Pierce County’s collaborative response to the homelessness crisis lacks direction, transparency and accountability, a review has found.
A consultant recently shared a report on Pierce County’s Continuum of Care. The Continuum of Care is a regional planning organization that coordinates housing and services for homeless people and families.
Such organizations are used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to facilitate the use of federal funding provided to a region to mitigate homelessness. There are more than 400 such organizations across the country competitively applying for billions in grant funding.
According to Pierce County, its Continuum of Care consists of representatives from a variety of sectors, including local government, public housing authorities, schools, health care, law enforcement and faith-based communities.
Maseta Dorley is a representative from the Technical Assistance Collaborative consultation group. Dorley shared a report with members of the Pierce County Continuum of Care on Sept. 18.
According to Human Services Dept. Spokesperson, Kari Moore, the review was requested of HUD by Pierce County Human Services during a time when the local continuum began considering significant changes to its governance structure.
Moore said the the role of the Technical Assistance Collaborative, which consults with continuums across the nation, was to advise how the Pierce County continuum could be more effective, something that both staff and continuum members desired.
“The report reflected issues raised by the community and CoC members, including information that all parties need to know about and address for the development of the new charter and working agreements,” Moore told The News Tribune.
Dorley reported the Tacoma/Lakewood/Pierce County Continuum of Care lacked clear direction, leadership and transparency in its decision-making process.
The report found there was no clear understanding of the roles of the continuum’s members or the responsibility of each committee in the organization.
“Many stakeholders expressed confusion about the various roles. Indicating that they didn’t understand which decisions could be made by the Board and which was made by the Executive Leadership,” the report read.
According to feedback from partners, some members of the continuum felt it was governed in “siloes without coordination, alignment or collaboration” with other partners.
The report acknowledged the continuum is composed of multiple jurisdictions, coalitions and agencies that did not seem to be effectively working together.
“These efforts have not been effectively coordinated, resulting in fragment strategies not fully aligned or implemented across the homeless response system,” the Technical Assistance Collaborative reported in its presentation.
The Technical Assistance Collaborative recommended a “clear decision-making process that is transparent to all partners.”
The consultants reported a lack of engagement and collaboration with funding recipients.
Dorely reported that federal funding doled out to organizations and efforts did not seem to come with specific direction and intent to ensure funding was in alignment with the priorities for the homeless-response system.
“Your funding priorities should be a top focus that everyone is made aware of,” she told the continuum members. “Currently it’s not.”
The consultants found there was no established procedure for monitoring the effectiveness of continuum-funded programs to ensure effectiveness.
“Without a CoC-wide defined performance target, its unclear to providers and the community what performance expectations are and what the intended goals are in reducing and ending homelessness,” the presentation said. “There is not clear evidence where performance data is shared recurringly, immediately available, or regularly used for system oversight, management, and monitoring activities.”
The Technical Assistance Collaborative recommended the continuum adopt data-driven performance targets to be evaluated annually, “rather than assumed or anecdotal information.”
Additionally the consultants received input from continuum partners who felt racial inequities existed, including elements of “white dominant culture,” defined in the report as power hoarding, fear of open conflict, lack of transparency, transactional goals and relationships, defensiveness and white fragility.
“A recurring theme identified is the CoC has displayed an inability to work through disagreements and differing perspectives consistently at the leadership vs. membership level has had ripple effects throughout the community, leading to a larger environment of divisiveness and distrust,” the consultant’s presentation said.
Tim Fairley represents Tacoma Outreach. He recently joined the continuum board.
Fairley told The News Tribune he agrees with many of the criticisms made in the report and said he has noticed siloed communication among members of the continuum. “This already tells me that the leadership needs a change and that new people won’t have the proper voice because of ongoing communication problems,” he told The News Tribune following the meeting.
“This will require a significant culture shift,” Cynthia Stewart, co-chair of the continuum, said during the meeting.
According to a Human Services spokesperson, a new charter to determine the continuum’s structure is being developed for early 2025 to increase “inclusivity” and “broaden membership.”
“We are already working to implement the culture shift it outlines. All members of our community will need to work together to make this happen, and we are confident that community members are ready to engage with PCHS and elected leaders to continue implementing changes over the coming months that will lead us toward our shared commitment to end homelessness in Pierce County,” a Human Services spokesperson told The News Tribune in a statement.
This article was first published by the Tacoma News Tribune through the Murrow News Fellow program, managed by Washington State University.
