Welcome
- James Pogue, Comprehensive Life Resources
- We are always looking for people to present – sharing resources is a standing agenda item
- Check out http://www.piercecountyresources.org/ for resources, and follow the link at the bottom to update your resources
- http://pchomeless.org/ - see agendas, minutes, and sign up for the listserv. The listserv is a great place to get access to resources in real time.
- Listserv – it is amazing – keep requests to a high level – please share no identifying information. Because several government agencies are on the distribution, these are all open to everyone. Gerrit – we had one client identified last week – so do be careful. (I hate policing the listserv – I guarantee you I hate writing nagging e-mails to you far more than you hate getting them - so use good listserv etiquette please –ed.)
Presentation
Child Care Resources - https://www.childcare.org/ - Tacoma phone number 253-272-8000
- Katie Kaiser, Homeless Child Care Program Manager - kaiser@childcare.org
- Hava Tursky, Homeless Project Specialist - tursky@childcare.org
- Non-profit serving King and Pierce Counties
- Mission – “Child Care Resources improves all children’s access to high quality early learning experiences by engaging with families, caregivers, and communities. Embedded in Child Care Resources’ daily work is identifying and addressing racism so that all children thrive in their early learning environments.”
- Introducing our new outreach worker – Hava
- We offer a number of different services
- Work with Child Care Providers to increase the quality of their services – to improve their rating on the State system. A child care provider needs to be rated at a certain level to get access to State subsidized funding
- Statewide family call center – any family can call – to get a list of licensed child care providers near where they are. Also help with what to look for – how to find complaints against childcare providers – help folks know how to assess available options (I’d pick the location with the best snacks, but I suspect there may be other aspects to consider… – ed.)
- Homeless childcare subsidy program – new in Pierce County. We have a resources to pay for child care subsidies for families experiencing homelessness. We use the McKinney-Vento definition (essentially ”individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” – more specifics at http://www.k12.wa.us/HomelessEd/ -ed.) . We can also support previously homeless families for up to 6 months in permanent housing. Many child care costs can reach and exceed the cost of housing – this resource is important for families (to put it lightly. –ed)
- When families call us, we will:
- Meet with them to assess needs, values, wants, who they want to take care of their child.
- Assess if eligible for state subsidy
- Provide diapers, wipes, and bus tickets (I think this is the moment in the presentation when I fell in love with this organization. –ed.)
- If families need immediate child care, can support them with flexible child care support dollars
- For families experiencing homelessness, there is a “Homeless grace period” on the working connections child care program work requirements.
- Working Connections Child Care provides child care for families with low income (full details at https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/services/earlylearning-childcare/getting-help/wccc –ed.). Parents have to be working, but there is a 120 day grace period for homeless families - if a family is ineligible for working connects because one or both parents aren’t working, but can verity homelessness and under income, they get 120 days of full-time full day child care. This a critical resources for families experiencing homelessness. Child must be documented and the household must be under the income threshold (I really think there should be a third “h” in threshold – as in threshhold – which seems more like how we pronounce it. But the word has no clear provenance, so unfortunately we have no one to properly blame for what I consider some rather suspect spelling. –ed). Households must living Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Kent or any part of Pierce County.
- We are working on advocacy to expand this benefit from 4 months to a full year. Our organization has been supporting families to navigate this new grace period, and 4 months isn’t enough time to stabilize in housing and get work. The money is in both the Governor’s and the Legislature’s budgets, and we are hoping it gets passed.
- Don – do you have a list of organizations you work with? Katie – we work with anyone. We’ll run a list of possible, nearby child care providers for a family – we keep a list of who is licensed and in good standing – we typically run the list in real time so the families know who are actually available. Don – do the child care providers have a relationship with you? Katie – The family simply gets a voucher from us authorizing child care, and the family takes that voucher to the authorized child care provider they select. That voucher gets back to us, and once we verify they are actually using the child care we then pay the child care provider.
- 253-272-8000 - Tacoma phone number
- We also have private subsidy dollars for specific regions – we have funding in Pierce County that will go to families experiencing homelessness – these dollars are very flexible. When we have families eligible for working connections but have a $700 monthly copay – we can help with that – usually. Can also help families who are over income for Working Connections Child Care. A monthly salary of $2,700 doesn’t cover child care and rent for an apartment.
