Category: shelters

De Blasio pleads to Trump for help with homeless crisis

Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded with President Trump on Sunday for help with the burgeoning homeless situation wreaking havoc throughout the city.

HUD: Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) Deadline Reminder

Round 3 Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) Deadline Reminder

There are only 2 days remaining until the application submission deadline for the Round 3 Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is due. All applications must be submitted by Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 11:59:59 PM EDT.

Applications shall be submitted to Grants.gov unless a waiver has been issued allowing you to submit your application in paper form. Instructions for submitting your paper application will be contained in the waiver of electronic submission. As a reminder, “Received by Grants.gov” means the applicant received a confirmation of receipt and an application tracking number from Grants.gov. Then Grants.gov assigns an application tracking number and date-and time-stamps each application upon successful receipt by the Grants.gov system. A submission attempt not resulting in confirmation of receipt and an application tracking number is not considered received by Grants.gov. For more information, please see Section IV.D. of the Round 3 YHDP NOFA.

HUD strongly recommends applications be submitted as soon as possible and during regular business hours to allow enough time to correct errors or overcome other problems.

If you have questions pertaining to Round 3 YHDP NOFA, please submit your questions to the Ask A Question (AAQ) portal on the HUD Exchange website and select “CoC” from the “My question is related to” drop down list on Step 2 of the question submission process.

The AAQ portal accepts question submissions 24/7. However, responses are usually provided between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except for weekends and federal holidays. Additionally, starting 2 days prior to the application deadline, the AAQ will respond only to emergency technical support questions. To ensure you receive a response to your question, please submit your question via the AAQ no later than 12:00 PM EDT on May 13, 2019. If you have questions related to grants.gov please visit Grants.gov Support for assistance.

Officials: Call 2-1-1 to help people find shelter from cold and ice

Severe Weather Winter Shelters List Here

Outreach teams from King County and the City of Seattle are on patrol around downtown and parts of Capitol Hill to help people on the streets get out of the cold. You can help by dialing 2-1-1.

The King County Emergency Services Patrol, funded by the county and the city, is “operating 24/7 during the weekend to help people who are living on the streets in downtown Seattle” and “out meeting with people who are experiencing homelessness to encourage them to come inside during the winter storm.”

But you can also help out by calling 2-1-1 to let the outreach teams know about somebody who may need help.

You can also call 9-1-1 but reports from some callers say that the emergency dispatchers haven’t treated the shelter shuttle calls as priorities.

The county and the city have increased available shelters and warming facilities through the recent storms and into next week. A roster of severe weather shelters is here.

WINTER SHELTER: Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall

Homeless man dies of exposure at Seattle light-rail station

Officials and homeless-service providers have been working to try to ensure the survival of thousands of people living unsheltered in King County with a snowstorm expected to hit the region. That’s meant opening shelters and paying for hotel rooms for those who need help.

Seattle planned to keep its emergency overnight shelter at Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall open through at least Sunday night.

BEWARE: Fentanyl overdose deaths up 70 percent in Wash., health officials say

Photo from Public Health Seattle & King County shows pills containing fentanyl that were sold on the streets of Seattle.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The number of people who died from an overdose of illicit fentanyl increased nearly 70 percent this year over last in Washington state, health officials said Wednesday.

NARCAN SPRAY

Public libraries and YMCAs to get Narcan to prevent opioid overdoses

Narcan, that drug meant to help prevent an opioid overdose, is becoming more readily available.

Seattle police carry it. It’s available at CVS and Walgreens without a prescription. And now, it’s going to be available at thousands of public libraries and YMCAs nationwide.

Every day, 115 people in the U.S. die because of opioid overdoses.

October 15, 2018 – Seattle Neighborhood Business District Safety Forum

OCT 15 Seattle Neighborhood Business District Safety Forum
by SODO BIA
Free

Actions and Detail Panel

Event Information

DESCRIPTION
The BIAs of Ballard, Chinatown/International District, University District, Pioneer Square, and SODO are collaborating in our efforts to engage with city, county, and state officials to address the increasing challenges our businesses are experiencing with drug dealers/users, public disorder, threatening behaviors and crime toward our customers and employees.

