Agenda Packet 1-22-19 Joint Work Session

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In March 2018, the University of Washington released the results of an extensive study of the Seattle Navigation Center; below are the recommendations most relevant to Lane County: • Both outreach and on-site staff should be clear and transparent with communication about the Center’s purpose, policies, and procedures—especially regarding length of stay—to avoid misunderstandings and to ensure potential guests can make an informed decision about whether the Center will be a good fit • Length of stay should be flexible and renewable based on individual guests’ needs and the availability of permanent housing or other appropriate accommodations (e.g., long-term residential treatment) • The Center offers the option of separate-gender or coed sleeping spaces and accommodates room change requests, as needed. These options should be continued to ensure guest comfort and safety • More staff on swing, night, and weekend shifts are needed. We further recommend all-staff trainings (ideally ongoing) in cultural humility, de-escalation, harm-reduction approaches, trauma-informed care, and motivational interviewing • All-stakeholder meetings should be regularly convened on a monthly basis to clarify priorities, roles and procedures and create clear communication channels. Front-line staff and guest perspectives should be taken into consideration in planning, instituting, and enforcing changes in higher-level policies and procedures Berkeley, CA In June 2018, the City of Berkley partnered with several organizations to open the STAIR Center (a loose acronym for Stability, Navigation, and Respite). STAIR offers a 45-bed, 24/7, service-rich shelter housed in a series of modular trailer buildings on 2nd Street between Cedar and Virginia Streets in West Berkeley. Following national best practices for low-barrier shelters, the STAIR Center provides accommodations for pets, partners, and possessions. On-site housing navigators maintain a client ratio of 20:1. There is no curfew for program residents and no arbitrary maximum length-of-stay. BACS adheres to a flexible harm reduction philosophy regarding substance use. The building model consists of 45 beds, made of modular trailers, with two main dormitory areas (both trailers), an intake room, a kitchen, bath, and shower trailer (ADA compliant), staff offices, and meetings places space. Referrals are made to the Center through outreach workers and the coordinated entry system. These recent examples on new and emerging emergency shelter design, implementation, and recommendations illustrate that the recommendations TAC has put forth in this report for Lane County are very much aligned with current leadership and stakeholder promising practices in serving unsheltered, extremely vulnerable people living on the streets, in order to ultimately permanently house people and eradicated unsheltered homelessness in Lane County. RESEARCH ON NATIONAL EMERGING AND PROMISING PRACTICES IN EMERGENCY SHELTER PAGE 29 January 22, 2019, Joint Work Session - Item 1