- Carolyn – You’re with the County? Katie – no, we are a private nonprofit. We have funding from the Gary E Milgard Foundation ( http://garymilgardfamilyfoundation.org/ ), The Sequoia Foundation (http://www.sequoiafound.org/ ), the Bamford Foundation (http://www.bamfordfoundation.org/ ). (and one other she mentioned that I didn’t catch – sorry – ed.).
- Can help with child care for households with children aged 0-13, or children with special needs.
- Question - Do afterschool program fall into that? Katie – yes, if the program is associated with a school or is licensed. Questions – like the YMCA programs? Katie – yes, programs that are licensed or license exempt.
- Jeannette – if a child is over 13, what is the daily rate? Katie – that is a case by case basis. Generally we mirror DSHS eligibility
- Theresa – do you go to the mother and baby unit at Purdy (I’m sure Theresa meant the Residential Parenting Program at the Washington Corrections Center for Women – a great video about the program is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWmfrpd-ohs –ed.) – Katie - we don’t, but would consider that.
- Theresa - isn’t it great that they advocated for more resources – they didn’t just do their jobs serving families. Katie - We are new to Pierce County – it has now been about 5 years - and our homeless subsidy program just took off with some amazing private funding. If you have any opportunities to spread the word, please do so.
- Hava Tursky, Homeless Childcare Subsidy Program - tursky@childcare.org
- I’m from Pierce County and am new to this program
- I am the point person for referrals
- I’ll be working with McKinney Vento liaisons
- I want to put a pitch out for informal informational meetings – I’ve been meeting with many other organizations and would be happy to meet with yours (Oh, I’ll be connecting with you to come present to our case managers – you don’t have to ask me twice –ed.)
- Let me know if you want me to come out for 30 minutes or an hour.
- We have flyers in English and Spanish (Tenemos folletos en ingles y español. See – I can be bilingual too – if given enough time and unlimited access to a Spanish-English dictionary, google translate and an indulgent native speaker who wants a good laugh. –ed)
- Maureen – have you considered reaching out to employers so that employers and Human Resource people know that this is an available resource to their employees. Katie – in King County, we do a lot with Worksource (http://www.worksourceskc.org/ )and advertise our services with folks connecting people with employment. I’m not sure we’ve reached out to employers, though. Maureen – I hadn’t thought about this till an employer reached out on Facebook for resources for their staff. Do you have some thoughts on how to do that? James – we do have a workforce committee we need to connect you to (hey Sherri and Kelly, I hope you’re reading the minutes, ‘cause James means you. –ed) Katie - We are very interested in ways to reach out to all these folks. I’m happy to pursue any suggestions.
- James – connecting with Hire253 would be a great place to connect to folks experiencing homelessness and looking to get working again. (OK, I just sent an e-mail connect Sherri and Kelly to Katie and Hava, so let’s just go ahead and check off this task as complete. –ed.)
- James - Project Homeless connect - June 14th at the Puyallup Nazarene Church (https://associatedministries.org/supportive-services/phcvolunteer/ ) –might be a good place to connect folks who need your child care resources.
Presentation
Tacoma Pierce County Health Department
- Emily Less, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department – in communicable disease – consultant for many of the shelters - ELess@tpchd.org
- Want to talk about what you’ve seen in the news about communicable diseases and why vaccines are important folks who are homeless. (spoiler, but I’m guessing it is because vaccines dramatically reduce the chances of getting a disease.–ed).
- Lot of measles cases in the news – none in Pierce County or in the state in the last 40 days. People who are homeless are at low risk –because of vaccine immunity and exposure. The immunization is called MMR (well, Measles Mumps and Rubella, actually –ed.) – it is 97% effective.
- The mumps component isn’t as effective, but will greatly reduce severity if it doesn’t provide complete immunity. There are 5 cases of mumps in Grant County and 2 cases in Pierce County, but we are not worried about this. There is no need to get a MMR booster.
- Always good to talk to clients about vaccines and recommend them if folks don’t have them (unless that homeless client is Jenny McCarthy, and then good luck with that. –ed.)
