Homelessness in Washington 2021 Annual Report (August 2023)
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- 2023 Commercereports Homelessness In Washington2021 Final 6F08D103 6Efe 44E
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- 2023 Commercereports Homelessness In Washington2021 Final 6F08D103 6Efe 44E
Summary
Homelessness in Washington 2021 is an annual report to the Legislature from the Housing Division of the Washington State Department of Commerce, dated August 2023. It is prepared to meet reporting requirements including RCW 43.185C.045, and states it is late and abbreviated because of pandemic demands on staff and providers, with no report completed in 2020. It reports that the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the 2021 Point-In-Time Count of unsheltered persons, that more than $1 billion in rent assistance was delivered, and that over 11% of renter households reported being behind on rent in summer 2020. It cites a 2% increase in people in emergency shelters or unsheltered from January 2020 to January 2021 and funding for more than 1,000 new shelter beds in 22 counties. It also sets out a statutory reporting guide and homeless system performance measures.
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“Homelessness in Washington 2021 Annual Report (August 2023).”
Original at app.leg.wa.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-commercereports-homelessness-in-washington2021-final-6f08d103-6efe-44e/
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Homelessness in
Washington
2021 annual report to meet requirements in RCW 43.185c
August 2023
HOUSING DIVISION Report to the Legislature
Director Mike Fong
V3.2
Acknowledgments
Washington State Department of Commerce
Corina Grigoras, Assistant Director,
Housing Division Washington State Department of Commerce
1011 Plum St. SE
Tedd Kelleher, Housing Policy Director, P.O. Box 42525
Housing Division Olympia, WA 98504-2525
Kathy Kinard, Managing Director, www.commerce.wa.gov
Homelessness Assistance Unit
For people with disabilities, this report is available
Kyle Gitchell, Deputy Director, Homelessness on request in other formats. To submit a request,
Assistance Unit please call 360-725-4000 (TTY 360-586-0772)
Nick Mondau, Point in Time Count Manager,
Homelessness Assistance Unit
Emily Burgess, Performance Manager,
Data and Performance Unit
Talia Scott, Homeless Management Information
System Manager, Data and Performance Unit
Graham Parrington, Policy and Communications
Coordinator, Housing Division
Homelessness in Washington
State
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021
Table of Contents
Executive summary...................................................................................................................................... 2
Annual statutory reporting requirements ...................................................................................................... 3
Conditions of homelessness through June 2021 .......................................................................................... 5
Homeless system performance goals and targets ........................................................................................ 7
Homeless housing project expenditure and data report ................................................................................ 9
State-funded homeless housing reports ..................................................................................................... 10
Point in Time Count ................................................................................................................................... 11
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 1
Executive summary
Overview
Due to the unprecedented demands on Commerce employees and homeless service providers throughout the
state because of the pandemic, the report is late and abbreviated. It fulfills most reporting requirements
outlined in the Homeless Housing and Assistance Act, including RCW 43.185c.010, 040, 045, 170, 340, and
RCW 43.63A.305 and 311. These are fully described in the Annual statutory reporting requirements section.
This report was not completed in 2020. The 2019 report is available on the Commerce website.
Fiscal year 2021 highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the annual Point-In-Time Count from occurring in 2021, making year-
to-year comparisons difficult.
Commerce staff and service providers engaged in homelessness support programs focused primarily on
delivering pandemic-related funding to assist individuals impacted by the pandemic, including $1 billion
in rent assistance.
Over 11% of renter households (more than 100,000) reported being behind on rent during the summer of
2020.
The pandemic response surfaced valuable lessons and experience to strengthen statewide and local
responses to disasters, including streamlining processes to deliver assistance faster.
Pre-pandemic systemic trends continue, including high demand for and low supply of housing units,
which drives up housing costs, affecting low-income households the most.
Governor-proposed and Legislature-funded initiatives created over 1,000 new shelter beds in 22
counties.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 2
Annual statutory reporting requirements
Table 1: Guide to annual reporting requirements in this report
Subsection Excerpted reporting requirements Location in report
RCW 43.185C.045: "Homeless housing strategic plan—Annual report of department and local governments."
