HSD unveils district outreach model and names contractors after homelessness outreach RFQ; community group presses appeal

The Seattle Human Services Department on Feb. 26 outlined a new neighborhood‑based outreach model for unsheltered homelessness and announced the agencies selected through a 2024 request for qualifications (RFQ) to provide specialized outreach services in 2025.

HSD Director Tanya Kim, homelessness division director Chris Clayson and Unified Care Team outreach manager Christina Corpi described a model that pairs expanded Unified Care Team (UCT) outreach staff with contracted partners to deploy seven district‑level multidisciplinary outreach teams citywide. The model assigns regional coordinators and two HSD outreach staff per district and supplements UCT’s shelter‑focused work with specialized street‑based care coordination, vehicle outreach and behavioral‑health outreach providers. HSD also procured population‑specific outreach deployed citywide for communities that have been disproportionately affected by homelessness.

Agencies and intended deployments announced in committee: Evergreen Treatment Services Reach Program (street‑based care coordination for districts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6); The Salvation Army (street‑based care coordination for districts 3 and 7 and vehicle outreach for districts 3 and 7); University Heights Center (vehicle outreach for districts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6); Downtown Emergency Services Center (behavioral and mental health outreach citywide); Seattle Indian Center (American Indian/Alaska Native population‑specific outreach citywide); Urban League and We Deliver Care (Black/African American population‑specific outreach citywide); Mary’s Place (families with children citywide); and YouthCare (youth and young adults citywide).

HSD said district outreach teams will coordinate through weekly huddles, maintain care‑coordination lists, report into HMIS and track three broad categories of performance: quantity (services delivered and referrals), quality (timely engagement, percent of weekly huddles attended) and impact (encampment resolutions, enrollment in shelter, permanent housing, treatment). HSD emphasized a 72‑hour response target for referrals and said agencies have been given HMIS training; most contracts are operational and district huddles have begun.

Public comment at the start of the committee meeting included three speakers from We Heart Seattle — founder Andrea Suarez, case manager Patrick Burnett and program director Tim Emerson — who described daily outreach work removing needles and trash, reversing overdoses and transporting people to detox and recovery housing. Suarez told the committee We Heart Seattle applied for the RFQ, “we scored a 65 out of a hundred,” and said the group filed an appeal before receiving full scoring details; she asked the committee and mayor’s office to reconsider the RFQ process and hear directly from applicants. HSD staff said they have been in contact with We Heart Seattle, have conducted a site visit and have connected the group to other programming while explaining that nine finalists were selected through the RFQ.

Council members asked about data sharing, tracking individuals seen across encampments, the connection between outreach referrals and broader diversion and shelter resources, and how residents should report unsheltered encampments. HSD recommended the Find It, Fix It app as the best way for constituents to report needs for now and said regional coordinators and UCT will triage referrals and progress through district huddles. Several council members asked HSD to provide ongoing vacancy and performance reporting; HSD said the model is new and that it will establish baseline metrics during 2025.