Walla Walla County unveils draft 2026–2030 homeless housing plan, seeks monthlong public comment

WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Walla Walla County Department of Community Health on Sept. 16 presented a draft 2026–2030 homeless housing plan to the Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners and asked the board to allow a monthlong public comment period before the plan returns for consideration in November.

The department described the draft as a community plan aligned with Department of Commerce guidance and required state statute. "Our intention is to release this plan at the end of the month for public comment for a month-long public comment period, and then we'll bring it back to this group in November," said Becca Fica, senior homeless housing coordinator.

Why it matters: county and state data indicate homelessness and housing cost burden are substantial and growing locally. The plan sets five objectives—improving data and accountability, strengthening the homeless services workforce, preventing homelessness, prioritizing assistance for people with greatest barriers, and housing people in stable settings—intended to guide funding and system improvements over the next five years.

At the meeting, Department staff summarized methodology and current conditions. Using HUD’s one-night point-in-time (PIT) count, the county recorded 197 people experiencing homelessness on a January 2025 PIT night; Commerce’s Snapshot report (a month-long deduplicated compilation) counted 1,127 people in January 2025, and staff said adding people who are doubled-up or imminently at risk raises the estimate to about 1,613 individuals. The presentation also highlighted housing affordability: about 47.3% of renters are cost-burdened and 21.2% are severely cost-burdened, and the county faces an estimated 3,790-unit shortage of affordable rental housing for households at 80% of area median income (AMI) or below, citing the 2023 Washington State Housing Needs Assessment.

Department staff said the plan’s scope focuses on the homeless crisis response system—prevention, shelter, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing and related interventions—and that many of the county’s recommendations depend on external funding and cross-agency coordination. "We recognize that this plan alone cannot solve homelessness," Sam Jackall, Human Services division manager, told the commissioners. He described built-for-zero (Built For Zero by Community Solutions) practices the county is adopting to make the system more data-driven and to reduce inflow relative to outflow.

Commissioners pressed for more performance information. Commissioner Clayton asked for outcome reporting and a clearer "report card" showing whether people served by county-funded programs sustain housing or repeatedly return to crisis services. "I really would love to see a report card," Clayton said, adding that commissioners need detailed outcome data to evaluate use of public funds.

Danielle Garbi Reeser, CEO of Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC), which provides many direct services locally, told commissioners her agency supports stronger outcome measurement but cautioned that outcomes will vary by population. She noted more older adults are in the county’s homeless population and that successful outcomes for seniors often look different than for working-age individuals. "Our mission is to help people and change lives," she said, and BMAC is investing in outcomes measurement while also warning that permanent supportive housing is expensive to operate and underfunded for services.

Staff described planned next steps: publish the draft on the county website, open a monthlong public comment period in October, hold community workshops (including two talks by Greg Colburn, coauthor of Homelessness Is a Housing Problem), offer drop-in hours and a survey, incorporate feedback, and seek recommendation from the local Council on Housing before returning the plan to the board for possible adoption in November. The plan must be submitted to the Washington State Department of Commerce in December.

Funding and capacity constraints emerged repeatedly. Staff said local document-recording fees are the largest local funding source for homeless housing and that local capital match available for leveraging state and federal housing funds is limited (staff noted roughly $100,000 in local capital funds available annually for match). Presenters and providers said many state and federal capital programs require significant local match, braided funding and operational subsidies for services—conditions that many local nonprofits and housing providers find difficult to meet.

The plan includes more than a dozen proposed actions, including creating shared written standards for the homeless system, hiring analytical capacity to improve HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) data quality, expanding aftercare case management, launching by-name coordinated case conferencing for single adults (modeled on local youth work), establishing a landlord collaborative, and developing prioritization criteria for capital projects so local match funds better align with state housing trust fund scoring. Sam Jackall said a county-funded data analyst position would improve reporting and HMIS data quality.

What was not decided: the board did not adopt the plan at this meeting. Commissioners approved routine meeting business (the revised agenda) and recessed for an executive session; no formal vote on the draft plan occurred. Staff framed the presentation as the start of a public comment and review process.

Looking ahead: the county plans additional outreach, a public workshop series and revision based on community feedback. Staff told the board they will bring an updated draft and the Council on Housing's recommendation back to the commissioners in November for potential adoption before Commerce’s December deadline.

Ending note: presenters and local providers emphasized the plan is a step toward a more data-driven, collaborative homeless crisis response but repeatedly cautioned that local efforts will require sustained state and federal funding and technical assistance to expand permanent supportive housing and to stabilize people facing complex needs.