Permanent Supportive Housing Advisory Committee Report (Washington Department of Commerce, February 2024)
Summary
Annual report of the Permanent Supportive Housing Advisory Committee, dated February 2024, from the Washington State Department of Commerce Office of Apple Health and Homes, issued pursuant to RCW 43.330.425. The report says the Legislature created the committee to provide guidance and recommendations on the administration of permanent supportive housing (PSH) programs managed by the Department of Commerce. It states that there were 260 applications for the 26 legislatively required positions and that four quarterly meetings took place between November 2022 and August 2023. It describes a strategic visioning exercise at the February 16, 2023 meeting, the election of a chair in May, and adoption of bylaws in August. It also says eleven of the 26 members have lived experience residing in PSH.
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“Permanent Supportive Housing Advisory Committee Report (Washington Department of Commerce, February 2024).”
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Permanent Supportive
Housing Advisory
Committee
Annual report pursuant to RCW 43.330.425
February 2024
OFFICE OF APPLE HEALTH AND
HOMES - PERMANENT Report to the Legislature
SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
Director Mike Fong
v3.4
Acknowledgments
Washington State Department of Commerce
Melodie Pazolt, Managing Director
Office of Apple Health and Homes — Permanent
Supportive Housing
Jeff Spring, Deputy Managing Director
Office of Apple Health and Homes — Permanent
Supportive Housing
Oliver Crain, HAU Deputy Managing Director
BDS Planning & Urban Design
Ishmael Nuñez, Partner
Natalia Koss Vallejo, Project Manager
1011 Plum St. SE
P.O. Box 42525
Olympia, WA 98504-2525
www.commerce.wa.gov
For people with disabilities, this report is available on
request in other formats. To submit a request, please
call 360-725-4000 (TTY 360-586-0772)
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 2
2.0
Table of Contents
Executive summary .........................................................................................................................................4
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................6
Strategic prioritization exercise results ...........................................................................................................8
Synopsis of rural/urban breakout workgroups ...............................................................................................11
Appendix A: Committee meetings .................................................................................................................13
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 3
Executive summary
Overview
In Chapter 266, Laws of 2022 (SHB 1724), the Legislature created the Permanent Supportive Housing Advisory
Committee to provide guidance and recommendations on the administration of permanent supportive housing
(PSH) programs managed by the Department of Commerce (Commerce). This report satisfies Section 2(2)(d)
of Chapter 266, Laws of 2022, which requires the committee:
Until December 31, 2027, report its recommendations to enhance the coordination and availability of permanent
supportive housing to the appropriate committees of the legislature and the governor by December 1st of each year.
This report fulfills that requirement. It also describes the establishment of the committee and the first year of
activities, including the selection of members, selection of a chair, and preliminary recommendations to ensure
alignment of capital, services, and operating investments and fidelity of the provision of permanent supportive
housing from the four quarterly meetings held between November 2022 and August 2023.
Highlights
Commerce released a request for proposals in June 2022 and selected BDS Planning and Urban Design to
assist our staff with creating the committee and organizing and facilitating the committee meetings, including
setting up the committee bylaws. Commerce worked with BDS Planning to formulate an application inclusive
of all the criteria for each position on the PSH Advisory Committee as listed in Chapter 266, Laws of 2022 (SHB
1724, Section 2). A regional approach to identify geographic distribution was created using the Apple Health
Integrated Managed Care regions as a guide.
The Legislature required 26 advisory positions, of which four were identified as state agency-represented
positions. The director of Commerce has appointing authority. There were 260 applications for the 26
legislatively required positions due to extensive marketing and outreach to the identified community groups
and state agencies. BDS and Commerce reviewed each application, established a shortlist, and made
recommendations for the Commerce director, who selected the appointees. Appointment letters were sent
before the first committee meeting, on November 17, 2022.
