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Covington and Maple Valley describe shared outreach coordinator model to connect people to services
Summary
City staff from Covington and Maple Valley described a shared community outreach role that takes police referrals and connects residents to recovery navigation, housing and behavioral‑health services. Covington reported 122 direct care coordination contacts and 64 unique clients; Maple Valley said the program served 25 clients in six months. Officials framed the program as a scalable regional model.
Covington and Maple Valley officials described a shared outreach model that aims to link police referrals to case management and recovery navigation, enabling sustained follow‑up for residents experiencing homelessness or behavioral‑health needs.
The model: both cities employ or contract the same outreach coordinator (Carrie Costin is named in the presentation) to provide 1‑on‑1 support after police referrals, helping with benefits enrollment, housing eligibility evaluations and referrals to recovery navigator programs. Maple Valley said its contract position provides 5–10 hours per week and has worked with 25 clients since onboarding; Covington said it provided 122 direct care coordination services totaling 483 service actions to 64 unique care seekers over the previous 12 months.
Why it matters: staff emphasized that many of the people they serve move between neighboring cities, so shared staffing and communications reduce duplication and improve outcomes. A Covington case study described an individual who moved from vehicle dwelling into supportive housing within three weeks after coordinated outreach, intake paperwork and follow‑up across jurisdictions.
Officials said the program is not yet formalized with an interlocal agreement but is operationally active, and they discussed the potential to expand the model regionally. City leaders reiterated that ongoing funding, staffing time and translated/culturally appropriate services are the main constraints.
Next steps: staff said they will continue to coordinate and explore formal agreements and expansion to serve additional jurisdictions; no formal budget decisions were taken at the meeting.
