Embedded social worker addressing homelessness

Elisa Delgado has been serving as Monroe’s embedded social worker for nearly a month now, with her immediate focus being to build a rapport and trust with the city’s homeless population.

“I think it is just meeting the clients, introducing yourself, having a conversation, and letting them know who you are, what you can do, and just being there for them,” she said.

The full-time embedded social worker position was designed as a two-year pilot program, said Monroe Police Sgt. Ryan Irving, who is partnered up with Delgado. The two are assigned to take calls and reach out to clients two days a week. Delgado’s remaining hours are spent with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The embedded social worker community support position was initially proposed to offer those living in Monroe unsheltered access to someone trained to address their specific needs.

“Police aren’t traditionally focused as social workers; they are focused on arresting people,” Irving had said previously. He has acted as the primary source of contact between the city and its homeless population.

The city recently purchased a new off-road vehicle that Delgado and Irving use to travel to secluded encampments. Irving said this past month has been about making contacts and tracking down where clients stay now; a handful of encampments on city, Washington State Department of Transportation, railroad and private properties within city limits were cleaned up within the last couple of months.

Irving said their number of contacts has been greatly reduced.

He said he can’t say with accuracy at this point how many people on average are homeless in Monroe, because city staff has just started tracking those statistics. He said he has regularly been in contact with roughly 20 individuals.

According to Snohomish County’s 2017 Point in Time summary report, nearly one in nine unsheltered people surveyed said they slept in Monroe or the Sky Valley the night before the one-day count on Jan. 24; nearly one in 13 said their last permanent residence was in the area.

A large part of Delgado and Irving’s efforts are to connect clients with services. They work with the chronically and temporarily displaced. Irving said that can involve providing rides to appointments, helping to secure identification documents, getting people into detox or treatment, or connecting someone with the Department of Health and Social Services — whatever it takes to get them back on their feet. The main goal of the approach is diversion, he said.

“If someone calls us and is looking for assistance, they don’t have to be chronically homeless,” he said.

Irving said the approach is relatively new for Monroe. He maintains the old model of just clearing out camps and moving people around doesn’t work. People struggle with the same factors, such as addiction or mental health issues, no matter where they end up, he said, unless they have access to necessary supports.

Delgado said some of those resources are lacking in Monroe compared to larger municipalities, such as Everett. In the past month, she has noticed where more small opportunities could be offered, such as providing people someplace to clean up or do laundry.

“When you are trying to find a job, if you don’t have a way to shower and wash your clothes, that is going to be a barrier,” she said. 

Irving and Delgado said the interventions needed to prevent or end chronic homelessness depend on the client. Irving said he plans to work with people until they are ready to accept services.

“If we don’t do anything, nothing is going to change, and the amount of people who are affected seems to continue to grow,” he said.

The number of unsheltered homeless people in Snohomish County jumped 9 percent in 2016, and has doubled since 2013, according to the Point in Time summary report. More than half of the unsheltered homeless surveyed this year were chronically displaced. The number of people with one or more disabling conditions has increased by 132 percent since 2013.

Irving said the community impact of Delgado’s position will be evaluated in two years. The city is looking at embedded social worker models used by other cities to help evolve Monroe’s program.

Delgado previously worked on the Volunteers of America crisis line, and has served in other social services community outreach positions.