"An assessment of the current condition of homelessness in Washington state "Conditions of homelessness through June
(1)(a) and the state's performance in meeting the goals in the state homeless housing 2021" and "Homeless system performance
strategic plan;" goals and targets"
"A report on the results of the annual homeless point-in-time census conducted
(1)(b) statewide under RCW 43.185C.030;"
"Point-in-Time Count"
"The amount of federal, state, local, and private funds spent on homelessness
assistance, categorized by funding source and the following major assistance
types:
(i) Emergency shelter;
(ii) Homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing;
"Homeless housing project expenditure
(1)(c) (iii) Permanent housing;
and data reports"
(iv) Permanent supportive housing;
(v) Transitional housing;
(vi) Services only; and
(vii) Any other activity in which more than five hundred thousand dollars of
category funds were expended;"
"A report on the expenditures, performance, and outcomes of state funds
distributed through the consolidated homeless grant program, including the "Homeless housing project expenditure
(1)(d) grant recipient, award amount expended, use of the funds, counties served, and and data reports"
households served;"
"A report on state and local homelessness document recording fee expenditure
by county, including the total amount of fee spending, percentage of total
"Homeless housing project expenditure
(1)(e) spending from fees, number of people served by major assistance type, and
and data reports"
amount of expenditures for private rental housing payments required in
RCW 36.22.179;"
"(f) A report on the expenditures, performance, and outcomes of the essential
needs and housing support program meeting the requirements of RCW
43.185C.220; and "Homeless housing project expenditure
(1)(f) and (g) "(g) A report on the expenditures, performance, and outcomes of the and data reports"
independent youth housing program meeting the requirements of RCW
43.63A.311;"
"Any local government receiving state funds for homelessness assistance or
state or local homelessness document recording fees under RCW 36.22.178,
36.22.179, or 36.22.1791 must provide an annual report on the current
"Homeless housing project expenditure
(3) condition of homelessness in its jurisdiction … the department must produce
and data reports"
and post information on the local government's homelessness spending from
all sources by project during the prior state fiscal year in a format similar to the
department's report under subsection (1)(c) of this section."
RCW 43.185C.170: Interagency council on homelessness—Duties—Reports.
The Interagency Council on Homelessness
"The interagency council on homelessness, as defined in RCW 43.185C.010 ...
did not meet due to the COVID-19
(1) shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature annually by
pandemic and did not produce a report to
December 31st on its activities."
the Legislature as a result.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 3
Subsection Excerpted reporting requirements Location in report
RCW 43.185C.220: Essential needs and housing support program—Distribution of funds.
"In collaboration with the department of social and health services, submit a
report annually to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the legislature. A
preliminary report shall be submitted by December 31, 2011, and must include
(c)(i), (iii), and (v) of this subsection. Annual reports must be submitted
beginning December 1, 2012, and must include:
"(i) A description of the actions the department has taken to achieve the
objectives of chapter 36, Laws of 2011 1st sp. sess.;
"Homeless housing project expenditure
(7)(c) "(ii) The amount of funds used by the department to administer the program;
and data reports"
"(iii) Information on the housing status of essential needs and housing support
recipients served by housing support entities, and individuals who have
requested housing support but did not receive housing support;
"(iv) Grantee expenditure data related to administration and services provided
under this section; and
"(v) Efforts made to partner with other entities and leverage sources or public
and private funds;"
RCW 43.185C.340: Students experiencing homelessness—Grant program to link families with housing—Program
goals—Grant process—Requirements—Grantees report to the department.
"(a) Grantee organizations must compile and report information to the
department. The department shall report to the legislature the findings of the
grantee, the housing stability of the homeless families, and any related policy
recommendations.
"(b) Grantees must track and report on the following measures including, but
not limited to:
(i) Length of time enrolled in the grant program;
"Homeless housing project expenditure
(8) (ii) Housing destination at program exit;
and data reports"
(iii) Type of residence prior to enrollment in the grant program; and
(iv) Number of times homeless in the past three years.
(c) Grantees must also include in their reports a narrative description
discussing its partnership with school districts as set forth in the memorandum
outlined in subsection (4) of this section. Reports must also include the kinds of
supports grantees are providing students and families to support academic
learning.