- People experiencing homelessness are at higher risk of illness and have more complications – so vaccines are really important.
- Influenza and Hepatitis A – we are very worried about those for the homeless population. They are challenging when we’re housed, but really challenging when homeless. It is never too late to get a flu vaccine.
- Kayla Scrivner – clinical disease program manager - KScrivner@tpchd.org
- Hepatitis A – came and talked about this a couple years ago.
- We now have confirmed cases in Washington State – none in Pierce County yet, though
- The vaccine is very important –folks who are homeless should have no trouble getting access to it.
- Hepatitis A makes people sick – we saw higher rates of hospitalization and death in the homeless population with Hepatitis A (I had a mystery liver disease when I was 12 and it totally sucked. –ed.).
- Hepatitis A spreads quickly.
- Review symptoms – encourage medical care if they have these symptoms. If you have an ill client that is refusing care – let us know. We’ll send a MRC nurse out to give care.
- The Plan –
- Outreach to service providers and medical community – let folks know what symptoms to look out for
- Planning for field teams and vaccine clinics. If we get cases, we’ll go out to sites
- Just activated the ITS (whatever that is –ed.) to make plans if needed.
- Will visit shelters and volunteer sites to check on cleaning plans and see if adequate wash stations are present – we aren’t regulatory, just giving advice on things (just like my Aunt Nancy -ed). We’ll be out over the next couple of weeks to do visits (unlilke my Aunt Nancy, I hope –ed.).
- Question – are you going to Project Homeless Connect to give immunizations? Yes, the Medical Reserve Corp will be there.
- Dave – For Hepatitis D , we used to have some incentivized programs. Is there something like that considered for Hepatitis A? Kayla – we’ll talk that over in our planning meetings – get me ideas to improve our reach and our impact
- Justin – what about vaccinating children – are there resources? Kayla- in Washington State, we have Vaccines for Children that allows all kids to get them without paying. You can do that through your medical home.
- Emily – we are hoping you’ll encourage your clients to get vaccinated
- https://myir.net/ – can make an account, and can check their vaccine records – if you have no records, it doesn’t hurt to get another Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B vaccine (again, liver diseases suck – let’s get those vaccines, folks. –ed).
- I sent around a list of free and low cost vaccines to get resources (which I put up at http://www.pchomeless.org/Home/HealthAlert . I put it up with a yellow background to create a visual connection to the common jaundiced look of folks with compromised livers – just one of many extra services we provide our premium coalition members. You’re welcome. -ed.)
- Can get free vaccines at these sites (that list being at https://www.tpchd.org/home/showdocument?id=1715 ) – but getting them at their medical home is best.
- Maureen – given mobility of people – what about encampments? Kayla – on our list to engage.
- Charleen – jails? Kayla – yes, working with jails to do more vaccines while they are in the jails – these are conversations we are having. Charleen – in the Pierce County Jail? Kayla – working on it.
- Homeless – I’m afraid that many people experiencing homelessness are unwilling to come forward because we’re afraid to come in to clinics. Kayla – we will work to go in to the encampments
- Maureen – can we get an update electronically about cases? Kayla – sign up for health advisories on the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department – there is a page for social service providers (https://www.tpchd.org/healthy-people/provider-resources/health-news-and-alerts ) where you can sign up for advisories on trending issues (there are few things as trendy as hepatitis outbreaks –ed) – but we’ll be in regular communication with the Coalition about this topic.
- We are open to feedback, and we’ll be in touch.
- David – is the Hepatitis B still a two part vaccination? Kayla – yes it is, but the first dose is very effective, so we make sure that happens, and always try to get folks the 2nd, but clients are often hard to track down to get their second dose.
- Maureen – not asking ID is helpful. Kayla - we collect name and DOB to record the immunization
Reports
Legislative Update
- Maureen Howard – Housing Advocate (and fount of knowledge of all things where the Venn circle of State Legislature and the Venn circle of Housing Policy and funding meet. –ed) - maureenhowardconsulting@gmail.com
- My last update was 8pm last night
- House bill 1440 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1440&Year=2019 ) has been signed by the governor – it provides 60 days notice on any amount of rent increase – which is better than Tacoma’s rule. It isn’t just for increases over 10%, or over 100 dollars –it is any amount. It goes into effect July 28th – this is huge. This may cause landlords to increase rent before the July 28th – contact me if you hear about this happening to your clients.
