Spokane County, two largest cities agree to share data, coordinate on homelessness response
May 25—The Inland Northwest took a step towards a regional, coordinated response to homelessness this week, although not to the lengths advocates once hoped.
Spokane County and the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley have signed on to an interlocal agreement to work together on the state's housing and homelessness crisis. The agreement ensures coordinated data sharing, award granting, extreme weather responses and development planning.
Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley said the collaboration should help the region combat homelessness more efficiently and help people achieve better and lasting outcomes.
"Addressing homelessness cannot be tackled alone by any single jurisdiction," Haley said. "This collaboration will allow us to pool our resources to coordinate planning efforts, establish priority interventions to meet the needs of our community, and jointly evaluate the performance of providers to maximize the regional funds dedicated to homelessness."
The agreement is the first major step towards the regional approach to homelessness posited by local leaders a few years ago. But it's not the regional authority composed of government officials, service providers, business leaders and subject matter experts explored while former Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward was in office, and that appeared to lose steam over the competing interests and personalities involved, and a wave of new leaders put in office during the 2023 election cycle.
"By continuing to collaborate, we can make more efficient use of public dollars and improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness in our communities," Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said in a written statement.
State law requires counties in Washington to adopt a five-year homeless housing plan consistent with guidelines laid out by the state Department of Commerce, and to provide regular updates through annual progress reports on those plans. The city of Spokane is also required to adopt a strategy as it administers state and federal housing funds.
The Valley administers only a fraction of the funding Spokane and the county do, but is included in the region's Continuum of Care 2025-30 Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.
George Dahl, Spokane County's housing and community development administrator, said the interlocal agreement is predicated on the five-year plan, ensuring collaboration as each government body works to meet its objectives. Dahl told the commissioners it replaces a 2012 contract between the county and the city of Spokane for homelessness data sharing.
"This interlocal really spells out that we will coordinate, collaborate and work well together, whether I'm in the seat three years from now, or if my counterparts of the city or the Valley are there," Dahl said.
In addition to sharing data, coordinating inclement weather and emergency shelter responses and having housing and support services staff meet regularly, the three jurisdictions have agreed to coordinate on how they distribute funding for housing and homeless services projects in the region. Spokane Valley City Services Administrator Gloria Mantz said contract requirements and performance measures will also be more consistent between the three when awarding funding.
"There are very limited dollars for these purposes, and we can only expect that we're going to see a reduction in the near future with what's happening at the federal level," Mantz said. "So it's very important you know that we pick the best qualified and that they adhere to the contract requirements and that they're meeting those performance measures."
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