Volunteer group assesses east county homeless issue

A grassroots group of volunteers from Monroe brought Snohomish County Councilmember Hans Dunshee to the table last month, to contribute to its ongoing discussion on how to address the issue of homelessness in Monroe.

Spearheaded by Monroe Police and Fire Chaplain Michael Hanford, the group has been meeting once a month since March. Last month's meeting on Tuesday, June 21, at the Monroe Library included representatives from Monroe nonprofit Take the Next Step, the library, Snohomish County, the Monroe Police Department, the local faith community, the Monroe School District and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.-á

Hanford said his vision for the group is to create a forum where all the local "rubber-meets-the-roadGÇ¥ organizations work together to identify a comprehensive solution.

According to data gathered by the group, there are 187 Monroe School District students who are currently homeless, while the total number of homeless adults is being estimated at 200. Hanford said the number of adults is based on calculations from TTNS, which served 180 homeless individuals during the first four months of 2016.-á

Homelessness is a complex issue with numerous contributing factors, including mental health, criminal history and drug addiction. Sweeps made by law enforcement to clear out different homeless encampments only shifts the problem to other parts of the city, he said, and don't provide a long-term solution to the problem.

Hanford asked Dunshee about the possibility of getting an embedded social worker strictly designated to east Snohomish County. The county currently has two embedded social workers that ride along with law enforcement and are able to respond to individuals suffering from addiction and mental health issues in a different way than the typical arrest-jail-release scenario.

Dunshee said if the new .02 percent Criminal Justice Sales tax initiative passes in August, the county hopes to add an additional six social workers, and he would advocate that some of the resources be dedicated to serving east county.

"That will be decided in the budget process after it passes, but that would be where I would try to push resources,GÇ¥ Dunshee said. "I went on a ride-around with the sheriff's department, up through an encampment just outside of Sultan, that just knocked my eyes out. There are a lot of people out there in the woods.GÇ¥

The group has identified numerous challenges in Snohomish County related to addiction, including a lack of treatment facilities for low-income individuals, available detox beds and housing for individuals once they've completed a residential treatment program.

EvergreenHealth Monroe Chief Administrative Officer Eric Jensen provided some insight into a few things on the horizon that could potentially provide addicts with additional opportunities for recovery. Currently, the recovery center at EvergreenHealth does not accept uninsured or Medicaid patients, said Jensen, because the payout is so low. The state reimburses at a rate of $90 a day, which doesn't begin to cover the hospital's costs, which average around $300 a day, he said.

The hospital is in the process of evaluating the feasibility of accepting one or two patients at a time, based on a specific set of criteria established to support low-income or uninsured individuals. The patients would need to demonstrate a willingness to commit to the program, and only patients presumed to have a reasonable chance at success would be considered, he said.

"They would have to be people that we felt could participate in the treatment programs and follow through, and had a place to go afterwards,GÇ¥ Jensen said.

Additionally, the hospital is hoping to create three or four post-treatment clean and sober recovery houses, which would be available for people once they transition from residential treatment to outpatient. The sober housing model provides a supportive framework for a person new in recovery to get used to structure, staying sober, attending 12-step meetings, doing chores and learning life skills.

Recovery houses provide safe, affordable temporary housing for individuals in recovery. Numerous studies have found that sober housing can have a positive effect on long-term sobriety, particularly housing that emphasizes involvement in 12-step recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. -á -á

"Those are things we're working on right now,GÇ¥ Jensen said.