Monroe taking advantage of new county diversion center

The Monroe City Council approved an interlocal agreement with Snohomish County to participate in the agency’s recently opened diversion center.

Monroe Police will be able to transport clients there and connect them with services offered at the facility. Mayor Geoffrey Thomas recused himself from the vote and discussion because he is employed by the county. Monroe City Councilmember Jim Kamp acted as Mayor Pro Tem in Councilmember Jason Gamble’s absence.

“The diversion center allows for temporary shelter and access to basic programs to individuals in an effort to provide those individuals with a stable source of housing and services until alternative treatment or housing options become available,” said city administrator Deborah Knight.

The facility has around three dozen beds. Admitted clients can work with a sheriff’s office embedded social worker to get placed. Once there, they can stay about two weeks at a time.

Agencies participating in the county’s embedded social worker program do not have to pay for the center’s services, according to council documents.

The Monroe Police Department employs Elisa Delgado as a part-time embedded social worker. The city contributes $50,000 each year, and is 1 1/2 years into the two-year pilot program. She and Sgt. Ryan Irving make up the city’s Community Outreach Team. Delgado also works for the sheriff’s office, which has an interlocal agreement with Monroe for the work she does for the city.

They patrol the community twice a week, and work directly with people who are homeless. They check in at encampments, work to get unsafe and disordered locations cleaned up and provide rides to services, among other tasks.

Clients can also partner with a case manager, who will look for long-term options that include substance abuse treatment programs, according to the sheriff’s office. The hope is to help people — many being homeless — and divert them from jail, according to the sheriff’s office.

Knight said the agreement expires on Dec. 31. The contract can be renewed for up to three one-year terms with written notice from the county to the city, she said.

Knight noted that using the center’s services shouldn’t cost the city anything. Councilmember Patsy Cudaback asked Knight to clarify what department would be responsible for the transportation of clients to and from the center and medical appointments.

“Not that it is a cost I (don’t think) we should incur, because it seems like a great arrangement, but it seems like there is a cost there,” she said.

Cudaback said she wasn’t sure what that funding would look like. It is unknown how many people the city would have staying at the center at any given time, she said. 

Financial director Becky Hasart said the idea behind the diversion center is to keep those individuals from going to jail, but if they did, the city would still cover transportation and medical costs. So, in that sense, it doesn’t cost the city, she said.

“I think this seems like a great opportunity to collaborate for this work,” Cudaback said.