Monroe staff report rising housing instability among older adults; $76,000 in opioid settlement funds awarded

Human services staff told the Monroe City Council on April 28 that recent point-in-time and service-based counts show a rise in housing instability among older adults.

Rachel Adams, delivering the January–February human services report, said Monroe participated in the annual point-in-time count and hosted a human services resource fair. She reported 42 surveys were completed between Monroe and Snohomish, with roughly 43% of respondents over age 55 and about 67% reporting experience with domestic violence or intimate-partner violence. Adams highlighted one survey respondent who first experienced homelessness at age 78 as an indicator of growing instability among older adults on fixed incomes.

Adams also summarized program updates and referrals, including work with Snohomish County’s senior housing stability program and a LifeSet program described as serving 17–22-year-olds experiencing housing instability, mental-health challenges, foster-care or juvenile justice involvement. She said the human services division maintained a 92% rate for incoming request resolution during the reporting period.

Separately, council previously approved the allocation of just over $76,000 in opioid settlement funds for six community programs focused on recovery, behavioral-health response, case management, peer outreach and youth prevention; Adams flagged that funding in her report.

Council members asked follow-up questions about the point-in-time count methodology; Adams said the county retained the day-of-count service responses and that staff were working from partial service-based data included in the packet.