Housing & Human Services Committee 6/25/2025

## Hidden Dynamics & Political Subtext 1. **Faith-Based “Pilot” as Trojan Horse** - Recent reports show the More We Love program—rooted in evangelical community networks—secured a $2 million pilot contract with HSD. Beneath the veneer of “human dignity and spiritual community,” this marks a subtle pivot away from secular, harm‐reduction models toward **conditional** shelters that require doctrinal alignment or spiritual participation. - *Why now?* Council Member Moore’s personal advocacy for More We Love gave the faith‐based provider a competitive edge in the RFP. The implicit subtext: lock arms with smaller, ideologically aligned nonprofits to fill gaps that mainstream providers haven’t closed fast enough, then claim “compassion” while imposing religiously tinted entry requirements. 2. **SPD & “Diversion” Politics** - On two occasions More We Love’s director thanked individual officers for calling her directly. That reveals an **unofficial** referral pipeline: vice squad or patrol calls a community‐based provider off‐the‐books to place someone into the “accountability is love” program. - This undercuts promises from SPD leadership (“no place for people to go”) and suggests a political calculation by rank­-and-­file officers to partner with faith‐based groups rather than redirect to city contracting processes—possibly to avoid procedural paperwork or to curry favor with committee members? 3. **Council Coalitions & Unspoken Frictions** - The smooth, unanimous consent votes for appointments mask deeper alignments. The sudden two‐month pause in committee meetings (July–August) hints at an impending hand‐shaking over committee chair slots in the next Council round. Lobbyists and stakeholder liaisons are already jockeying behind the scenes. - Those opposing a stronger public safety/human services nexus (e.g., social welfare groups wary of police referrals) are quietly rallying around progressive Council Members like Kshama Sawant (mentioned in public comment) to block any expansion of CBO–SPD partnerships they see as carceral in drag. --- ## Strategic Implications 1. **2025 Elections & Ballot Measures** - According to current city data, Seattle’s homelessness budget has grown by 30 percent over the last two years—yet encampment counts are stable or rising. Aspirants for Council District seats (e.g., District 3, 2025) are positioning themselves as “tough & compassionate.” They’ll leverage programs like More We Love in campaign ads (“faith and fairness”), hoping to win both public safety and human services votes. - A proposed **September 2025** ballot measure on “Zoning for Accessory Dwelling Units” will test whether residents will accept denser infill. The Council’s willingness to expand conditional shelter beds could be sold as “we’re building solutions,” softening the impact of the ADU vote for neighborhoods fearing more density. 2. **Federal Gridlock & Local Experimentation** - With a stalemate in Washington D.C. on housing and opioid funding, Seattle has quietly shifted toward local pilots—faith‐based, peer‐led, trauma‐informed. Watch for a wave of small RFPs in Q3–Q4 2025 for “emergency mental health response” that explicitly invite spiritual or religious components as metrics of success. --- ## Stakeholder Analysis 1. **More We Love & We Heart Seattle** - Motivations: secure steady city contracts to scale recovery + shelter models that fuse evangelism with social services. They win public recognition (e.g., committee invites) that fuels their donor campaigns ($4.5 M YTD in private fundraising). - Coalition: SPD officers (informal), city Council allies, certain faith congregations. Fractures emerging with secular nonprofits who worry about unequal access. 2. **Seattle Human Services Department** - Incentivized to demonstrate quick wins on “diversion” from criminalization. Director Tania Kim balances mayoral priorities (public safety) and base expectations (housing first). - May be overstretched; departmental churn has HSD staff burned out and less able to police grantees. 3. **SPD** - Rank‐and‐file in vice want **on-call** partnerships with nonprofits that aren’t mired in DCI licensing delays. SPD brass publicly say “no system,” but officers evidently have a back‐channel to faith‐based shelters. 