RCW 43.63A.311: Independent youth housing program—Subcontractor organization performance review and report.
The independent youth housing program report must include, at a minimum, an
update on the following program performance measures, as well as any other
performance measures the department may establish, for enrolled youth in
consultation with the department of social and health services, to be measured
(2)(a) statewide and by county: "Homeless housing project expenditure
through (f) (a) Increases in housing stability; and data reports"
(b) Increases in economic self-sufficiency;
(c) Increases in independent living skills;
(d) Increases in education and job training attainment;
(e) Decreases in the use of all state-funded services over time;
Recommendations to the legislature and to the interagency council on
This content is presented in a
homelessness as described under RCW 43.185C.170 on program
separate report that
improvements and on departmental strategies that might assist the state to
Commerce and the
reach its goals of:
Department of Children, Youth
(2)(g) (i) Ensuring that all youth aging out of the state dependency system have
and Families submitted
access to a decent, appropriate, and affordable home in a healthy safe
separately: "Improving
environment to prevent such youth from experiencing homelessness; and
Stability for Youth Exiting
(ii) Reducing each year the percentage of young people eligible for state
Systems of Care."
assistance upon aging out of the state dependency system.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 4
Conditions of homelessness through June 2021
Responding to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant health impacts, job losses and other disruptions. This required an
immediate health response to a highly contagious virus that had social and economic impacts. This led to an
increase in the number of people unable to pay rent, which resulted in more than 11% of renters (more than
100,000 households) reporting being behind on rent during the summer of 2020. This is at least double the
normal rate.
In response to the pandemic, state and local homeless crisis response funding and staff capacity were
redirected to create quarantine and isolation beds, additional shelter beds, and rent assistance to prevent
evictions and increase the solvency of landlords. Employees at the state and local levels typically tasked with
data collection were reassigned to create housing capacity. Data collection was pared down or paused entirely
to increase administrative capacity to address the disaster. Eligibility processes and other policies governing
existing programs were modified to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and related deaths.
Because there was no official statewide count of unsheltered persons in 2021, there is no accurate
quantification of the impact of the pandemic on the number of people living outside. Increased pandemic-
driven housing instability and reduction in existing shelter facility capacity to reduce virus transmission was a
factor increasing the number of people at risk of homelessness. Adding new non-congregate shelter capacity,
increased rent assistance, and an eviction moratorium were factors mitigating increased unsheltered
homelessness. More people were observed living unsheltered in many communities, but those observations
may have been a shift of unsheltered persons from hidden locations to more visible public places. 1 The
snapshot of homelessness in Washington, produced annually via a data-sharing partnership between DSHS
and Commerce, showed a 2% increase in people living in emergency shelters or unsheltered from January
2020 to January 2021 (59,464 to 60,492.)
Regular Census Bureau data collection was not completed during the pandemic, making assessments of other
trends driving homelessness difficult. Future assessments of homelessness will be informed by regular data
collection processes restarted in late 2021, including a count of unsheltered persons in January 2022.
Because of the pandemic, the state and communities gained valuable experience standing up new housing
capacity while learning how fast processes can go when a situation is genuinely viewed as an emergency.
Communities learned how to expedite eligibility determinations to speed assistance, preventing life-
threatening denials of service. Communities reduced burdensome paperwork that can be difficult to complete
by those most in need. And initial steps were taken throughout the state to address systemic racial inequities
that cause inequitable access to housing and outcomes for those served.
As of December 2021, the homeless crisis response system capacity primarily focused on pandemic disaster
response, with the delivery of more than $1 billion in rent assistance as a central goal. 2 But the pandemic will
end, and the lessons learned in responding to the crisis will inform future work addressing homelessness.
1 Lopez, German, The New York Times, "Homeless in America: The homelessness crisis is getting worse," (July 15, 2022),
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/briefing/homelessness-america-housing-crisis.html
2 The state and federal emergencies were both ended by May 2023. We are still gathering data on the overall impacts of the pandemic
on homelessness, and will analyze that research in the coming years.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 5
Systemic drivers of homelessness remain
The systemic problems driving the increase in homelessness pre-pandemic remain and appear to be growing:
A vibrant economy that leads to growing incomes for most and related income-driven housing cost
increases, leaving some people at the margins unable to afford housing costs with low and slow-growing
incomes.