Subsequent meetings were held on Feb. 16, May 18, and Aug. 17, 2023. BDS Planning met individually with
committee members between meetings to offer support, debrief, provide additional context, or address any
unanswered questions or issues not addressed in the committee meetings. As the committee members are in
different stages in their understanding of the challenges of PSH, each meeting included an educational
component on the issues, resources and challenges. During the February meeting, the committee embarked
upon a strategic planning process to envision an ideal state of PSH in Washington 20 years in the future. This
conversation also identified turning points that would lead to those goals. Commerce presented strategies
under their area of control that could impact the turning points at the May committee meeting. The committee
then prioritized the eight strategies through a virtual poll. The August meeting did a deeper dive into the top
prioritized strategy, breaking it down into specific recommendations from the committee.
In addition to focusing on PSH strategies, the committee elected a chair during the May committee meeting
and adopted bylaws at the August meeting. Discussions have occurred at each committee meeting regarding
the equity of the committee, prompting Commerce to create an information session on the recruitment and
appointment process. The session was recorded and posted on the Commerce website.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 4
Overview of the first year
The committee's first year was focused on developing and informing the committee since members have a
broad continuum of knowledge about PSH. Discussions focused on how committee members were recruited,
equity and diversity of the membership, development of the bylaws and the chair election, education, and 'level
setting' on the definitions of PSH resources and the structure and distribution of state and local funding.
Eleven of the 26 members have lived experience, either currently or formerly residing in PSH, and are not as
familiar with the formal structures and funding sources. However, their perspectives on navigating the
complexity of the systems are very valuable. The committee members are anxious to dive into deeper
discussions on the issues and challenges of expanding and improving the quality of PSH throughout
Washington. However, ensuring everyone was on the same page with definitions, concepts and principles, and
PSH models was important. BDS Planning spent extensive time supporting all members of the PSH Advisory
Committee, particularly individuals with lived experience, with one-on-one meetings between the quarterly
meetings.
Each meeting is recorded with materials posted on the Commerce Permanent Supportive Housing Advisory
Committee website.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 5
Introduction
Membership
Commerce selected BDS Planning to assist with creating the committee, organizing and facilitating committee
meetings, and drafting the committee bylaws. The work also included application development, marketing,
distribution, and facilitation of committee meetings.
Summary of the process to formulate recommendations for membership
Step 1: Application
Commerce and BDS Planning created an application with the criteria associated with each position on the PSH
Advisory Committee. We used a regional approach based on the Apple Health Integrated Managed Care
regions to identify applicants to ensure geographic distribution of the membership.
Outreach and marketing:
BDS Planning outreach efforts through internal list-serves
Commerce GovDelivery to Housing and Homeless List (over 4,000 contacts)
Marketing through Commerce's Community Engagement Team
Presentations to Communities of Concern Commission
Outreach to the Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council
Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) distributed information through its GovDelivery network of
over 4,000 people with lived experience
Commerce contacted the Department of Social and Health Services Aging and Long-Term Support
Administration (DSHS-ALTSA), DSHS-Research and Data Analysis (DSHS-RDA), DSHS-Developmental
Disabilities Administration (DSHS-DDA), and HCA for the state agency appointments
A total of 260 applications were received from Sept. 8-30, 2022, of which 64% identified as white and 36%
identified as people of color.
Step 2: Review of applications against legislative criteria
BDS and Commerce reviewed each application against the following criteria:
Did the applicant indicate the criteria of the seat for which they applied and describe their relevant
experiences?
Did the applicant reflect the geographic diversity of the state of Washington (King County, urban, rural,
frontier1)?
Did the applicant reflect the racial/ethnic diversity of Washington?
Did the applicant have lived experience of homelessness?
Did the applicant have lived experience of substance use or behavioral health disorder? (Research
indicates a significant prevalence of behavioral health conditions in individuals who experience
homelessness2).
Was the applicant a current resident of permanent supportive housing?