We want to invite you to attend a constructive conversation with our elected officials about the problems and solutions to our public safety concerns.

Questions? Email us at: info@sodoseattle.org

—

Agenda:

1. Facilitator Introductions – 5 minutes

2. BIA Panel Presentation – 40 minutes

What BIAs are doing
Crime Stats
Business, employee, and customer concerns
BIA request for action
3. City, County, State responses – 40 minutes

Enforcement
Prosecution
Services
4. Public Comment – 30 minutes

5. Conclusion and Next Steps – 10 minutes

Seattle Police Department: Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD)

Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a pre-booking diversion pilot program developed with the community to address low-level drug and prostitution crimes in the Belltown neighborhood in Seattle and the Skyway area of unincorporated King County. The program allows law enforcement officers to redirect low-level offenders engaged in drug or prostitution activity to community-based services, instead of jail and prosecution. By diverting eligible individuals to services, LEAD is committed to improving public safety and public order, and reducing the criminal behavior of people who participate in the program.

About LEAD
Frequently Asked Questions
LEAD Policy Coordinating Group

Funders
Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a new innovative pilot program that was developed with the community to address low-level drug and prostitution crimes in the Belltown neighborhood in Seattle and the Skyway area of unincorporated King County. LEAD will divert low-level drug and prostitution offenders into community-based treatment and support services – including housing, healthcare, job training, treatment and mental health support — instead of processing them through traditional criminal justice system avenues.

A unique coalition of law enforcement agencies, public officials, and community groups collaborated to create this pilot program. These groups make up LEAD’s Policy Coordinating Group, which governs the program.

LEAD’s goal is to improve public safety and public order, and to reduce the criminal behavior of people who participate in the program. The program will be thoroughly evaluated to determine whether it has been successful or not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are frequently asked questions about LEAD. If you have further questions about the program, please contact us.

What is LEAD?

LEAD is a pre-booking diversion program that allows officers to redirect low-level offenders engaged in drugs or prostitution activity to community-based services instead of jail and prosecution. LEAD participants begin working immediately with case managers to access services. LEAD’s goals are to reduce the harm a drug offender causes him or herself, as well as the harm that the individual is causing the surrounding community. This public safety program has the potential to reduce recidivism rates for low-level offenders and preserve expensive criminal justice system resources for more serious or violent offenders.

How does LEAD differ from other drug programs?

First, LEAD is the result of a commitment from law enforcement agencies, public officials, and community organizations to work together in implementing a new approach to addressing drug and prostitution activity. Second, the diversion in LEAD is made at the pre-booking stage, in the hopes of bypassing the costs and time entailed in booking, charging, and requiring court appearances of an individual. Finally, LEAD provides participants with immediate case management services, and access to additional resources not available through existing public programs.

Who is eligible for diversion into LEAD?

Individuals who are arrested for eligible offenses within specified boundaries for Belltown or Skyway may be diverted into LEAD. Eligible offenses include low-level drug offenses, and engaging in prostitution. Individuals who have certain violent offenses in their criminal history are ineligible for diversion.

Who designed LEAD?

LEAD is the result of an unusual collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Collaborators include the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, the Seattle Police Department, the King County Sheriff’s Office, the King County Executive, the Mayor’s Office, The Washington State Department of Corrections, The Defender Association, the ACLU of Washington, and community members. The collaboration of these stakeholders was motivated by a shared dissatisfaction with the outcomes and costs of traditional drug law enforcement.

Who runs LEAD?

As noted, LEAD is the result of a collaboration among a number of stakeholders. All stakeholders are represented on LEAD’s Policy Coordinating Group, and the group makes decisions by consensus via a memorandum of understanding. LEAD is entirely voluntary, and any stakeholder may choose to withdraw from LEAD at any time.

Who will provide services to LEAD participants?

LEAD stakeholders have contracted with Evergreen Treatment Services (ETS) to provide services to LEAD participants. ETS has provided addiction treatment services in Washington for over 30 years, and has been actively involved in federally-funded research projects. ETS’ REACH Program has been a key provider in the delivery of street outreach services to chronically homeless and chemically addicted adults in Seattle for 15 years. ETS will follow harm reduction principles and will attempt to provide immediate access to services.

