(The Center Square) – With federal funding at stake, officials across Spokane County are beginning to sign an agreement designed to replace Housing First with an accountability, treatment-based approach that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development directly calls for in its new grant opportunity.
HUD issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity on Nov. 13 that dramatically changes how the Continuum of Care Program can spend federal tax dollars on addressing homelessness. The window opened halfway through the current two-year cycle, requiring CoCs nationwide to reapply under new funding guidelines.
Unlike the last funding window, HUD’s new NOFO doesn’t explicitly call for implementing Housing First.
Many of the new guidelines align with President Donald Trump’s July executive order directing HUD to increase accountability as a condition of receiving taxpayer-subsidized services. He called for an end to the Housing First approach, which allows individuals to receive support even if they refuse treatment.
“We’re taking the language directly from HUD in terms of what they’re going to be prioritizing in their federal grants,” Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam told the Liberty Lake City Council during a presentation last Tuesday. “To fully consider what we’re talking about here, you have to look at the executive order, but also look at this and say, ‘how are those meshing together and working together?’”
McCollam is part of a group that includes Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels, Chud Wendle, executive director of The Hutton Settlement, and local developer Sheldon Jackson. They drafted a memorandum of understanding last month to reaffirm Trump’s executive order in anticipation of any potential NOFO.
They believe that if successful, Spokane County would be the first nationwide to get every jurisdiction in the region to sign onto such an agreement. The team rolled out the MOU before anyone knew that HUD would issue this NOFO. They hope it will force the Spokane City Council’s progressive majority to recognize some shortcomings of Housing-First, which is considered evidence-based and best practice.
Dr. Sam Tsemberis, who founded the Housing First model, says the treatment-based approach doesn’t work. He previously told The Center Square that, after two years, 80% of participants in Housing First programs remain housed, compared to 40% of those required to complete treatment. However, being housed doesn’t mean someone is free from addiction and other factors that led them to homelessness.
“We have that data in the United States. We have that data in Canada. We have that data in France. There’s been a lot of research on this,” Tsemberis said. “You can make the argument that it would be great for people to get clean and sober and then get into housing, but it actually doesn’t work as well as getting them into housing and then getting them to manage their drug or mental health problems.”
HUD Regional Administrator Chris Patterson said you have to treat the disease, not just the symptoms.
As a Spokane native, Patterson told The Center Square that he has seen what Housing First has done to the Spokane region. Despite spending more money on the crisis, homelessness has increased almost every year under Housing First. Patterson said it’s time for the country to focus on treatment first.
The MOU circulating in Spokane County prioritizes accountability and access to treatment, which the new NOFO says could set the region apart when competing for federal funding. If Spokane doesn’t drop the Housing First model, the city could miss out on millions of dollars that would’ve gone to treatment.
“The only thing we’re really asking is for you to shift gears and [fund] treatment at 70%,” he said, as the new NOFO lowers the spending cap on permanent supportive housing from 87% to 30%. “You will start to shift gears and see a better return on investment and how these people will have better care.”
Patterson said the NOFO is clear and designed to bring new partners to the table, providers focused on addressing addiction and mental health as co-occurring disorders of homelessness. The NOFO provides $3.9 billion nationwide, compared to $3.6 billion in the last NOFO, but shifts the focus to treatment.
The window that closed last year prioritized funding for regions that made a “commitment to Housing First.” The new NOFO prioritizes programs that focus on treatment participation. Patterson believes it will help more people get clean and off the streets after decades of what he called a failed response.
“Everything so far hasn’t worked,” Patterson said. “We can’t continue kicking this can down the road.”
Some people argue that the new cap on permanent housing will lead to an increase in homelessness.
Patterson urged CoC’s to shift that funding to treatment and transitional housing. Permanent housing units are often left unlivable after tenants leave due to the drug use and associated behaviors that occurred. Transitional housing is temporary, lasting up to two years, and is paired with support services.
According to HUD data, there were 85,485 transitional housing beds and 680,855 permanent housing beds nationwide in 2024; however, these figures include funding from all sources, not just HUD grants.
Spokane Communications Director Erin Hut told The Center Square that Mayor Lisa Brown is reviewing the NOFO and meeting with local officials to discuss the impacts. The Center Square contacted Council President Betsy Wilkerson for an interview about the MOU, but did not receive an immediate response.
The Airway Heights City Council was the first in Spokane County to sign the MOU after approving it on Nov. 3. The Liberty Lake City Council signaled support last Tuesday and will vote on signing it over the coming weeks as the team presents the regional agreement to other jurisdictions to gather signatures.
“We can continue to do what we’re doing right now, which has been a colossal and cruel failure in my opinion,” Liberty Lake Councilmember Chris Cargill said last Tuesday, “or we can try something new; and, in my view, this gives us the opportunity to at least try something new and see if that works too.”
However, Cargill asked McCollam how his team plans on getting the city of Spokane to sign the MOU.
“We slay the giants in front of us today,” McCollam said. “We want a safer, cleaner, healthier Spokane.”