1
Wilger, Susan, National Rural Health Association, "Definition of Frontier," (2016),
https://www.ruralhealth.us/getattachment/Advocate/Policy-Documents/NRHAFrontierDefPolicyPaperFeb2016.pdf.aspx
2 National Alliance to End Homelessness, Health and Homelessness, (updated December 2023),
https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-causes-homelessness/health/
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 6
Step 3: Establishing a shortlist
BDS and Commerce staff scored applications based on the above criteria. BDS and Commerce created a
shortlist that prioritized diverse representation across geography, lived experience, race and ethnicity, and
residency in permanent supportive housing. Upon examining candidates on the shortlist, BDS and Commerce
narrowed down the recommendations by identifying duplication of experience or qualifications and selecting
candidates who either:
1. Scored highest
2. Provided geographic representation
3. Whose experience wasn’t already reflected on the final list
The final list of selected members is included in Appendix A. On April 28, 2023, Commerce conducted an
information session on the recruitment process, which was posted on the Commerce website. The PowerPoint
illustrating the process of narrowing the positions from the highest-scoring applicants and the geographic
representation, equity, and lived experience of the final candidate list is also included in Appendix A.
Table 1: Demographics of the 25 original members selected for the Committee (one
open position)
Demographics Percent
Identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community 12%
Identify as people of color 40%
Identify as having experienced homelessness and/or behavioral health conditions 60%
One committee member was discharged from the committee. A subcommittee was established during the
August committee meeting to recruit members for existing open positions and future recruitments. BDS and
Commerce staff are currently recruiting for two positions, including someone living in PSH representing the
intellectual/developmental disability community and someone living in PSH representing the physical disability
community.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 7
Strategic prioritization exercise results
Process
At the Feb. 16, 2023, PSH Advisory Committee meeting, members were asked to participate in a strategic
visioning exercise where they imagined what the newspaper headlines would say 20 years in the future if we
successfully transform PSH in Washington so it serves everyone who needs it (including capital, rent
assistance, services), how to ensure PSH is available in every community for all populations, and how to
increase the quality of PSH overall. The themes from that visioning exercise are listed in Table 2. The group
visioning exercise responded to the following discussion prompt:
Consider 20 years into the future and the ideal state of PSH in Washington …
What will the newspaper/article headline read about our progress in PSH housing-impacted
populations?
As you look back, what were the turning points or breakthroughs along the way?
Results from the committee to the prompts
Table 2: "What will the PSH newspaper headlines look like in 20 years?"
Housing advocates work to create a system where ALL residents have all their housing needs met.
The State of Washington ends chronic homelessness, providing safe and dignified homes for individuals and families in our
communities.
Homelessness is addressed at the underlying services and support needed, not just the outer layer of being homeless.
Anyone in need CAN actually access supportive housing services that meet their needs right when they need it.
Homelessness, once considered intractable, is no longer a reality for low-income individuals and families in Washington State.
PSH vision becomes a reality with multi-tiered housing models tailored to the wants and needs of individuals, providing housing
and services to people without wait times.
Homelessness is addressed as a HUMAN issue and not merely a lack of structure issue.
Washington has created innovative, successful, award-winning systems that are studied and copied regionally, nationally, and
internationally.
Washington provides on-demand, tailored support paired with permanent rent assistance to meet the housing needs of its
population.
Tried and tested Washington state PSH provides wraparound case management for EVERY individual, supportive of EVERY resident
in self-actualization.
Washington state successfully develops enough housing to decrease homelessness in our state by 50%. Cost savings are
estimated to be in the billions.
Ability to use resources effectively, using vouchers etc., drastically reduces housing crisis in Washington state.
Next, Committee members were asked what turning points would need to take place to achieve those desired
outcomes. After the strategic visioning exercise, committee members engaged in one-on-one conversations
with BDS staff to discuss their priorities in further detail. The ideas initially expressed in the visioning exercise
were used as a jumping-off point for these conversations.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 8
Notes from the one-on-one conversations and the list of "turning points" suggestions from the strategic
visioning exercise were combined and shared with Commerce staff, who reviewed the priority suggestions.
Commerce staff synthesized these ideas into a working list of ideas within the scope of the state Legislature
and/or the agency and simplified these ideas into a list of eight possible strategies that the PSH Advisory
Committee could prioritize.