An undersupply of market rate and subsidized housing makes it difficult for people at all income levels to
find a place to live, forcing those at the margins out of their communities or into unsheltered
homelessness.
There are several proven approaches to attaining the state strategic plan vision of “No person left living
outside.” In 2020, the governor proposed, and the Legislature partially funded, an expansion of dignified and
accessible shelter opportunities throughout the state. This resulted in funding more than 1,000 new beds of
temporary housing in the 22 counties that applied for grants from Commerce and the funding of additional
permanent supportive housing beds. Additional permanent funding enacted by the Legislature for rent
assistance to prevent evictions, subsidized housing and services bring Washington closer to having the
capacity to implement an at-scale solution.
Additional federal pandemic response funding helped support shelter space through hotel and motel vouchers
and other non-congregant shelter spaces to provide temporary shelter and curtail the spread of COVID-19.
However, these funds are temporary and will no longer be available at the end of 2023.
However, the mismatch of incomes versus affordable units persists. The state and local governments do not
have an at-scale answer to the question sometimes voiced by people living outside: “Where do you want me to
go?” A meaningful answer to this question can be built on different values, politics and priorities. But at this
point, communities do not have agreed-upon and transparent answers to that question and the systematic at-
scale response necessary to bring everyone inside to a dignified place to live.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 6
Homeless system performance goals and targets
Performance measures help evaluate the effectiveness of a county's local Homeless Crisis Response System
as counties work towards ending homelessness. Commerce has identified the following as the most critical
homeless system performance measures:
Prioritizing unsheltered homeless households and households fleeing violence
Increasing exits to permanent housing
Reducing returns to homelessness
Reducing the length of time while homeless
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary changes and suspensions were made regarding grantee
performance requirements.
Prioritization requirements, established in 2016, required grantees to prioritize unsheltered homeless
households and households fleeing violence for services and projects. Compliance with this requirement can
be demonstrated by increasing the percentage of unsheltered homeless households and households fleeing
violence served or achieving unsheltered functional zero for at least two sup-populations.
In response to COVID-19, Commerce recommended that communities continue to prioritize people
experiencing unsheltered homelessness and people fleeing violence because they cannot safely self-isolate or
shelter in place. This means that these factors must be considered part of the local prioritization process. If
the COVID-19 response plan developed with public health departments identified other prioritization factors,
such as people with underlying health conditions, communities were instructed that this would be accounted
for during the performance monitoring process.
Communicating performance
Commerce analyzes homeless system performance quarterly and annually to assess the degree to which
systems are making progress on their benchmarks. Performance outcomes are communicated through data
visualizations, which provide information on critical homeless system performance measures and contextual
information about a community’s homeless crisis response system.
The County Report Card provides annual performance outcomes for each county and the state. Data from all
homeless housing projects participating in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) are
included. Due to COVID-19, the County Report Card was not updated for state fiscal year 2020. The County
Report Card was updated for state fiscal year 2021.
Previous monitoring findings showed that poor HMIS data quality affected accurate performance reporting in
many communities. In response, Commerce introduced the HMIS Data Quality Dashboard in October 2019.
The purpose of the Data Quality Dashboard is to provide a tool for HMIS users in the Washington Balance of
State Continuum of Care to easily monitor the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of their data and make
improvements as needed.
In September 2020, Commerce introduced the Equity Analysis Dashboard to facilitate the analysis of racial and
ethnic disparities among people who are entering the homeless system in the Washington Balance of State
Continuum of Care. Because each community has unique circumstances, the ability to drill down these racial
and ethnic disparities to the county or regional level is critical in identifying and changing racial and ethnic bias
in each system and service.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 7
Performance monitoring
Performance monitoring was suspended for the contract period in response to COVID-19. However,
communities monitored their progress using the Consolidated Homeless Grant Performance Tracker, which
was updated quarterly throughout the contract period.
