SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The Spokane Valley City Council passed a resolution on Tuesday that will have Frontier Behavioral Health run the homeless outreach services in the city for one year. The council passed the resolution with a six-one vote.
A member of the interim Homeless and Housing Task Force said, “In terms of what we need for the people we're encountering on the street on a daily basis and those intervention types, Frontier was able to offer a lot more than many other providers in the community.”
The council also received a proposal from the Salvation Army, but the task force suggested Frontier to the full council.
One public commenter during the meeting agreed with the suggestion saying, “I understand one of the key root issues to homelessness would be drug addiction as well as lack of access to mental health services.”
The price tag for the partnership is $200,000. The cost will be for two staff members and administrative purchases to run the outreach. According to the plan, once someone is housed, Frontier will follow up with them for a year.
The search for a partnership has been in the works since the summer of 2023 after Spokane County gave Spokane Valley control of some new Homeless Housing Assistance funds.
The lone no vote for the partnership was from Councilmember Al Merkel. He said, “We continue to talk about all these extra things that Frontier can do and all these other things, which I think are marvelous. I just don't understand why it wasn't written into the document requesting these services.” Merkel added, “My main concern is transparency through this process.”
However, other councilmembers came to the defense of the task force. Councilmember Laura Padden said, “Well, I think what was presented last week and this week indicates a great deal of transparency.”
Frontier is expected to begin offering these new services in July 2024.
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Spokane Dream Center is a church in Spokane Valley that helps unhoused people. When Roseanna Peterson, the executive director of outreach at Spokane Dream Center, heard that city council voted to help the city's unhoused population, she was overjoyed.
"It is amazing what they do, because they work with all walks of life. And they make sure their clients get what they need," she said.
Eric Robison, Spokane Valley's housing and homeless coordinator, has been working to find a partner organization since summer 2023.
"Anything we can do now to prevent families from experiences now is working upstream to prevent homelessness in the future," he said.
WATCH: What the city of Spokane Valley's new homeless provider contract will provide