Recently, Solid Ground – our area’s leading non-profit working to improve the lives of marginalized and low-income people – suggested Diversion as a low-cost, successful solution for assisting people out of homelessness.
A growing number of individuals and families are living without dependable shelter in Seattle, and yet there is good news: an innovative pathway out of homelessness has been found. Diversion is a unique strategy that provides creative, tailored, individual solutions such as one-time financial assistance to overcome a short-term issue.
Of the 299 households enrolled in Solid Ground’s Diversion program, between April 2017 and March 2018, more than 63% exited into permanent housing. This compares to the 36% exit rate of King County’s overall homeless service system over the same time period, as reported by AllHome. On average, Solid Ground spent $1,336 per household, compared with the costs of emergency shelters, transitional housing and other models which can cost 10 times as much annually.
Diversion works well for households that have fewer vulnerabilities, and a supportive community from which they can access resources available. Funding from United Way, King County and the City of Seattle helped support the Diversion program, which is now part of the Solid Ground toolkit. The Solid Ground staff are increasingly turning to Diversion as a solution when helping those they identify as benefitting from this program.
Read more about the work of Solid Ground, using Diversion and other programs, to aid those seeking a path out of homelessness, and home insecurity, on the Solid Ground blog (click here). Also, read The Seattle Times article (click here) highlighting the successes seen in Pierce County from the use Diversion.
Also, consider donating to Solid Ground to help expand innovative approaches to giving more people a hand up out of homelessness. Find more on the Solid Ground website.