Youth shelter space running out in Pierce County amid crisis

Shelter space running out for Pierce County youth

A Pierce County shelter is sounding the alarm about a growing housing crisis affecting a vulnerable population: youth and their families.

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. - A Pierce County shelter is sounding the alarm about a growing housing crisis affecting a vulnerable population: youth and their families.

Family Promise of Pierce County CEO Steve Decker says since the nonprofit took over a shelter hub in June, the majority of calls received from individuals facing homelessness are from families with minor children. These families represent about 60% of daily calls.

"It's six or seven times a day that we're telling families that there's nowhere for them to go," Decker said.

While some individuals are often placed more quickly, families with children face additional hurdles, such as needing more space and stringent regulations to ensure their safety.

"For families, we are having to tell them they're going to be waiting for any possible emergency shelter," Decker said.

This waiting period can force families to live in unsafe conditions — sleeping in their cars, on friends’ couches, or even in tents in unsafe areas. The emotional toll this takes on parents is overwhelming.

"That is the worst feeling in the world to tell a mother that she and her newborn don't have a place tonight," Decker said.

One of the key issues in providing shelter for families is the numerous barriers that exist for family shelters compared to individual shelters.

"The minute there are children involved, you are obligated under certain laws to ensure their safety. This means families have more barriers to creating shelter spaces," Decker said.

For family shelters, safety concerns mean stricter background checks, the need for separate spaces for families, and liability restrictions that make it far more difficult to find and create shelter space. While the county can more easily repurpose spaces like gymnasiums, the requirements for housing children make it a much more challenging process to set up safe family shelters.

$2.5M allocated for new homeless shelter in Pierce County

Pierce County report that at least 2,600 people are living on the streets, largely due to a lack of affordable housing, which has led to the rise of makeshift communities.

Decker and his team are not the only ones witnessing this rise in family homelessness. In April, Tacoma Public Schools reported they have over 2,500 students experiencing housing instability. However, the numbers extend beyond Tacoma, as school districts across Pierce County report hundreds of children experiencing homelessness.

"In Pierce County total, Tacoma is just one of the 15 school districts that all have hundreds of children that are in that same state," Decker said.

One of the biggest challenges is that these families often go unseen.

"They are the invisible homelessness," Decker said. "They don't want to be found, and I wouldn't either if I was in that situation."

Laura Mapes is one of the parents affected by this crisis. After her son was hospitalized with myocarditis following a COVID-19 booster shot, she lost her job and, subsequently, her housing.

"They didn't know that we are in that situation, because I didn't want anyone to know that we were, you know, struggling in the way that we were," Mapes said.

Despite the hardships, Laura has remained resilient, sharing how her family stuck together through the ordeal.

"As long as we have each other, we have everything we ever need," she said. "It was hard, but we persevered."

Now, Laura and her family are finally transitioning into permanent housing after months of uncertainty. However, her story is just one of many in a county where families are continually facing impossible situations.

The crisis has reached a tipping point, as Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier recently declared homelessness a state of emergency to secure funding. For many advocates, including Decker, this declaration comes too late.

"The emergency has existed for years," Decker said.

While state and local officials, including Governor Jay Inslee, highlight some progress in addressing homelessness, Decker and Mapes both challenge the notion that enough is being done.

"There's been a lot of effort put into long-term fixes, but children are outside tonight," Decker pointed out. "The system is forcing families to sleep in their cars or out in the woods because there aren’t enough emergency shelter spaces."

Mapes echoed his sentiment, stressing the importance of making homelessness a top priority for county leaders.

"This should be the only priority," she said. "The whole homeless population needs to be a priority, but especially the kids who are outside right now. They need to be the number one focus."

Governor Jay Inslee and state leaders visited Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood to announce a 40% reduction in youth homelessness across Washington, though local advocates argue that more immediate action is needed to address the crisis today.

As Pierce County continues to struggle with affordable housing shortages, officials are working on securing emergency shelter funding through their summer supplemental budget. It has yet to be signed by Executive Dammeier.

This is a developing story, stay with FOX 13 for more developments.