The May 18, 2023, PSH Advisory Committee meeting resulted in a review and further discussion of these
strategies. Members then received a survey to prioritize the eight strategies. The survey was designed as a
"ranked choice" voting system in SurveyMonkey, where members could indicate which strategy they felt was
most important, which was second most important, and so forth. A point value was assigned to each strategy
based on its rank. Each of these strategies was linked to the themes from the Turning Points (see below).
Members could add narrative comments to elaborate on their choices.
Results
The list of priorities is in Table 3 in order of the highest scoring priority to the lowest scoring priority as a result
of the voting from the participating members of the committee. The committee members strongly preferred to
focus on understanding regional capital investments, emphasizing the differences in how funds have been
utilized towards different PSH models and outcomes in urban vs. rural settings.
Table 3: Strategies and prioritization
Commerce strategy Description Turning point theme Rank
Regional Investment - Create/finalize a PSH inventory to (1) identify PSH unit
distribution across the state, (2) analyze the need for further targeted Capital Bricks &
Regional investments 1
investments, (3) generate estimates of required spending, (4) understand Mortar
what models of PSH are present in different communities (urban/rural, etc.)
Help By/For and smaller community-based organizations develop the capacity
Capacity grants Anti-Discrimination 2
to leverage resources to sustain themselves and provide PSH.
Support PSH's continuous quality improvement by assessing projects across
Capital Bricks &
Quality assessment time through the Operations, Maintenance, & Services (OMS) funding 3
Mortar
program.
Expand the long-term tenant- and project-based rental assistance program
Increase rent called Community Behavioral Health Rent Assistance (CBRA) Program to
Financial Subsidies 4
assistance include strategies such as master leasing for individuals exiting both mental
health and substance use treatment facilities.
Create a formal strategy to address how individuals are discharged that
Inpatient discharge
promotes the utilization of peer support and community health workers to Systems 5
improvement
help navigate and access PSH to avoid discharging to homelessness.
Communication Provide information to advocates, non-profits, by-and-for organizations, and
Anti-Discrimination 6
toolkit local government leaders on PSH, what it is and isn't, and other PSH info.
Require feedback from people with lived experience in multiple systems; build
Feedback loop Systems 7
feedback requirements into contracts.
Provide recipients of funds with clear requirements and tools to share
New program start-up information about new programs with system partners, advocates, people Systems 8
experiencing homelessness, and other stakeholders.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 9
Table 4: Turning points, or "Breakthroughs that lead to the newspaper headlines,"
were grouped into eight themes and various strategies
1. Tools 2. Systems
Case management software
Improve the discharge planner's toolkit 211 system as a model for case management. More
No one discharged into homelessness numbers (311, 411, etc.) for other needs
Homeless classification broader Less reliance on Social Security Numbers or phone numbers
Government transparency and accountability to the for identification
homeless sector "No wrong door" approach
Better statewide systems across agencies and organizations, Housing Choice Vouchers for everyone
creating consistency, transparency and improving efficiency
3. Workforce development 4. Supportive services
Invest in workforce development
Community-supported Housing First models
Homeless service providers are well-paid and supported
24/7 access to services, not just M-F 9-5
Peers are trained and empowered as community advocates
5. Anti-discrimination 6. Financial and subsidies
End stigmatization of vulnerable populations Fiscal investments at the scale that we need
No discrimination for income source Better resource coordination
7. Capital - bricks and mortar 8. Landlord and market mitigation
Robust tenant protections mitigate market pressures
Supply of affordable housing Compensation for landlords for high-risk tenants with
Land allocation to affordable housing complex needs
Centrally located brick-and-mortar housing locations with Landlord mitigation funds should not be reimbursements;
walk-in availability smaller landlords can't front the money
Landlord incentives
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 10
Synopsis of rural/urban breakout workgroups
Facilitators from Commerce and BDS attended two breakout sessions within the PSH Advisory Committee.
