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Council briefed on inclement-weather beds; staff approved 15 women-only beds at Morningstar
Summary
City staff said a November RFP for inclement-weather beds returned one usable proposal; the RFP committee approved 15 women-only beds at Morningstar (Jules Helping Hands) but did not approve Cannon Street for overnight use. Staff described pilots including a unified-care outreach team with 11 set-aside beds to improve placement from the street.
City staff told the Spokane City Council on Jan. 12 that an RFP for inclement-weather shelter beds produced one approvable response and that the RFP committee approved 15 additional women-only beds at the Morningstar location operated by Jules Helping Hands.
Adam McDaniel (briefing staff) said the RFP had been posted in July and reposted in November, but the city received fewer responses than the prior year. McDaniel said the committee approved 15 beds at Morningstar and did not approve using Cannon Street for overnight surge because Cannon Street now functions as a day drop-in center and would require rearranging space, furnishings and potentially operations.
Councilors pushed for more bed capacity and asked what would be required to make Cannon Street available overnight. Staff said the space is currently configured for daytime services and that an existing Providence MOU and other operational constraints made a conversion infeasible in the near term. McDaniel also said one of the barriers to better RFP responses is the challenge providers face in running emergency shelter operations.
Staff described ongoing pilots to increase shelter utilization through the ShelterMe app and coordinated outreach. McDaniel outlined a pilot unified care team of six street-outreach specialists linked to 11 set-aside beds; the unified team and reserved bed allocation are meant to allow outreach workers to connect individuals with guaranteed placements quickly, and the pilot will run through June with results reported to council in quarterly performance reports.
Council requested additional information and said staff would follow up in upcoming QPRs and committee reports. The RFP decision and pilots were presented as operational measures to increase responsiveness to inclement-weather needs and specifically to address a shortage of beds dedicated to women.
What’s next: Staff will report pilot outcomes in upcoming quarterly performance reports and continue to monitor ShelterMe utilization; the Morningstar beds will be added as surge capacity per the RFP committee decision.