- These bills are on their way to passage
- Work on budget negotiations – House and Senate have different amounts in their budgets and the budget committees are negotiating. The Democrats have reached a tentative deal on the operating budget – and they are expected to release the details of both the operating and capital budget on Saturday (http://leap.leg.wa.gov/leap/budget/detail/2019/ho1921p.asp ). If they can’t come to an agreement on Saturday night, they can go into a special session. We aren’t sure where our particular interests are – the legislators are being close-lipped.
- Senate Bill 5600 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5600&Year=2019&initiative= )– the biggest tenant protection to hit the state of Washington – 14 days instead of 3 days notice on evictions, and judicial discretion – the judge has latitude to consider tenants life situation. This includes $1,000,000 risk mitigation fund. This money is in the house, but not the senate. The bill has passed, If the $1,000,000 of the landlord mitigation fund is not included in the budget, the bill is null and void.
- House Bill 1406 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1406&Year=2019&initiative= )– diversion of a portion of the sales tax – instead of all going to the state, local jurisdictions can keep some to do affordable housing. This is in Executive Session in ways and means – it is probably part of the budget deal that is going on. We’ve asked for $69M, and this looks good.
- The housing trust fund is the biggest source of funding today – we are waiting on how much money will be included. It is $175M in senate, and $150M in the house.
- Housing and Essential Needs – asked for $69M in addition to current funding level – we’ve heard there will be some, but we won’t know until the budget comes out
- Senate Bill 5290 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5290&Year=2019&initiative= ) – this bill ends jailing of youth for non-criminal offenses – Steve Conway still needs to be persuaded that he needs to be a yes on concurrence. You can call him at 360-786-7656 and say “please vote yes on concurrence on 5290”. I have criminal and mental health contacts, but I don’t have youth contacts. You can also tell him you’d like him to be a yes on 1406 - the sales tax kept locally.
- The Mockingbird Society (https://www.mockingbirdsociety.org/ )has the lead on this, but there are studies ready to come out that link jailing of youth with non-criminal offences to homelessness and distrust of authorities (if you’ve never bumped into someone from the Mockingbird Society, you need to track them down. Talk about an inspiring group of youth grabbing the bull by the horns – ed.).
- Passed in both houses – a toxic spill fee (Senate Bill 5993 that is - https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5993&Initiative=false&Year=2019#documentSection –ed.) - $.01 per metric ton – will bring more money into the state for its operating budget, and eventually into its capital budget. That funding, in turn, frees money in the capital budget for increasing the housing trust fund. We have to watch ways legislators are trying to increase revenue so we can do more things.
- Michelle Thomas – director of policy for Low income housing alliance – came to this group last year, and would like an invitation this year (well, lucky her, because I just sent the invitation out. –ed.). The alliance will do free phone calls on each of these bills after the session. I want you to think about how you learn – how do we want to learn about this information.
- Laurie Jinkins – leading name for Speaker of the House. Let me tell you, if she became speaker, it would be amazing.
- We have other opportunities to make change
- At the Federal Level – every local jurisdiction has to prepare a 5 year plan – need for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), etc. Every year, each jurisdiction does a 1-year action plan. You have to comment on Tacoma and Lakewood by April 30th, and Pierce County by May 1st. The next 5 year plan will be open for review – whoever is around the table will make the plan – you can often comment on-line. (OK, I’m officially tired of looking up links – so many references in one 2 hour meeting… -ed.)
- We are a planning state – we’ve had the growth management act since 1990 – talking about how we accommodate growth. Each jurisdiction has a plan, and those are in process. You can comment on the City’s amendments for 2019. In the 2019 amendments, they are adding in specifics from the city’s affordable housing action strategy (https://cms.cityoftacoma.org/cedd/housing/affordablehousingactionstrategy.pdf ). There are public hearings twice in May. In the County, there are public comments are through June, and they have an on-line feedback tool.