Each breakout workgroup was asked to respond to the following questions:
What are the barriers to building/developing/purchasing PSH in [Rural/Urban] areas?
What strategies do you recommend to address the barriers to building/developing/purchasing PSH in
[Rural/Urban] areas?
How can we help small grassroots organizations and by-and-for organizations with capital development to
serve marginalized populations?
Urban breakout room - challenges
Workforce capacity – do not have enough people to operate the building or project for funding available
Finding the balance between large buildings dedicated to PSH serving a complex population where real
estate is prime and smaller-scale projects where individuals can build community
NIMBYism (“Not In My Back Yard”) and limited resources
Does the number of units available impact the local PSH housing targets? The benefit of a larger building
footprint is = a greater impact for more people and more economical to run a site for several residents.
Building and sustaining Permanent Supportive Housing sites/units requires finding the “sweet spot”
between all of these factors:
• Operations (what are the services needed and offered?)
• Management and Capacity (what does it take to run the site?)
• Benefit to community and residents
Rural breakout room - challenges
Prevalence of service deserts; communities do not have pre-existing services such as mental health,
physical health, laundromats, etc.
NIMBYism (“Not In My Back Yard”) is pervasive, and community members are resistant to building PSH in
their neighborhoods.
A smaller and more spread-out workforce makes hiring and maintaining staff difficult (long commutes, low
wages, fewer competitive job applicants in a given area).
Uniquely rural considerations include low fair market rents (FMR), competing needs for H2A visa worker
housing, and competition around funding and land, which also impacts land/building availability for PSH
developers.
Urban breakout room - strategies
Pooling or clustering shared services and staff. For example, campus setting or building PSH near existing
community services such as low-income clinics and food banks.
Anti-stigma campaign to combat NIMBYism.
More funding is needed from all levels of government not only for building new sites but also for continued
operations, maintenance, and services.
Permitting and development standards reform to support faster new development for affordable housing.
Continue to expand the rapid capital acquisition program.
Promote more relationships between public housing authorities and community service organizations so
that the housing authorities are being leveraged as experts in the development process.
Convert unused office space into housing.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 11
Rural breakout room - strategies
Overcoming NIMBYism with Anti-stigma and public education campaigns.
Empower and support local landlords by offering reimbursements, mitigation funds, legal support, and
education so that they can take on riskier tenants.
Reducing barriers to gain entry for tenants. For example, stipulations about their past, credit scores,
sobriety, or no-pet policies create significant barriers to entry.
We need different rate structures in rural areas – a one-size-fits-all approach of laws/rates/building
regulations/funding mechanisms based on urban development models does not work for rural
communities.
Technical assistance, mentorship, and training programs for smaller organizations and community groups.
Hiring a case manager for each property to assist people early in the lease-up process for issues that come
up like filling out the applications, getting their driver's license or social security cards, and other things that
are needed for entry, along with helping specifically with companion animal issues.
Helping small grassroots organizations/ by-and-for organizations
with capital development to serve marginalized populations -
Strategies
Small by-and-for organizations need to partner with funders who can hold some of the burden of risk over
the lifespan of the housing site’s existence. The government should also help to carry some of this risk.
Providing consultant or technical assistance organization that has been doing this work for a while - create
space for collaboration and relationship building.
Implement a 'Supportive Housing Institute' (Curriculum created by the Corporation for Supportive Housing)
dedicated to by-and-for organizations.
Provide more unrestricted funds for pre-development grants.
Mentorship program - from larger to smaller organizations (community cross-pollinating).
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 12
Appendix A: Committee meetings
First PSH Advisory Committee meeting — Nov. 17, 2022
The first PSH Advisory Committee meeting was held on November 17, 2022, with welcoming remarks from Dr.
Lisa Brown, then-director of Commerce, and Rep. Nicole Macri, the sponsor of the establishing legislation.
Committee members introduced themselves, described what they hoped the committee would accomplish,
and explained why they were personally invested.