4. **Progressive Humanitarian Bloc** - Groups like Real Change, Socialist Alternative, and public defenders see this program as “treatment conditionality.” Their fear: slippery slope toward mandatory treatment laws. You’ll see increased agitation from them, possibly litigation over First Amendment if faith requirements intensify. --- ## Financial Deep Dive - **HSD Budget (2024)**: ~$420 million total. Of that, ~$75 million goes to homelessness response (shelter, outreach). - **More We Love Pilot**: $2 million for 10 beds + 24/7 outreach = $200k/bed over 18 months. Compared with roughly $75k/bed in non‐faith‐based shelters, this is a **premium**. - **Diversion Fund**: $1.4 million in 2025 for co‐responders (to be awarded Q3/24). It remains unclear whether that money will move through SPD’s budget or via HSD pass‐through. - **Unpriced Access**: We Heart Seattle’s private fundraising ($4.5 M YTD) subsidizes sidewalk and greenbelt cleaning—effectively offsetting city cleanup costs and influencing future city maintenance budgets. --- ## Implementation Challenges 1. **Procurement Lags & Capacity Constraints** - Traditional CBOs complain RFP cycles take 6–9 months. More We Love got a “pilot” carve-out—now other nonprofits will demand parity, risking legal challenges. 2. **Barriers for Non‐Affiliated Providers** - Secular nonprofits with evidence‐based track records but no SPD relationships are sidelined. Their remedies (lawsuits, lobbying) will stall further contracting. 3. **Retention & Accountability** - Peer‐led, short‐term “diversion” beds must prove recidivism reduction and housing exits. Expect HSD auditors in 2026 to demand KPIs (90-day stay, sobriety maintained, transition to permanent housing). --- ## Historical Context & Patterns - **2007 “Bridge Shelters”**: Faith‐based groups won early contracts, sparking citywide backlash over “forced chapel attendance.” This pilot echoes similar debates. - **2009–2012 Opioid Task Force**: Early sheriff‐led diversion programs under‐performed without aftercare. Lessons: **peer‐recovery coaching** and housing supports are non‐negotiable for sustained success. - **2018 HALA MHA**: Council mandated on‐site services in new buildings; the promise of “wraparound” often fell short due to CBO underfunding. Echoes now in narrow 10-bed commitments. --- ## Key Revelations > “Chief Barton says there’s no system. We have a system—it’s picking up the phone.” > – Andrea Suarez, We Heart Seattle - **Phone Calls Trump Processes**. The city’s real system is informal networks, not published protocols. That benefits insiders and punishes standardized access. > “All I had to do was strap myself in for 28 days—then everything changed.” > – Madison, More We Love Survivor - Treatment access remains the single **biggest unblocker**, yet critics warn over-reliance on short-term stays without clear exit plans will lead to churn. --- ## Future Scenarios 1. **“Scale & Secularize” (Likely)** - After promising recidivism and housing outcomes, HSD awards a larger multi-year contract. Other faith or peer-based providers apply. A secular nonprofit sues on religious‐neutrality grounds in late 2025, but the city settles by expanding non-faith options. 2. **“Pilot Backlash” (Possible)** - SPD officers, frustrated by uneven rollout, issue an internal memo demanding clearer referral protocols. Progressive activists file an ACLU complaint. City pauses the pilot, forcing a retool to remove faith components. 3. **“Encampment Pivot” (Unlikely but Possible)** - Upcoming ballot measures on ADUs and public safety receive low turnout. Council responds by fast-tracking zero-tolerance encampment sweeps along Aurora, pushing residents—without on-demand beds—further west. More We Love cannot absorb volume; pilot label collapses. --- In a city where **process often slows progress**, the willingness of officers, Council and faith‐based providers to “pick up the phone” offers rapid response—but also reveals an **out‐of‐sight power dynamic**. The challenge ahead will be to **institutionalize** these informal wins into **equitable, transparent** systems while guarding against the unintended sidelining of secular evidence-based programs.

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