How will we know if LEAD works?

All LEAD stakeholders are committed to evaluating the program rigorously. The evaluation will consider, among other factors, whether LEAD has resulted in reductions in drug use and recidivism, whether LEAD is more cost-effective than traditional criminal justice processing, and whether LEAD has had a positive impact on a community’s quality of life.

How much will LEAD cost the City of Seattle and King County?

Nothing. LEAD stakeholders obtained funding from private foundations to implement the program. Its funders include the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Vital Projects Fund, RiverStyx Foundation, Massena Foundation, and the Social Justice Fund Northwest.

Do community members support LEAD?

Community members strongly support LEAD. LEAD will be piloted first in Belltown, and then in Skyway (in partnership with the King County Sheriff’s Office). Members of both communities have participated in the program’s design, and will continue to provide feedback about the program. For example, the LEAD Community Advisory Board in Belltown includes representatives from the Belltown Community Council, Belltown Business Association, Downtown Seattle Association/Metropolitan Improvement District, Recovery Café, YWCA, Plymouth Housing Group, and Millionair Club Charity. The LEAD Community Advisory Board in Skyway includes representatives from Skyway United Methodist Church, Westhill Community Council, and Skyway Solutions.

For how long will LEAD be implemented?

LEAD formally began on October 1, 2011. The program is anticipated to run for two years before an evaluation is begun, and to continue with foundation funding for an additional two years while the evaluation is conducted and analyzed. If LEAD is found to be effective, an ongoing source of funding will be sought.

Have programs like LEAD been implemented elsewhere?

LEAD was inspired by “arrest-referral” programs in the United Kingdom. Those programs have recently been implemented in virtually every police department in the United Kingdom because pilot projects proved to be so effective.

Policy Coordinating Group
LEAD is governed by a Policy Coordinating Group. The group makes decisions by consensus via a memorandum of understanding. LEAD is entirely voluntary, and any stakeholder may choose to withdraw from LEAD at any time. The members include:

Seattle Office of the Mayor
King County Executive Office
Seattle City Council
King County Council
Seattle City Attorney’s Office
King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
Seattle Police Department
King County Sheriff’s Office
Washington Department of Corrections
Belltown LEAD Community Advisory Board
Skyway LEAD Community Advisory Board
The Defender Association, Racial Disparity Project
ACLU of Washington, Drug Policy Project

Funders
LEAD is currently operating as a pilot program and is being funded by private foundations. It is hoped that LEAD will eventually find permanent funding from public sources. The cost-effectiveness of the program will be studied in detail as part of the evaluation for LEAD.

Current funders include:

Ford Foundation
Open Society Foundations
Vital Projects Fund
RiverStyx Foundation
Massena Foundation
The Social Justice Fund Northwest

President Donald J. Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand

HEALTHCARE

We will work to strengthen vulnerable families and communities, and we will help to build and grow a stronger, healthier, and drug-free society.

President Donald J. Trump

ADDRESSING THE DRIVING FORCES OF THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Donald J. Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioids Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand will confront the driving forces behind the opioid crisis.

President Trump’s Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse will address factors fueling the opioid crisis, including over-prescription, illicit drug supplies, and insufficient access to evidence-based treatment, primary prevention, and recovery support services.

The President’s Opioid Initiative will:

Reduce drug demand through education, awareness, and preventing over-prescription.
Cut off the flow of illicit drugs across our borders and within communities.

Save lives now by expanding opportunities for proven treatments for opioid and other drug addictions.
REDUCE DEMAND AND OVER-PRESCRIPTION: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative will educate Americans about the dangers of opioid and other drug use and seek to curb over-prescription.

Launch a nationwide evidence-based campaign to raise public awareness about the dangers of prescription and illicit opioid use, as well as other drug use.

Support research and development efforts for innovative technologies and additional therapies designed to prevent addiction and decrease the use of opioids in pain management.

This will include supporting research and development for a vaccine to prevent opioid addiction and non-addictive pain management options.

