District 17 rep presents bill to assist governments in addressing homelessness

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In an effort to address Washington’s ongoing homelessness crisis, District 17 Rep. David Stuebe, R-Washougal, has introduced legislation to help local governments better track the impacts of homelessness so they can create more effective ways to address it.

House Bill 1708 would direct the state to create a dashboard app for cities and counties to use at their discretion.

“This bill would enable local jurisdictions to provide information about their communities in a dashboard format, which would make it easier to address their needs,” Stuebe said. “Having a dashboard would be a motivating factor in modifying behavior when we need to try something different.”

The Department of Commerce already collects and posts some information about housing-related expenditures on a dashboard on its website, but the information is limited. HB 1708 would provide a new, more expansive tool for local government websites. The state would pay for the computer application to create the dashboard, and local governments would have the choice to use it or not.

According to a news release, the application would have to show multiple statistics, including the following:

• The number of known homeless encampments in the jurisdiction.

• The number of homeless encampments near elementary or secondary schools or child day care centers.

• The total amount spent to clean up or remove garbage from locations where unsheltered people are living within the jurisdiction.



• An estimate of the total housing units needed for the jurisdiction, total new housing units permitted to be built, and the difference between those two numbers.

• The number of people who transitioned from homelessness to government-subsidized housing or other permanent housing.

• The number of homeless people who needed medical treatment for addictions, how many entered an addiction treatment program and how many completed it.

• The number of retail, residential and car thefts near unsheltered communities compared with the jurisdiction’s average.

• The number of arrests and convictions of people for selling illegal narcotics in the jurisdiction.

“The homelessness issue is not getting better,” Stuebe said. “We need to take a closer look at the programs currently in place so the people can hold government more accountable. We can’t keep throwing money at failing programs and expect to get better results. This legislation would make it possible for communities to examine homelessness issues more closely on a local level and see where to make changes.”

The bill now waits for a public hearing in the House Local Government Committee.