CAMP SECOND CHANCE: Looking ahead to Sunday’s Community Advisory Committee meeting – the contract, and the second-year process

February 2, 2018 8:35 pm
|    Comments Off on CAMP SECOND CHANCE: Looking ahead to Sunday’s Community Advisory Committee meeting – the contract, and the second-year process
 |   Myers Way | West Seattle news

Above (or here in PDF) you can read the city’s contract with LIHI for its first four months of operating Camp Second Chance, the city-sanctioned encampment at 9701 Myers Way S., on the southeast edge of West Seattle. We obtained the contract from the city Human Services Department while looking ahead to Sunday’s monthly meeting of the Community Advisory Committee for the encampment (2 pm, Arrowhead Gardens, 9200 2nd SW).

At the past few meetings, someone has asked about getting a copy of the contract, and it’s been promised, but it hasn’t turned up on the city’s website, so we decided to ask in advance this time. It was for $75,000 to cover LIHI’s costs through the end of last year; HSD tells WSB that the contract for this year has not been finalized yet, but that’s expected to happen this month. Besides specifying the dollar amount, the 2017 contract – signed on November 21st – says that LIHI agrees to operate and provide case-management services for the encampment. It also spells out expectations on the duration of stay, and includes the explanation that the camp is self-managed, though campers do not have veto power over LIHI decisions. It also notes that campers provide security services, with at least one on duty at the gate at all times, and it notes that no one under 18 is allowed to stay at the camp.

One other issue that’s come up at Community Advisory Committee meetings – renewing the camp at the Myers Way Parcels site for a second year. Technically the camp’s already been there for a year and a half, but it didn’t become city-sanctioned until February of last year. We asked HSD spokesperson Meg Olberding about the status of a second year. Her reply in full:

Since opening the first city-funded managed encampment in November 2015, we’ve seen that they are an important part of the continuum to address unsheltered homelessness. Every night, nearly 300 people have a safer place to stay because of our six managed encampments. HSD received direction from the City Council during the budget season to expand the program to all districts in Seattle. We are balancing that policy direction with the commitment we’ve made to both encampment residents and housed neighbors to provide healthy and safe living conditions. As discussed in the Camp Second Chance CAC meeting in early January, HSD is working on a re-permitting process for the City’s managed encampments that acknowledges the commitment made to community members and the importance of these safer spaces for unsheltered people.

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