- The Feds have a Continuum of Care – in our community, Pierce County Human Services manages the Continuum of Care – James Pogue and Amanda DeShazo co-chair the Continuum. They are planning now their 5 year strategic plan, and including what the feds require for the Continuum of Care plan, and also including the state requirements of a homeless and housing plan. This has to be wrapped up this summer, and the County Council has to approve and get it to the state by December. There will be moments for public comment which will be announced here.
- Yesterday the City of Tacoma’s Neighborhood Community Vitality and Safety Committee (Why are City of Tacoma Committee names always so weird – I can never remember them – ed.) met jointly with the Pierce County Human Services Committee (meeting details and video at https://cityoftacoma.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=668949&GUID=D92B305F-7D2A-4FBF-9102-C0FFB33F5F25&Options=info&Search= ). Gerrit – Don Sheppard and I attended and provided community feedback. Basically, City of Tacoma staff presented on their affordable housing strategy and what is being done with the .1% sales tax for mental health funding the City receives. After the presentations, the City Council members bluntly asked if the County Council was considering attempting to pass the .1% sales tax so they could do amazing things with the funding like the City does. I enjoyed that part very much. They had a good discussion, and I Don and I both spoke about how important this work was. I also highlighted how much I appreciate affordable housing and homelessness being discussed as if there was an actual connection between the two (hint, there is a connection between the two. ed.).
- Maureen – The Mayoral Roundtable – Mayors and community leaders have had a few meetings – Mayor Woodards and Connie Ladenburg are leading it – to engage Cities and Communities on issues around homelessness. The most recent meeting had a presentation, along with city and County staff and a UWT professor on whether houses were cost burdened. This was a powerful presentation of data from a trusted source. It showed how 100% of the people under 20% AMI were costs burdened. This is a chance for us to engage on this.
- Theresa – can you put a little thing on our homepage with links about this information. Gerrit – can do (I don’t think he fully understands what he needs to put up and I think he’s hoping Theresa sends him some clear instructions. ed.)
- Carolyn – I saw that data, but I didn’t know where the important points to see were. Maureen – we can highlight those. Thersea – yes, we can highlight the important elements
- David – in our community, many of our folks are non-registered voters – how can we help them to register. Maureen – they can register on-line. We can have that ascommittee work. We have talked about doing voter registration at our community site. (I just sent and invite to the County Auditor’s office to see if they would like to come and provide some information on how to get registered. The League of Women Voters did a great presentation last year, but I thought I’d share the wealth…-ed.)
- Al – session will be over soon, and we’ll need to digest what happened. We should start planning for what we want in the next Session early. Maureen – agreed – we can invite our electeds, ask what they did, and tell them what we want to do. Lots of advocacy groups don’t put a state legislative agenda together until the fall – that can be a mistake.
- James – we felt advocacy work could really impact our work. If this is uncomfortable- keep in mind we are nonpartisan and just trying to get more resources. We are trying to be more active during the legislative session – it is really just information that can help us to get important stories and information to the legislature. Again, we do no endorsements – just provide information.
Reports
Committee Updates
Good of the Order
Coming Attractions
- May 3rd – Pierce County Emergency Services – how we can better collaborate during inclement weather and in emergencies. The Point Defiance Needle Exchange – services available.
- May 10th – To be determined
- May 17th – FUSE Washington – messaging around homelessness
- May 24th – Are the imaginary play elements involved in Finland’s emerging youth competitive hobby horse subculture a stronger community asset than the physical rigor of recreational hippity-hop activities? Is there room in the busy schedules of teens for multi-sport athletes, or will increased competition demand specialization, and at what cost? Join our panel of experts as the delve into this emerging issue facing today’s youth.
