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Council told planning grant redlined and headed to Metro Council; members push to restore lived-experience payments
Summary
Members discussed shifting the Consumer Advisory Board/lived-experience cohort under the CoC as an ad hoc committee and restarting payments. OHS said the planning grant language was redlined and signed and will go to Metro Council; payments hinge on council approval, an RFP for disbursement, and a charter amendment.
The Homelessness Planning Council discussed formalizing the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) — referred to as the lived-experience cohort — as an ad hoc committee of the general Continuum of Care to enable restoration of payments for lived-experience participants.
The Chair said the structural shift was recommended after prior work reviewing governance and that the move should not, in proponents’ view, change CAB bylaws or decision-making authority. "It would actually kind of enhance the work," the Chair said, summarizing input from a former chair who attended an executive committee discussion.
April/Calvin (S9) reported that the planning grant paperwork had been redlined because it was connected to language from an earlier King County lawsuit, that the redlines have been resolved and the document was signed by MDHA and the department, and that it will be on Metro Council agendas in the next two meetings. "It's been redlined and signed by MDHA and signed by me maybe 2 days ago, and, we'll hit Metro Council's agenda in the next 2 council meetings," the director said.
OHS said resumption of payments depends on several steps: Metro Council approving the grant language, issuing an RFP for a non-CoC entity to disburse funds, and potentially a charter amendment. "Once we go through the process of Metro Council finalizing and approving, the next steps would be the scope of work or the RFP and an agency coming on saying that they're willing to take on those duties," OHS said.
Members pressed for clarity about whether CAB bylaws or operations would change; the Chair said former CAB leadership felt the change would not alter decision-making but could remove operational hindrances. Several members urged that youth advisory boards with lived experience be explicitly named and that lived-experience voices remain central to the process.
The council also discussed timing. OHS said payments will resume based on the chosen agency's capacity after the RFP process and any charter amendments, and that OHS had begun the payment process but paused when charter concerns emerged. The Chair said the council will put related amendments on an upcoming agenda and issue a public RFP once legal and charter steps are addressed.
No formal vote was recorded on the CAB structural change at this meeting; the council asked staff to include the item in an upcoming agenda and to circulate the redlined planning grant to members when it is scheduled on Metro Council dockets.