Reduce the over-prescription of opioids which has the potential to lead Americans down a path to addiction or facilitate diversion to illicit use.

Implement a Safer Prescribing Plan to achieve the following objectives:

Cut nationwide opioid prescription fills by one-third within three years.

Ensure that 75 percent of opioid prescriptions reimbursed by Federal healthcare programs are issued using best practices within three years, and 95 percent within five years.

Ensure that at least half of all Federally-employed healthcare providers adopt best practices for opioid prescribing within two years, with all of them doing so within five years.

Leverage Federal funding opportunities related to opioids to ensure that States transition to a
nationally interoperable Prescription Drug Monitoring Program network.

CUT OFF THE SUPPLY OF ILLICIT DRUGS: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative will crack down on international and domestic illicit drug supply chains devastating American communities:

Keep dangerous drugs out of the United States.

Secure land borders, ports of entry, and water ways against illegal smuggling.
Require advance electronic data for 90 percent of all international mail shipments (with goods) and consignment shipments within three years, in order for the Department of Homeland Security to flag high-risk shipments.

Identify and inspect high-risk shipments leveraging advanced screening technologies and by using drug-detecting canines.

Test and identify suspicious substances in high-risk international packages to quickly detect and remove known and emerging illicit drugs before they can cause harm.
Engage with China and expand cooperation with Mexico to reduce supplies of heroin, other illicit opioids, and precursor chemicals.

Advance the Department of Justice (DOJ) Prescription Interdiction and Litigation (PIL) Task Force to fight the prescription opioid crisis. The PIL Task Force will:

Expand the DOJ Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit’s efforts to prosecute corrupt or criminally negligent doctors, pharmacies, and distributors.

Aggressively deploy appropriate criminal and civil actions to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for any unlawful practices.

Shut down illicit opioid sales conducted online and seize any related assets.
Scale up internet enforcement efforts under DOJ’s new Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team.

Strengthen criminal penalties for dealing and trafficking in fentanyl and other opioids:
DOJ will seek the death penalty against drug traffickers, where appropriate under current law.
The President also calls on Congress to pass legislation that reduces the threshold amount of drugs needed to invoke mandatory minimum sentences for drug traffickers who knowingly distribute certain illicit opioids that are lethal in trace amounts.

HELP THOSE STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative will help those struggling with addiction through evidence-based treatment and recovery support services:

Work to ensure first responders are supplied with naloxone, a lifesaving medication used to reverse overdoses.

Leverage Federal funding opportunities to State and local jurisdictions to incentivize and improve nationwide overdose tracking systems that will help resources to be rapidly deployed to hard-hit areas.
Expand access to evidence-based addiction treatment in every State, particularly Medication-Assisted Treatment for opioid addiction.

Seek legislative changes to the law prohibiting Medicaid from reimbursing residential treatment at certain facilities with more than 16 beds.

In the meantime, continue approving State Medicaid demonstration projects that waive these barriers to inpatient treatment.

Provide on-demand, evidence-based addiction treatment to service members, veterans and their families eligible for healthcare through the Departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs.
Leverage opportunities in the criminal justice system to identify and treat offenders struggling with addiction.

Screen every Federal inmate for opioid addiction at intake.

For those who screen positive and are approved for placement in residential reentry centers, facilitate naltrexone treatment and access to treatment prior to and while at residential reentry centers and facilitate connection to community treatment services as needed.

Scale up support for State, Tribal, and local drug courts in order to provide offenders struggling with addiction access to evidence-based treatment as an alternative to or in conjunction with incarceration, or as a condition of supervised release.

URGE KING COUNTY TO FOLLOW THE OPIATE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

The opiate epidemic in King County is growing. The King County Opiate Addiction Task Force has recommended a new comprehensive strategy to fight this crisis, including the opening of two pilot safe consumption spaces. In these facilities, healthcare professionals can prevent overdose deaths, reduce the spread of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C, and efficiently refer people struggling with addiction to treatment. Tell the King County Council to support this safe, effective, and scientifically proven method of responding to the opiate epidemic.

URGE KING COUNTY TO FOLLOW THE OPIATE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Please visit THIS LINK