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Liberty Lake Council hears countywide ‘treatment-first’ homelessness MOU; questions focus on accountability and facilities
Summary
A regional team urged Liberty Lake to sign a draft memorandum of understanding that would prioritize treatment and enforcement standards over ‘housing-first’ approaches; presenters said the MOU could help attract federal support, while councilmembers pressed for details about accountability, facilities and how cities could rescind support if policies diverged.
A regional coalition seeking a new approach to homelessness presented a draft memorandum of understanding to the Liberty Lake City Council on Nov. 18, pressing local cities to adopt a “treatment-first” model that, presenters said, emphasizes accountability and could prioritize jurisdictions for federal funding.
Chad Wendell, executive director of the Hutton Settlement, introduced the draft as a collaborative, non-binding MOU that would signal municipalities’ willingness to align with recent federal guidance. “What we’re looking at is the executive order from President Trump…doing what we do at Hutton, and that’s flipping the philosophy of going housing first to treatment first,” Wendell said during the workshop presentation.
Preston McCollum, the Spokane County prosecuting attorney, told the council he supports a model that includes enforcement paired with person-centered treatment. “We found that providing services without accountability breeds disorder and chaos in our community,” McCollum said, arguing that accountability could be a factor in awarding federal grants under recent HUD guidance.
Presenters repeatedly framed the MOU as a 30,000-foot signpost rather than an implementing document: it would show federal grantmakers that a jurisdiction is willing to embrace accountability policies and to collaborate regionally. “At a minimum, this MOU just serves as a placeholder or a signpost to say our county or our city…wants this,” McCollum said.
Council members raised operational questions. Several asked where treatment facilities would be located and how the “accountability” provisions would be enforced at the local level. Sheldon Jackson, a local developer involved in the effort, and others said funding and facilities would follow later, after jurisdictions signaled support and federal grants become available. Jackson referenced practitioners who favor larger, short-term treatment facilities that then transition people into housing when ready.
Liberty Lake councilors also asked whether they could withdraw from the effort if they disliked later policy details. McCollum said rescission would be possible: the MOU is intended to start a regional conversation that would be fleshed out with ordinances, task-force recommendations and grant agreements.
City staff said the final MOU—currently in draft form in the meeting packet—would return for later council action. Council members welcomed regional cooperation but emphasized that sign-on would require clearer local accountability frameworks, facility siting plans and assurances about how funds would be used.
What’s next: presenters said the safe-and-healthy task force expects to refine policy options and return with more detailed proposals by May; the MOU will remain a discussion item and a future formal action if Liberty Lake chooses to sign on.
