REACH program to provide neighborhood-based homeless outreach services. The 2019 Homeless Strategy and Investment Outreach RFQ, also known as the 2019 Outreach RFQ, was a closed, expedited process only made available to agencies that had applied for Outreach and Engagement funding through the City’s 2017 Homeless Investments RFP and agencies currently funded by HSD to provide Outreach services.

Outreach services are defined as efforts to approach and engage someone with the objective of developing a relationship of trust and connecting that person with resources. Services may include addressing a person’s survival needs, providing health and other education, facilitating access to available services such as diversion or emergency shelter, and establishing ongoing, trusting relationships.

HSD is investing $244,400 of City General Fund to support up to three full-time outreach workers to serve First Hill, Capitol Hill, and/or Chinatown-International District neighborhoods. (HSD already funds several other outreach providers serving areas in Seattle.) In addition to outreach directly to people who are homeless, the staff person will serve as the point of contact for neighbors, including businesses, who are interested in maintaining or creating safe and vibrant communities and generating solutions to homelessness. Initial awards will be made from April 2019 through December 31, 2019, with renewal through 2020 contingent upon performance and funding availability.

The Outreach RFQ review committee consisted of members who have lived or worked in the identified neighborhoods, have led programs designed for people who are or have been homeless, and/or have lived experience as homeless and have received homeless services and subsidized housing in Seattle.

The committee recommended Evergreen Treatment Center’s REACH program based on a variety of factors, including their experience engaging with and assisting unsheltered populations, their willingness to tailor outreach work in the three identified neighborhoods in the RFQ, and their expertise in outreach to an array of people who are homeless in Seattle, including, but not limited to, people with ongoing mental health and substance use needs.

“It was a difficult decision to come to, but we were ultimately impressed with REACH’s ability to holistically serve the individuals experiencing homelessness in our neighborhoods,” said Jamie Lee, Director of Community Initiatives at Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda). “I am ready—as I’m sure are my colleagues in First Hill and Capitol Hill—to work with REACH to ensure that they serve our business community as well as those experiencing homelessness well.”

REACH builds relationships with people experiencing homelessness and connects them to the help that they need – everything from food and clothing to medical care, shelter, and mental health and/or substance use treatment. REACH improves lives daily for more than 1,000 King County residents. Whether it’s a visit to the doctor, a warm meal, or getting into substance use treatment, their work changes lives. Visit REACH’s website to hear stories about how they have helped improve people’s lives on the street.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month & What is Denim Day?

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April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), which was first nationally observed in 2001, but has been used to raise awareness and organize against sexual- and gender-based violence since the 1970s. The Mayor’s Office on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (MODVSA) would like to acknowledge the important work of the Seattle Women’s Commission, the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence, and the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center  for leading in our region to support survivors and work to eliminate sexual assault, rape, and gender-based violence in our communities.

As part of recognizing SAAM, City Councilmember Lisa Herbold crafted a Proclamation in partnership with the Women’s Commission honoring the month in Full Council on Monday, April 8. The MODVSA and the Coalition will also be co-sponsoring an educational event as part of Denim Day on April 24, 2019 at City Hall.

Denim Day - Wear jeans with a purpose on April 24, 2019.

Harmful and erroneous attitudes about rape and sexual assault pervade our society. That is the reason why Denim Day exists – it is an anti-sexual violence campaign that is acknowledged worldwide every April. In Italy in 1992, a man raped a woman who was wearing a tight pair of jeans at the time. She reported the rape and the man was convicted. The case was appealed to the Italian Supreme Court. The court overturned the conviction in 1998 due to their belief that because the woman’s jeans were so tight, there is no way she could have been raped – in their view, she must have helped the man remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women of the Italian Parliament showed up to work wearing jeans in protest of the outrageous decision. This protest sparked an annual, worldwide Denim Day campaign against destructive attitudes about sexual assault.

Unfortunately, many harmful myths and misconceptions about rape and sexual violence remain in our collective conscience: myths about victims, myths about perpetrators, myths about causes of rape, myths about reactions to sexual violence, etc. Even though we are living in the #MeToo era, where we have declared #TimesUp on sexual predators, and even though many high-profile offenders are being held accountable for the harm they have done to others, we still have a long way to go.