Some key themes included:
Elevating the stories and nuanced experiences of folks with lived experience of permanent supportive
housing and homelessness
Addressing specific sub-population needs as it intersects with homelessness and housing
Increasing the quality of permanent supportive housing and quality of living
Building pathways to create more permanent supportive housing options
Improving the coordination of resources and collaboration across state agencies
BDS Planning reviewed the committee's purpose, role and expectations. Members were sent background
materials, including a copy of the legislation, educational materials such as PSH models, information about the
effectiveness of PSH, research and quality indicators, and more information about the various resources
available. Committee expectations and interpersonal norms were presented to the group.
Minimum expectations include:
Meet quarterly
Contribute to the development of a yearly report to the Legislature
Support the direction and priorities for permanent supportive housing
Strategic planning on expanding and scaling permanent supportive housing
Respond to recommendations on issues identified by Commerce staff
Learning and material review between meetings
Melodie Pazolt, managing director of the Office of Apple Health and Homes/Permanent Supportive Housing,
also presented to the committee. Pazolt provided an overview of the definitions of PSH, the principles of the
evidence-based practice model from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
and the PSH funding framework, which is described as the three legs of the stool:
1) Capital: Bricks and mortar
2) Subsidies: Rents, also known as operations and maintenance
3) Supportive housing services
Permanent supportive housing, or PSH, is defined in RCW 36.70A.030 as:
subsidized, leased housing with no limit on length of stay that prioritizes people who need comprehensive support
services to retain tenancy and utilizes admissions practices designed to use lower barriers to entry than would be
typical for other subsidized or unsubsidized rental housing, especially related to rental history, criminal history, and
personal behaviors. Permanent supportive housing is paired with on- or off-site voluntary services designed to
support a person living with a complex and disabling behavioral health or physical health condition who was
experiencing homelessness or was at imminent risk of homelessness before moving into housing to retain their
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 13
housing and be a successful tenant in a housing arrangement, improve the resident's health status, and connect the
resident of the housing with community-based health care, treatment, or employment services. Permanent
supportive housing is subject to all the rights and responsibilities defined in chapter 59.18 RCW.
The committee also reviewed administrative activities and responsibilities, including nominating a chair and
adopting bylaws. Commerce and BDS adopted the Community Compensation Guidelines set forth by the
Washington State Office of Equity and shared the process and mechanics for reimbursing qualifying members
with lived experience for their time. A poll after the meeting identified members interested in being the chair.
Second PSH Advisory Committee meeting — Feb. 16, 2023
Committee members were asked, "What does Permanent Supportive Housing mean to you?" and "Who
benefits from Permanent Supportive Housing?" before the second committee meeting. As a group, we
reviewed two word-cloud graphics summarizing their responses.
Melodie Pazolt, managing director of the Office of Apple Health and Homes/Permanent Supportive Housing,
gave more background information on PSH and discussed the projected needs for the housing type in
Washington. She also addressed misconceptions about PSH and explored the definitions and relationship of
the “three legs of the stool” for PSH: Subsidies and rents, supportive services, and capital bricks and mortar.
She emphasized that while each “leg of the stool” has a role, the coordination and quality of the entire stool will
have the best impact on the population most in need.
Committee feedback and discussion:
Committee members said the “legs of the stool” aren’t always present, and many people cannot access
housing. The stool legs are uneven/wobbly and sometimes don’t even appear to exist.
Several members acknowledged and shared stories regarding the complicated and traumatic experiences
of navigating the system.
The group acknowledged a series of existing barriers in the current state of permanent supportive housing.
BDS facilitator Ishmael Nuñez proposed creating a shared “Why we’re here” list based on the committee’s
feedback to ground everyone on current issues.
PSH strategic planning – vision and turning points
As outlined in the advisory committee's expectations, the group will provide a meaningful role in guiding
Commerce's strategic planning around PSH. BDS's Nuñez proposed a strategic planning framework, and the
group participated in a visioning exercise in response, the results of which are contained in the "Strategic
prioritization exercise results" section.
