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U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of both the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, announced a new round of vouchers to help homeless veterans access stable housing and supportive services. Communities across the state, from Seattle to Walla Walla, will receive a total of 205 new housing vouchers that will be distributed among the recipient housing authorities to help veterans

Efforts to ensure that young people and families have the individualized support they need to avoid homelessness got a boost from $2.5 million in grants announced today by the state’s Office of Homeless Youth. Funding will support emergency housing and rental assistance, crisis intervention services, outreach to connect homeless youth with resources such as drug and alcohol treatment, and other assistance to young adults age 18 through 24 in communities throughout Washington state

While poverty and homelessness have been frequent topics in recent months, the issue of youth hunger has been a consistent focus for the House Democrats. Hungry kids don’t learn as well as students who start the day with a healthy breakfast. As poverty and homelessness among children has increased, so has the number of students who go without meals in the morning. House Democrats, led by Rep. Zack Hudgins (D-Tukwila), proposed Breakfast After the Bell, a program that would allow students to start class with a meal to begin their day.

Mayor Ed Murray and over 1,000 volunteers spent the early hours of Friday participating in the One Night Count to survey Seattle and King County, estimating how many people were sleeping outside, in tents and vehicles, without access to shelter.

In response to the continued crisis of homelessness on the streets of Seattle, Mayor Ed Murray issued anemergency order to expedite the siting of two safe lots in Ballard and Delridge for homeless individuals and families living in recreational vehicles and cars.

Councilmember Lisa Herbold issued the following statement following this morning's briefing on encampment removals from the Mayor's office, Human Services Department, and Office of Finance and Administrative Services

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded today the inclusion of her permanent credit rate floor for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit in the final tax extenders package. The critical fix to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit—a program that has financed 90 percent of affordable housing projects in the United States and more than 50,000 affordable housing units in Washington state—will be permanently renewed.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray today presented to the City Council a proposed budget for 2016 that increases City investments to improve city planning and manage construction impacts, funds a mobile City Hall to bring services to more residents, reprioritizes human services to address homelessness, and provides funding for body-worn cameras for every police officer on patrol.

Catholic Community Services of Western Washington received $776,000 and the Opportunity Council received $704,000 through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. Both organizations are prior recipients of the grant

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced The Homeless Veterans Services Protection Act with cosponsor Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), which would prevent thousands of homeless veterans from losing access to housing services. VA’s proposed changes to the decades-old policy for homeless services would bar access for veterans who served less that than two years continuously, or who had an other than honorable discharge.

Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today announced he will not support a 2016 spending bill that severely underfunds transportation infrastructure. The FY2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill (H.R. 2577) fails to make needed investments in roads, bridges, highways and transit, hampering job creation and economic growth.

About 35 veterans experiencing homelessness in Snohomish, Skagit and Island counties will receive permanent housing through a grant program that Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02,has long supported. The housing vouchers, including 12 for Snohomish County, 7 for Skagit County, and 14 for Island County, are awarded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH).

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today praised Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro’s announcement that the King, Snohomish and Skagit housing authorities will receive new funding to reduce veteran homelessness under the HUD-VASH program. The program helps homeless veterans become self-sufficient by combining rental assistance from HUD with case management and support services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of both the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development and the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, applauded Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro’s announcement of new resources to help homeless veterans secure stable housing. Washington state will receive 240 housing vouchers that will be distributed among thirteen different housing authorities across the state.

City of Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) announced today a total of $620,000 in funding for rapid rehousing services for non-chronically homeless single adults to ensure that these instances of homelessness are rare, brief and occur only one time

Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-8) and Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) introduced H.R. 1779, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Trafficking Prevention Act (RHYTPA). This legislation will reauthorize the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act—currently the only federal program targeted solely to help runaway youth—and also add new protections for youth victims of human trafficking or sexual exploitation

Mayor Ed Murray released the Seattle Human Services Department’s (HSD) Homeless Investment Analysis.  The Homeless Investment Analysis provides an in depth look at the City’s current and historical investments to prevent and end homelessness as well as make recommendations to move to a more effective system of homeless services. The analysis is part of a broader strategy for investing in homeless services that included the Mayor’s Emergency Task Force on Unsheltered Homelessness, formed last fall, which helped lead to last week’s successful passage of homeless encampment legislation.

Mayor Ed Murray released the Seattle Human Services Department’s (HSD) Homeless Investment Analysis. The Homeless Investment Analysis provides an in depth look at the City’s current and historical investments to prevent and end homelessness as well as make recommendations to move to a more effective system of homeless services.

City Council unanimously adopted legislation today allowing for new interim use permits for as many as three transitional homeless encampments on property owned by the City of Seattle, private parties, or educational major institutions in most of Seattle's non-residential zones. The encampments will serve some of the 2,813 people homeless in Seattle, providing a safe and managed site for people to sleep and reside.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, on Thursday introduced emergency legislation that would reverse a sudden and largely unexplained Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy change that has restricted homeless veterans' access to housing and services.