For Indigenous survivors of sexual violence, justice is even further away. Native Americans are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault and rape than women of any other ethnic group in the United States.[i] About 9 in 10 Native/American Indian victims of rape or sexual assault were estimated to have had assailants who were of a different race.[1] According to a study of 148 Native women in Seattle, 94% of participants had been raped or experienced sexual coercion in their lifetime.[2] Because of several laws preventing tribes from prosecuting non-Native offenders, many Native women who experience sexual violence never see justice. According to a study by the Government Accountability Office, US attorneys declined to prosecute 67% of sexual abuse, homicide, and other violent crimes against Native women.[3]

Racist attitudes about Indigenous communities and their approach to government and criminal prosecution threatened to halt the reauthorization of VAWA (the Violence Against Women Act – a federal law that provides support for many victim service agencies in the U.S.) in 2013 and again now, in 2019. In 2013, a provision was added to VAWA that allowed tribes to prosecute non-Indians for domestic violence, dating violence, and criminal violations of protection orders. This year, the proposed legislation would add child abuse, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, obstruction of justice, and assaults against law enforcement officers to the crimes that tribes can prosecute against non-Indians.

As we know from two reports by the Urban Indian Health Institute, violence against and murder of Indigenous women in the Seattle area is an alarming problem that needs more attention.[4] To amplify the volume on this issue, this year, on April 24th, the City of Seattle is hosting an event titled Denim Day: Honoring Indigenous Women. The event features an incredible lineup of local Indigenous leaders and speakers who will be discussing the topic of sexual violence against Native women.

**Updated April 29, 2019 to include video from event below:

To further address sexual violence in our community, MODVSA invests more than $8.4 million in gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, intervention, systems enhancement, and offender accountability programs. The objectives of these investments are to ensure that survivors and their families find safety, ensure that all members of our community have access to critical services, build community support to end abuse and violence, and hold offenders accountable. Together, service providers in our region champion progress in our local, state, and national laws to ensure that all survivors are supported. Many of the funded agencies in our region provide specialized services for focus populations, such as the Native American community. By investing in a wide array of services that represent and serve traditionally under-funded communities, we know that we will be able to empower more survivors to lead the way for change and, ultimately, to end sexual violence.

[1] https://endrapeoncampus.org/new-page-3

[2] http://www.uihi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/UIHI_sexual-violence_r601_pagesFINAL.pdf

[3] https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11167r.pdf

[4] http://www.uihi.org/resources/reports/

[i] https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-why-native-american-women-still-have-the-highest-rates-of-rape-and-assault

Seattle announces three new authorized encampment sites

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SEATTLE (December 1, 2016) —Today, the Human Services Department announced the siting of three new temporary sanctioned encampments for individuals living unsheltered in Seattle. This action is part of the Bridging the Gap plan, announced in October, to better address the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness while the City fully implements its long-term plan, Pathways Home.

Together, the following three new sanctioned encampments will serve more than 200 people starting in early 2017:

  1. 1000 S Myrtle Street will contain up to 50 tiny houses serving 60-70 people.
  2. 8620 Nesbit Ave N. will contain up to 50 tiny houses serving 60-70 people.
  3. 9701 Myers Way S will contain up to 50 tents serving 60-70 people.

“Today’s announcement recognizes our need to provide safer alternatives to the people living unsheltered on our streets as we work to implement Pathways Home,” said Catherine Lester, Director of the Human Services Department. “We remain committed to our long-term plan to transform our homeless services system and focus our investments on getting people off the streets and into housing. In the meantime, we will continue the work of increasing our outreach efforts, implementing a more compassionate set of protocols when cleanups are necessary and offering trash and needle pickup services.”

In October, Mayor Murray announced the Bridging the Gap plan, which recognizes that the City should not displace unauthorized encampments that do not pose an imminent health or safety risk or do not unlawfully obstruct a public use, unless the City can offer those living there a safer alternative place to live. The plan reflects the principles laid out by the Task Force on Unsheltered Cleanup Protocols.

That announcement came a month after Mayor Murray announced Pathways Home, Seattle’s plan to transform our homeless services system by focusing our investments on the goal of getting people into stable housing. The plan aims to eliminate barriers to better meet the individualized needs of those experiencing homelessness, shift investments where necessary to achieve the goal of moving people into housing, and increase accountability to this goal through performance-based contracting.