Committee structural business
The remaining portion of the committee meeting focused on structural or administrative business. Draft
bylaws were reviewed and distributed to committee members before the meeting. The purpose of bylaws and
how they will serve the group was discussed. Members provided input, suggestions, and edits to the
facilitators on changes, with the goal of voting on the bylaws at a future meeting.
Committee members agreed that there should be a Chair Selection Sub-Committee and that Committee
members may either serve on that subcommittee or pursue the chair role, but not both. A Chair Selection Sub-
Committee will help craft the process of selecting, interviewing, and voting on chair candidates and providing
recommendations to the PSH Advisory Committee.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 14
Based on the Washington State Office of Equity guidelines, BDS Planning presented
County Units of PSH
an overview of the compensation process, including eligibility. Due to technical
difficulties, this meeting was not recorded; however, the meeting materials are posted Asotin 0
on the Commerce PSH Advisory Committee website. Chelan 0
Columbia 0
Third PSH Advisory Committee meeting — May 18, Cowlitz 0
2023 Douglas 0
The third PSH Advisory Committee meeting began with the Committee's structural Ferry 0
and administrative business. Committee group session. A review of suggested bylaw Garfield 0
edits based on feedback and process updates was also highlighted. The committee Grant 0
was encouraged to review the bylaws and make any recommended changes or Kittitas 0
suggestions in preparation for official voting at the August meeting.
Lincoln 0
The advisory board also reviewed the chair selection subcommittee's April 2023 Okanogan 0
meeting. This subcommittee's four members met to discuss the chair selection Pend Oreille 0
process, voting recommendations, and to review interested candidates. There were San Juan 0
eight self-selected candidates, of which two submitted letters of interest. The
Skamania 0
subcommittee discussed interview practices, including video calls and potential
questions. The subcommittee was unable to reach a consensus on the process. BDS Wahkiakum 0
and Commerce decided to use an online voting tool during the May meeting for the Whitman 0
two candidates who submitted their formal letters of interest. Each candidate was Walla Walla 6
given four minutes to speak to the whole committee. This vote selected Autumn Island 10
Nolan.
Benton 16
The remainder of the meeting focused on continuing the strategic planning process. Jefferson 19
Notes from the one-on-one conversations and the list of “turning points” suggestions Klickitat 23
from the strategic visioning exercise were combined and shared with Commerce Grays Harbor 24
staff, who reviewed the priority suggestions. Commerce staff synthesized these
Mason 30
ideas into a working list of strategies within the scope of the authorizing statute
and/or the agency based on the turning point themes. Pacific 30
Skagit 35
With the turning point themes, Commerce identified several action items the agency Lewis 55
could implement or influence, then requested the PSH Advisory Committee prioritize
Franklin 59
the strategies. These strategies were presented as a survey in SurveyMonkey with a
ranked-choice voting system, where members could indicate their prioritized Stevens 70
strategies in order. Each of these strategies was linked to the themes from the Clallam 91
turning points. Members could add comments to elaborate on their choices. The Kitsap 95
"Strategic prioritization exercise results" section lists the strategies and prioritization Whatcom 175
results.
Pierce 202
Fourth PSH Advisory Committee meeting — Aug. 17, Snohomish 281
Thurston 285
2023 Yakima 298
Building from the strategic planning process in the previous meetings, the fourth PSH Clark 379
Advisory Committee meeting focused on regional investments, which was the
Spokane 790
highest priority strategy identified by members. The meeting delved into the bricks-
King 5220
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 15
and-mortar development of PSH, regional inventory, and identifying regions where targeted investments are
needed.
During the August meeting, there were presentations from several committee members including DSHS-
Research and Data Analysis (DSHS-RDA), a PSH housing owner/operator, a PSH developer and the managing
director of the Housing Trust Fund. Commerce assembled an inventory of PSH units based on capital-funded
projects with Housing Contracts Management System (HCMS), a capital contracts data platform, as well as
the organizations currently under contract for the PSH operations, maintenance, and services funding (PSH-
OMS). This inventory does not include locally funded projects and may not fully encompass all data sources or
PSH projects throughout the state, but represents a summary of Commerce-funded or -supported units.
