Colleagues,
Some highlights for your consideration:

National
1.  National Homelessness Law Center (formerly the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty)
Favorable Ruling in Blake v. Grants Pass
 
In Blake v. City of Grants Pass, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted the Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of “all involuntarily homeless individuals living in Grants Pass, Oregon,” challenging the litany of laws imposing civil penalties for living outside. For example, Grants Pass prohibited sleeping on any public sidewalks or streets as well as camping on any public property. 
 
The District Court relied on Martin v. Boise, a 9th Circuit case which ruled that homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives. The Court found that these ordinances were unconstitutional under Martin, because “it is not enough under the Eighth Amendment to simply allow sleeping in public spaces; the Eighth Amendment also prohibits a City from punishing homeless people for taking necessary minimal measures to keep themselves warm and dry while sleeping when there are no alternative forms of shelter available.” The Court also found “It is the punishment of a person's unavoidable status that violates the constitution, not whether that punishment is designated civil or criminal.”
 
The Law Center submitted an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Grants Pass plaintiffs. In issuing its ruling, the Court cited extensively from the Law Center’s 2019 Housing Not Handcuffs report as well as directly from the Law Center’s amicus curiae brief, and recommended the city undertake constructive solutions rather than further criminalization. We thank the Oregon Law Center for its work litigating this case.

I have attached the Amicus Brief because it is 1) short, 2) clear, 3) has a really simple format which we can use locally, and 4) makes recommendations about the role of law enforcement..  If you didn't get the actual ruling already, please let me know and I'll forward it.

In addition, these are highlights from my non-legal notes from Tristia Bauman's presentation on the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance's 8/19 call - forwarded to the Coalition listserv in an earlier email.  
   a.  this is a class action suit at the state district court level - the ruling may go before the 9th Circuit Court.  
   b.  this ruling interprets Martin v Boise and there are more lawsuits in the pipeline and we'll get more decisions over the coming months/years.  Martin v Boise is settled law.  
   c.  Blake v Grants Pass challenges the city's patchwork of ordinances which leave unsheltered people with no place to shelter.  
   d.  the use of tickets and fines, no trespass laws and the lack of due process violate the 14th Amendment.

With respect to a Bill of Rights for People Experiencing Homelessness, there is no national statute at this time BUT a state or local jurisdiction could enact one.  Locally, the jurisdiction could add housing status as a protected class - as did San Francisco's Human Rights Commission.  

I propose that our Coalition to End Homelessness begin with the City of Tacoma - and follow up 
     1.  with the City's Human Rights Commission on protected status, and 
     2.  with the City Council and staff requesting a review of all local ordinances affecting people experiencing homelessness.  Telling people to "move along" is not a shelter strategy, and
     3.  with the "committee" looking into review of the Tacoma Police Dept and the appropriate role of law enforcement as first responders to people experiencing homelessness

State
The Dept of Commerce encourages all counties to get the ERAP - that $100M in Eviction Rent Assistance money OUT as quickly as possible.  The hope is that if we get the money out, we can demonstrate the needs and request additional money.  There is no guarantee of additional funding but all the CARES Act Relief Fund money, which is funding ERAP, must be used by Dec. 31, 2020 - just like the $158M Pierce County has.
Each county is handling the ERAP distribution differently.  It is my understanding that it will go through 18 nonprofits in Pierce County but I have not yet seen the list.  Nor do I know how the county will adjust it's rent assistance portal to accommodate ERAP which has different eligibility requirements from either the county's current rent assistance or the county's veterans assistance.

Local
Eviction Prevention
There are now several rental assistance programs operating or about to operate across the county and/or for specific targeted groups or areas.  I do not know of ONE SINGLE PLACE where an ordinary human can actually find this information - if you do, please share.   Here's what I know:  Pierce County's current CARES Relief Fund program, Pierce County's current CARES Relief Fund veterans program, City of Lakewood, City of Tacoma for people of color (?), coming Tacoma Community House for State ERAP for Youth (Office of Homeless Youth), coming Pierce County's ERAP program through 18 nonprofits.  There might be others?  Plus the city of Fife has utility assistance.  I'm guessing each local jurisdiction that got a share of the State's CARES Act Relief Fund money either has or is considering a rent assistance program for its residents.  I believe the Puyallup Tribe also has its own CARES Relief Act allocation.  

The state eviction moratorium ends Oct. 15,  This means unlawful detainers (pay or vacate) can be filed Oct. 29.  We are fortunate to have TacomaProBono and the NW Justice Project working on minimizing disruptions due to evictions.  There is a possibility of a "mandated mediation" pilot in Pierce and four or six other counties.  This would bring together the tenant, the tenant's lawyer, the landlord and a mediator together either prior to or as part of the unlawful detainer process.  To make this work, the tenant will have to have rent assistance to bring to the table.  

Winter Shelter Plan
COVID precludes congregate shelters simply adding more people during inclement weather.  Perhaps there is a plan for the winter but if so, I haven't seen it.  
CARES Act Relief Fund money could cover costs of hotel rooms through the end of December.  CDBG-CV and ESG-CV could then be used.

Purchase of hotels/other housing units
CARES Act Relief Fund money can be used for purchase of hotels and other housing units for people experiencing homelessness, especially those at high risk.  On August 14, Spokane County opened the shelter they purchased and renovated with these funds.  Pierce County could do the same.  So could individual jurisdictions that have not yet used their own CARES Act Relief Fund allocation. 

Lastly,
The number of households experiencing homelessness who moved into permanent housing the week of August 7-14:
from a vehicle___________
from an encampment__________
from a tiny house__________
from a congregate shelter_________
from a hotel room shelter_________

the number of households remaining last night:
in their vehicle____________
in an encampment____________
in a tiny house___________
in a congregate shelter__________
in a hotel room shelter__________

the number of households who asked for shelter this week and we have no idea what happened to them ___________

Be safe everyone,
Maureen
--

Maureen Howard
MaureenHowardConsulting
maureenhowardconsulting@gmail.com

Tel:  253-756-8146 (LL)
Cell:  253-255-2200
3320 S. 8th Street
Tacoma, WA 98405

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