The first of the authorized encampments is scheduled to open in early January.

Additional information about the Mayor’s actions to address homelessness can be found here.

 

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City announces navigation center operators

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SEATTLE (November 14, 2016) – Today, the Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) announced that the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC), in partnership with Operation Sack Lunch, has been selected to operate Seattle’s navigation center site when it opens later this year. DESC will operate the 24-hour, low-barrier shelter while Operation Sack Lunch will provide food and meal support to those at the shelter.

“As the City works to implement the long-term strategies to address our homelessness crisis laid out in Pathways Home, we must immediately address the need for low-barrier and 24-hour shelter options,” said Mayor Murray. “Today’s selection of the new navigation center operators brings us one step closer to providing emergency shelter and services to people who are not well served by our current system.”

On June 9, Mayor Murray issued an executive order directing the creation of a new low-barrier, one-stop service center for people living unsheltered to receive personalized support and transition them into permanent housing. This award intends that the Downtown Emergency Service Center, in partnership with Operation Sack Lunch, will offer support for basic needs like shelter, hygiene, meals, secure and accessible storage, case management, and supportive services including referrals for substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Seattle’s navigation center will be modeled on the San Francisco Navigation Center,  a dormitory-style living facility that provides people living outside with shower, bathroom, laundry and dining facilities, and a place to store their belongings. The navigation center will be a 24/7 site that welcomes pets, couples and individuals currently struggling with addiction.

“Through a collaborative approach, the Downtown Emergency Service Center and Operation Sack Lunch will work together to provide the wraparound client services and meal support to make the Seattle Navigation Center successful,” said Human Services Department Director Catherine Lester. “We know that increasing access to low-barrier, 24-hour shelter is one of the most important ways we can transform our response to the growing number of people living unsheltered in our city.”

HSD’s contracted outreach providers will continue to engage individuals and families experiencing homelessness and facilitate referrals to the Navigation Center. Priority will be for those who have relocated from the I-5 East Duwamish Greenbelt to the transitional encampment at Royal Brougham Way.

The $1.67M in allocated funding for this project is derived from the City of Seattle Homelessness State of Emergency funding ($475,000), Washington State Department of Commerce ($600,000) and private donations ($600,000).

The Human Services Department, in coordination with partners, continues to review potential sites for the navigation center. The awards announced today are conditional, contingent on the finalization of budget and other contract details.

Individuals, businesses, and philanthropic organizations can make donations to the navigation center on the United Way of King County website.

Human Services Department announces more than $700k in funding for youth development

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The Seattle Human Services Department is funding seven organizations to provide youth development and educational support services. Funding awards total over $708,000, and provide constructive school year and summer programming for middle and high school at-risk youth. Funding is focused on serving African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander, and English language learning youth (ELL).

 
This grant opportunity requested proposals for youth development, educational support or both program areas. The Human Services Department is investing in these programs to help youth increase self-confidence, build social skills, and increase connection to their school and community. Likewise, educational support is vital to helping youth make academic progress during the school year and during breaks.

 
Asian Counseling and Referral Service was awarded $116,046 to provide youth development services to southeast Asian youth. Funding for the Southeast Asian Young Men’s and Young Women’s Group will expand the current afterschool program and add summer youth development enrichment programming. Youth can participate in documentary filmmaking, community service learning, civic engagement, physical recreation, and academic pre-employment support.

 
El Centro de la Raza was awarded $89,068 to provide youth development and educational support to Latino youth. The Afterschool Drop-in Program provides academic support and activities for youth living in the new onsite El Centro de la Raza housing “Plaza Roberto Maestas.” Summer programming will include academic and cultural enrichment activities, recreation and field trips.

 

Interim Community Development Association was awarded $96,131 to provide youth development programming with a focus on first generation limited ELL Asian and Pacific Islander youth. The Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development youth program provides afterschool and summer community programs and an environmental justice leadership development program.

 

Neighborhood House was awarded $75,357 to serve youth within the Highpoint public housing neighborhood. The Studio program provides an afterschool and summer approach to build STEM engagement and skills, combine hands-on activities, receive mentorship, prepare for college and career, and get involved with the community. This program is supported by University of Washington STEM mentors, and youth have the opportunity to provide an annual project showcase for the community.