Taylor Danielson, the PSH researcher on the committee, presented information on the number of individuals
who are projected to need PSH. Using data from multiple administrative data sources through the integrated
client databases, DSHS-RDA can link individuals through multiple systems for evaluation, performance and
analysis purposes. Through analysis of risk conditions, such as chronic health conditions, serious mental
health and substance use disorders, criminal/legal system involvement, and longitudinal involvement with
multiple systems, RDA was able to forecast the number of individuals who may need PSH now and into the
future. Additional information on the forecasted need for PSH can be found in the DSHS-RDA report submitted
to the Legislature, Projected Demand for Permanent Supportive Housing (2023).
In addition to identifying the number of individuals who may need PSH, Chapter 254, Laws of 2021 (E2SHB
1220) directed Commerce to project future housing needs for jurisdictions by income bracket. Local
jurisdictions must include housing for households with moderate, low, very low, and extremely low incomes, as
well as emergency housing and permanent supportive housing, in their planning efforts. Commerce created a
calculation toolkit that projects the current PSH units by county combined with population growth, which
results in an estimate of over 122,000 units of PSH units in the next twenty years. Additional information on the
methodology for the calculation, the calculator, training and materials are available on the Commerce Growth
Management webpage.
Two committee members, who are also experts in the development of PSH, presented information on the
complexity of putting together capital grant applications. Rhonda Hauff (Yakima Neighborhood Health
Services) and Ginger Segel (GS Consulting LLC) presented their experiences of stacking and braiding various
funding sources to purchase or construct affordable housing units. The joint presentation demonstrated the
complexity and challenges involved with expanding project-based PSH units.
Nate Lichti, managing director of Commerce's Multi-Family Housing Unit, then highlighted the legislative
investments from the 2023-25 biennial budget, and recapped the results of investments from the previous
biennium. The 2021-23 biennium resulted in 2,153 awarded PSH units across 54 projects (or communities),
seven projects that restricted 119 units for Apple Health and Homes.
Average of 47 units per project
Average of 40 PSH units per project
Average of 17 AHAH units per AHAH project
Rural/urban breakout workgroups
After the presentations, the committee broke into two separate workgroups: One workgroup focused on urban
areas, and the second workgroup on rural areas. Commerce and BDS staff facilitated the workgroups. The
questions the workgroup responded to, and the results from the workgroups are presented in the "Synopsis of
rural/urban breakout workgroups" section.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 16
Structural and administrative business
The second half of the meeting was focused on the structural/administrative business of the PSH Advisory
Committee, including the voting on the bylaws and discussing recruitment and appointment of members. The
committee passed the bylaws. A copy of the bylaws is posted on the PSH Advisory Committee webpage.
Subcommittee development
Next, the PSH Advisory Committee focused on developing two subcommittees. As of this report, there are two
open membership positions. One position has been vacant since the beginning (a person with lived
intellectual/developmental disabilities living in PSH), and one member was dismissed (a person with physical
disabilities living in PSH). It was also shared that one member has never attended a meeting; per the newly
passed bylaws, unexcused absences from three meetings would result in removal. This conversation resulted
in the creation of two new subcommittees:
1) Subcommittee on Recruitment: This subcommittee will likely meet three times per year to improve the
committee’s existing recruitment methods and strategies, the application process, and improving equity
and diversity.
2) Subcommittee on Membership: This subcommittee is expected to meet once annually (after the
recruitment subcommittee has completed its efforts) and communicate over email before the annual
meeting. This subcommittee's primary role is reviewing applicants for vacant committee positions and to
nominate members for the committee. The Chair will present the top nomination to the committee. Per
RCW 43.330.425, only the director of the Department of Commerce can officially appoint members; the
subcommittee would assess eligibility and vote on recommendations.
Members were encouraged to submit their interest in the two committees via a submission form provided by
BDS Planning.
Complete information on each meeting, the recordings and handouts are available on the PSH Advisory
Committee webpage.
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE 17
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