Restaurant Review
Have you ever had Mongolian Barbecue? Did you know Mongolian Barbecue was even a thing? Well, it is. It has nothing to do with Mongolia per se, but just sounded right to a 1950’s restauranteur in Taiwan, and it sort of caught on. Mongolian Barbecue is essentially a “create your own stir-fry” dining experience. And by dining experience, I mean restaurant gimmick. But I mean that in a loving way, because I love Mongolian Barbecue. The nearest restaurant I know of is Wok on Fire (5500 Olympic Dr NW, Gig Harbor, WA), located in the Olympic Village strip mall right of Highway 16 in Gig Harbor. They have a huge salad bar looking thing with all sorts of raw veggies, noodles, and super thinly sliced raw meats. Basically, you pick from pretty much anything you’ve ever seen in a stir fry anywhere, load it all up in a bowl, add some sauces from the sauce section, and pass it on to get it cooked on a huge, super-hot round griddle. You get to watch them do the cooking, and it is a good show. Not a Japanese steak house show, but they do add some flair. Then, you take your stir fry and some rice, find a seat, and enjoy. This is a great place to get a healthy meal, and you are nearly guaranteed your kids will find some vegetable they are willing to eat. It is just off highway 16, and a great spot for a cycling destination – especially if you live in Tacoma. Hop on your classic Schwinn and enjoy the Narrows Bridge from the seat of your bicycle. They have a huge, super safe bike lane on the South side of the new bridge. If you’ve never walked/biked/jogged across the bridge, it is a must-do Tacoma activity. I do sort of miss the adrenaline rush that cycling on the old Narrows Bridge entailed – yes there were signs clearly prohibiting cycling on the pedestrian path on the old bridge – but who pays attention to that sort of thing when you’ll save 15 minutes by cycling. And yes, a strong blow felt like it would send you into the drink – but that is what made it such a lovely adrenaline rush. The new bike lane on the new bridge has none of the danger of the old one – it is a nice wide path with a huge cement barrier between you and the cars and a more than adequate railing. If you’ve never stood in the middle of the mile long span peering over a 188 foot drop to an 8 knot current below, you’re missing out. Anyway, hop on the Scott Pierson Trail, cross the bridge, continue on to the Cushman trail, have a well-earned lunch at Wok on Fire. Then turn around and head on home – not a bad way to spend part of a sunny Saturday.
Attendees
- Carrie Ching, Molina Healthcare
- Theresa Power-Drutis, New Connections
- Don Sheppard, Tacoma Salvation Army
- Makalia Michaels, Vision House
- Brianna Baines, Vision House
- Matthew Jorgensen, City of Tacoma
- William Stinson, Catholic Community Services
- Maureen Howard, Housing Advocate
- Valentinya Germer, Comprehensive Life Resources
- Jeremy Walker, Interested citizen
- Evangeline Tweedy, Looking to be housed
- Andrea Sanz, Tacoma Rescue Mission
- Charleen Fitzgerald, Coordinated Care
- Cynthia Alicea, Coordinated Care
- Kevin Glasel, Tacoma Community College
- Caitlin Reed, Tacoma Community College
- Shannon Ice, Tacoma Community College
- Jayme Hill, Catholic Community Services
- Amanda Neville, Catholic Community Services
- Brandon Ault, Catholic Community Services
- Amy Green, Bates Technical College
- Gladys Mondragon, Bates Technical College
- Claudia Miller, Franklin Pierce Schools
- Al Ratcliffe, Me
- Larry Seaquist, League of Women Voters
- Carolyn Read, St. Leos
- Roxanne Simons, Safe Streets
- Rosemary Powers, New Connections
- David Venes, Dave Purchase Projects
- Hannah Carroll-Day, Tacoma Needle Exchange
- Laura Reynolds, Dave Purchase Project
- Jeannette Twitty, House of Matthew
- Sheila Miraflor, Molina healthcare
- Greg Walker, Valeo Vocation
- Erik Hasstedt, Safe Streets
- Richard Berghammer, Fellowship Bible Church
- Greta Brackman, Comprehensive Life Resources
- Carlos Castañon, Comprehensive
- Dana Peterson, Catholic Community Services
- Patty Schneider, Catholic Community Services
- Hava Tursky, Child Care Resources
- Katie Kaisev, Child Care Resources
- Gerrit Nyland, Catholic Community Services
- Kayla Scrivner, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department
- Emily Less, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department
- Bonnie Rico, Comprehensive Life Resources
- PJ Got Jesus (I don’t know what that means, but that is how someone signed in, so I’m rolling with it. –ed.)