Washington governor unveils plan to address homelessness

By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is proposing a host of efforts to address homelessness, including efforts to help people stay in their homes, increasing emergency shelters and permanent supportive housing and expanding services for those struggling with addiction or mental health issues. Inslee looks to spend about $815 million, with more than two-thirds covered by federal coronavirus funding. His proposal looks to build on nearly $2 billion of state and federal money that was approved by the Legislature earlier this year for housing and homelessness programs. Inslee’s office says that before the pandemic, about 30 out of every 10,000 Washingtonians were experiencing homelessness, and that preliminary data indicates that there was a 2% increase from January 2020 to January 2021.