EVERETT — For those who work with the county’s homeless, the former Carnegie Library can’t be converted fast enough into transitional housing and a social services hub.
There’s always a shortage of housing, social worker Jesse Calliham said. He’s embedded with sheriff’s deputies and works primarily with those living on the streets and in homeless camps around the county.
It’s important to be able to offer a warm bed and a meal at the moment people agree to leave behind the camps and ask for help with mental illness or addiction, said Mary Jane Brell Vujovic, the director of Snohomish County Human Services.
“If they’re willing, the first thing we need to do is get a roof over their heads,” she said. “Some times that’s the hardest thing to do.”
The County Council recently approved spending a $970,000 state grant to continue renovations on the former library. The county also plans to use $755,000 in sales tax specifically collected for addiction and mental health services to complete the building improvements at what is being called the Rapid Recidivism Reduction Center.
Councilman Brian Sullivan told facilities staff last month during a public hearing that he wanted to make sure the county does its best to maintain the historic integrity of the Carnegie building.
It was constructed in 1905 to house the city’s library, which moved out in 1934. The building, at Oakes Avenue and Wall Street, later housed a funeral parlor and there was some talk of turning it into a museum.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been vacant for several years and was last used to house the jail’s work-release program.
The county’s proposal calls for creating a place that provides temporary housing and social services for people released from jail for nonviolent crimes, or as an alternative to the county lockup.
The plan is to build 20 bedrooms with shared living spaces on one floor. The second floor will house mental health, substance abuse and job training services. Staff also will help participants sign up for health insurance, connect them with a primary care doctor and refer them to other community services.
The average stay is expected to be up to three months. There will be a building manager on site, and the county expects to house about 80 people a year. The plan is to follow a “low-barrier” housing model, meaning tenants won’t be required to be clean or sober to gain entry.
“We want people to have a place to stay and sort out the needs in their lives,” Brell Vujovic said.
The county expects to serve about 700 people in the social services hub. Substance abuse treatment or mental health services won’t be offered on site. Instead, it will be the one-stop gateway to resources, she said. Social workers and case managers will be available to connect people to needed services.
The idea is to “divert people out of the criminal justice system or help those recently released from jail to create a plan for success,” she said.
Proponents say the center could help reduce costly trips to emergency rooms and calls to 911.
Finding long-term housing is one of the biggest challenges facing people being released from jail. The county conducted a series of interviews with three dozen jail inmates to look at poverty conditions among those incarcerated. More than half reported having been homeless in the past year. Nearly 28 percent were homeless when they were booked into the jail and 22 percent said they anticipated not having anywhere to live once they were released.
Nearly half of the inmates surveyed didn’t have regular health care and about 22 percent said they use hospital emergency rooms to get routine medical services.
The county is currently accepting bids from service providers interested in operating the center. The deadline for proposals is Aug. 5. The hope is to have the center open by the fall of 2017.
The city of Everett is planning a similar project for low-barrier housing for the chronically homeless as part of its Safe Streets Plan. The city has rolled out a proposal for up to 70 apartments with office space for social services. Construction could begin as spring of 2017.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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