 

Refugee Women’s Alliance received $111,297 to provide youth development and educational support programming with an emphasis on serving youth from refugee and immigrant families. The ReWA Youth Program will provide customized academic support through one-on-one and small group tutoring including English as a second language homework support and a variety of positive engaging peer group activities.

 

Vietnamese Friendship Association was awarded $116,046 to provide educational support with an emphasis on serving ELL youth. The program will be offered afterschool, at the Seattle World School on Saturdays, and over the summer. The Vietnamese Friendship Association will provide tutoring, homework help, credit retrieval, native language courses, and service learning opportunities.

 

YWCA was awarded $104,335 to provide youth development and educational support for low income African American girls. GirlsFirst aims to engage youth in academic achievement, self-empowerment and awareness, and career discovery. These girls will have the opportunity to participate in a robotics team, summer leadership academy, choir, and onsite afterschool programming at four local high schools.

 

The Human Services Department invests more than $22.7M to help prepare youth in Seattle for success. To learn more about HSD’s work to ensure that all of Seattle youth are prepared to for the future regardless of race, income, immigration status and neighborhood please visit our website. These awards are funded by the City of Seattle General Fund.

 

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The Seattle Human Services Department is one of the largest contributors to Seattle’s safety net. HSD provides $89 million in funding through 450 contracts to nearly 200 agencies supporting Seattle’s most vulnerable residents each year. The department works closely with its community partners, including other public and nonprofit funders and service providers, to understand current and emerging human service needs, and to create and invest in a comprehensive and integrated regional human services system.

Seattle Human Services Department and Government Performance Lab discuss results of contracting pilot program

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Today the Human Services Department, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities hosted a convening to discuss the results of a one-year pilot program in Seattle focused on retooling the department’s homelessness contracts.

Beginjason ning in August 2015, the Government Performance Lab embedded a fellow for a year in the City of Seattle’s Human Services Department to support the implementation of results-driven contracting for the department’s most important homelessness contracts. This project was a part of What Works Cities—an initiative to help 100 mid-sized U.S. cities enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making, and engage residents.

The pilot project was designed to allow the city to fully realize the potential of its contracted dollars by setting up the necessary systems – clearly identifying goals, tracking performance, and meeting regularly with providers – that allow them to actively manage their contracts. The Government Performance Lab recommended two main components to the pilot: consolidating contracts and implementing results-driven contracting strategies to focus contracts on performance goals.

“Mayor Murray has laid out the 4 key ways Seattle can continue to transform our city government: transparency and accountability, increased efficiency, better financial management and innovation through the use of data. Our year-long pilot with the Government Performance Lab is a perfect example of using those cornerstones to rebuild our response to homelessness,” said Human Services Department Director Catherine Lester, “By using results-driven contracting and the outcomes framework we have the tools to make a more effective system.”

Seattle continues to be a national leader in exploring new ways to reduce homelessness in the city. Just this week, Mayor Murray unveiled a budget proposal that includes a record $59 million investment in homelessness services and its Pathways Home initiative.

Staff from other WWC cities, including San Francisco, Anchorage, Tacoma, Bellevue, Portland, Denver, Gresham, Las Vegas, and Boston, were also in attendance as well to learn about Seattle’s work, discuss their cities’ challenges with homelessness, and share about their own successful initiatives.

Mayor Ed Murray proposes an additional $12 million to implement the City’s new homelessness plan

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Today, Mayor Edward B. Murray announced $12 million in new funding to implement strategies laid out in the City’s new homelessness plan, “Pathways Home“, Seattle’s Person-Centered Plan to Support People Experiencing Homelessness.” This funding is sourced through a combination of new general fund dollars, additional revenue from the housing levy to support an increase to the Homelessness Prevention Program and a continuation of funding for key programs originally funded under the 2015 State of Emergency.

“By providing funding for key element of the Pathways Home Plan, I believe we can make a dramatic and visible difference in the number of people currently experiencing homelessness through a major transformation of our homeless service delivery system,” said Mayor Ed Murray.

The 2017-2018 Proposed Budget includes almost $1 million in investments that will help to create capacity to house the unsheltered families on the waitlist. These investments will fund rental assistance and one-time funding to address immediate needs to divert people from homelessness, rapid rehousing funding, as well as funding for motel vouchers for families. This also includes a $200,000 investment in domestic violence and sexual assault housing first and case management programs.