Data sources
The HMIS is the data source for most of the information used in the “Washington State Homeless System
Performance Reports.” Homeless housing service providers use HMIS to collect and manage data while
providing housing assistance to people experiencing homelessness. Other data sources include the annual
County Expenditure Report and the annual Point-In-Time Count.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 8
Homeless housing project expenditure and data report
RCW 43.185c.045 requires that each county in Washington report all expenditures by funding sources (federal,
state and local) for homeless housing projects in their community. Commerce combines expenditures data
with Homeless Management Information System data to create an even more comprehensive report that
reports expenditures and links them to outcomes.
The table below summarizes the number of beds and cost per homeless housing intervention.
Table 2: Homeless housing project expenditures for state fiscal year 2021 by
intervention type
Total bed Total Cost per day Cost per successful
Intervention type inventory expenditures per household exit per household
Emergency shelter 3 13,592 $118,337,019 $54 $21,596
Transitional housing 4 4,453 $19,201,357 $34 $17,716
Rapid rehousing 5 7613 $73,415,478 $50 $22,053
Homeless prevention 6 n/a $34,005,559* $28 $5,831
Permanent supportive
12,552 $82,421,812 $33 $161,526
housing 7
* Does not include the temporary federal funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The state fiscal year 2021 homeless housing projects expenditure and data report is on the State Strategic
Plan, Annual Reports and Audits webpage.
Learn how the Performance Office uses the expenditure and data report on the Commerce Homeless System
Performance webpage.
3 Emergency Shelter (ES) provides short-term temporary shelter (lodging) for those experiencing homelessness. Emergency Shelters
can be facility-based or hotel/motel voucher. Emergency Shelter programs are typically designed and intended to provide temporary
shelter for short- term stays: up to three months. Clients are not required to exit after 90 days.
4 Transitional Housing (TH) is subsidized, facility-based housing that is designed to provide long-term temporary housing and to move
households experiencing homelessness into permanent housing. Lease or rental agreements are required between the transitional
housing project and the household.
5 Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) quickly moves households from homelessness into permanent housing by providing: (1) Housing
Identification Services: Recruit landlords to provide housing for RRH participants and assist households with securing housing, (2)
Financial Assistance: Provide assistance to cover move-in costs and deposits as well as ongoing rent and/or utility payments, and (3)
Case Management and Services: Provide services and connections to community resources that help households maintain housing
stability.
6 Homelessness Prevention (HP) helps households who are at risk of homelessness to maintain or obtain stable housing and avoid
homelessness. Services include housing-focused case management and temporary rent subsidies.
7 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is subsidized, non-time-limited housing with support services for homeless households that
include a household member with a permanent disability. Support services must be made available but participation is voluntary. PSH
may be provided as a rent assistance (scattered site) or facility-based model. For facility-based models, a lease or rental agreement is
required between the PSH project and the household. The services and the housing are available permanently.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 9
State-funded homeless housing reports
Several RCWs require Commerce to report on expenditures, performance and outcomes of state funds for the
following:
Consolidated Homeless Grant: RCW 43.285c.045
Housing and Essential Needs: RCW 43.185C.220
Homeless Student Stability Program: RCW 43.185C.340
Independent Youth Housing Program: RCW 43.63A.311
Commerce reports include the grant recipient and service area, expenditures, interventions and the number of
households assisted. They may also include additional specific information required in each RCW.
The state fiscal year 2021 state-funded homeless housing reports are on our web pages.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 10
Point in Time Count
RCW 43.185C.045 requires Commerce to report on the annual homeless point-in-time census conducted under
RCW 43.185C.030.
Annually, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires a count of all persons
experiencing homelessness in Washington during a single night in January. The count includes persons in
emergency or temporary housing projects (sheltered) and those living in places not meant for human
habitation, such as tent encampments, vehicles or abandoned buildings (unsheltered).
Due to difficulties and dangers imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, HUD and Washington waived the 2021
unsheltered count requirement. The regular sheltered count still took place.
Point in Time Count results by county are located on the Commerce Annual Point in Time Count webpage.
HOMELESSNESS IN WASHINGTON 2021 11
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