City Inside/Out: Regional Response to Homelessness

From left to right: Leo Flor, DCHS Director; Brian Callanan, Alison Eisinger, Jason Johnson
From left to right: Leo Flor, DCHS Director; Brian Callanan, Alison Eisinger, Jason Johnson

How does the new Regional Homelessness Authority improve service delivery to help people experiencing homelessness?

How will King County and its 39 cities, including Seattle, increase collaboration across all sectors to improve planning, funding coordination and shared decision-making to gain the maximum impact from their collection efforts and resources?

How will people with lived experience of homelessness help to lead the changes?

King County, Seattle, Sound Cities Association and people with lived experience will govern the new Regional Homelessness Authority that was recently approved by the Seattle City Council and the King County Council. An Interlocal Agreement between Seattle and King County, signed in December 2019 by King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, formalizes the agreement on a new governance structure and begins the implementation process.

In this edition of City Inside/Out, host and moderator Brian Callanan welcomes King County DCHS Director Leo Flor, Seattle Human Services Department Interim Director Jason Johnson, and Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Executive Director Alison Eisinger to talk about the new Authority and how it moves the region forward in addressing the crisis of homelessness. The half hour show includes a feature piece on Eagle Village, King County’s collaboration with the Chief Seattle Club providing bridge housing and programming targeted to Native people exiting homelessness.

Watch the video on Seattle Channel