The proposed budget also includes $5 million to fund investments in new best practices, as well as to continue best practices, initially funded as part of the State of Emergency. The new investments include funding to convert an existing shelter to a 24-hour model and funding for a new navigation center, which will be a 24-hour low-barrier shelter with case management. Programs continuing from the State of Emergency investments include funding for rapid rehousing and diversion for single adults, outreach to unsheltered individuals and families, youth case management, and mobile medical van services.

To support system transformation, the proposed budget includes $1.1 million in investments for staffing and data capacity, enhancing the Coordinated Entry system and standing up the Housing Resource Center. Human Services Department (HSD) is making significant changes to their current business practices around homelessness investments, to implement Pathways Home. Performance-based contracting requires new data expertise to collect and interpret both program-and system-level data and a deeper level of expertise to actively monitor fidelity to best practice program models.

As the City transforms its homelessness investment system in coordination with All Home and King County, there is an immediate need to shelter those living in crisis outdoors.  To address this, the 2017-2018 Proposed Budget includes $2.1 million to maintain stability in shelter and encampments as system changes are made. These investments maintain the additional shelter beds and increased operating hours funded as part of the State of Emergency. The proposed budget also includes funding for a faith-based partnership to expand shelter capacity and operating support. These investments maintain stability in shelter system capacity as HSD moves toward a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for all homeless investments in 2018.

The Mayor and City Council are engaged in efforts to modify encampment cleanup protocols and examine options to provide safe alternatives to camping in public spaces, additional services and supports for people living unsheltered.  A task force has been convened to develop potential recommendations and the 2017-2018 Proposed Budget includes $2.8 million to improve coordination and outreach; increase safe sleeping locations, shelter and housing options; address public health and safety issues and the storage of belongings.

Seattle Human Services Department Announces Awards Over $600k in Youth Mental Health Funding

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Today the Seattle Human Services Department announced five organizations which will be funded to work on youth mental health issues. The award, totaling over $600,000, seeks to provide outpatient mental health counseling services for African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian/Pacific Islander youth.

The five proposals granted will address mental health counseling and treatment to Seattle youth with mental health disorders or behavioral concerns. These grantees will have a specific focus on providing care for youth on Medicaid or who lack medical coverage for treatment. These awards are funded by City of Seattle General Fund.

Southwest Youth & Family Services was awarded $157,263 to provide onsite individual and family mental health services to Black/African American (including African immigrant), Hispanic/Latino, Native American and Asian/Pacific Islanders, low income, LBGTQ and immigrant and refugee youth. They also plan to provide services to Seattle schools or locations that are accessible and convenient for the youth and their families.

Asian Counseling & Referral Service will provide mental health services to youth attending Franklin, Garfield, Rainier Beach, Cleveland, Roosevelt, West Seattle, Chief Sealth and South Lake High Schools, as well as Alki Kurose, Washington, and Mercer Middle Schools.  Asian Counseling & Referral Service was awarded $142,631 to deliver youth mental health services.

NeighborCare Health was granted $166,305 to continue their work providing culturally appropriate counseling services for youth and their families through school-based health centers. NCH works with schools to identify students in need of health services, including those at risk academically and receives referrals from the school nurse, administration, teachers, guidance counselors, and others.

United Indian of All Tribes Foundation has operated the Labateyah Youth Home in Ballard since 1992 to address the disproportionately high number of American Indian/Alaskan Native homeless youth in our community. They were granted $85,484 to connect youth with services to address their behavioral health needs and incorporate other culturally appropriate therapeutic activities such as drumming, sweat lodges, talking circles, etc that have been shown to be highly effective in addressing the mental health needs of homeless youth.

Therapeutic Health Services practices ‘non-traditional’ alternative methods by providing individual, group and family counseling and intervention, outreach and school and community based counseling sessions in homes, schools and the community. Therapeutic Health Services was awarded $85,484 to implement this work.

Please visit the HSD website to see a full list of funding opportunities.

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The Seattle Human Services Department is one of the largest contributors to Seattle’s safety net. HSD provides $89 million in funding through 450 contracts to nearly 200 agencies supporting Seattle’s most vulnerable residents each year.  The department works closely with its community partners, including other public and nonprofit funders and service providers, to understand current and emerging human service needs, and to create and invest in a comprehensive and integrated regional human services system.