City leaders in Tacoma could soon join a countywide effort to coordinate homelessness services as Pierce County seeks to replace a patchwork of local responses
City leaders in Tacoma could soon join a countywide effort to coordinate homelessness services as Pierce County seeks to replace a patchwork of local responses with a regional system.
The Tacoma City Council is expected to consider a resolution Aug. 25 expressing its intent to help launch Pierce County’s Unified Regional Approach, or URA, which is built around shared data and cooperation among governments and service providers.
Pierce County Councilmember Jani Hitchen presented the proposal to the council during a study session earlier this week.
“Tacoma coming on board as the largest population in the county, along with the majority of services happening, is huge for us,” Hitchen said. “Tacoma is ready to take that next step, and I'm thrilled."
The resolution would commit Tacoma to working with other Pierce County governments on the regional system. If approved, city staff would begin developing an interlocal agreement that would define the specifics of its role.
“We all are going to use the same database. We are all going to use coordinated entry to homelessness, where people who are unhoused all know where to go,” said Tacoma Council Member Sarah Rumbaugh, the main sponsor of the resolution.
The effort comes as Tacoma continues to shoulder much of the county’s homelessness response. Pierce County’s 2025 Point-in-Time Count identified nearly 3,000 people experiencing homelessness. Tacoma hosts about 85% of the county’s shelter beds, and 76% of people counted were staying in a Tacoma shelter.
County officials said homelessness crosses municipal boundaries and requires a response that does the same. Under the proposal, local governments, nonprofit organizations and service providers would share information and coordinate services rather than operating largely independently.
“The goal is to make sure that for anyone who enters homelessness in Pierce County, that there is a response and that it's the same kind of response,” Hitchen said.
Pierce County began developing the regional approach in 2022. Pierce County, Fife, Gig Harbor and Lakewood have since adopted resolutions expressing their intent to participate in launching the system.
A central part of the proposal is expanded use of the Homeless Management Information System. Using the same database could improve the accuracy of countywide information and help providers identify available shelter space and gaps in services.
Unlike the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, Pierce County’s system would not be established as an independent agency or pool participating governments’ money into a single fund. Instead, Pierce County would oversee the initiative while governments coordinate through interlocal agreements.
“Everybody will be able to see what we're spending money on,” Hitchen said. “They'll know what we're doing from the very beginning, and they'll know how much different cities and towns are contributing."
The details of each participating city's responsibilities have not yet been settled. Those provisions are expected to be established through the interlocal agreement developed by the participating governments.
Pierce County spends about $50 million every year on homelessness programs. In Tacoma, the Neighborhood and Community Services Department has budgeted $25.5 million this biennium, but that does not include associated costs for first responders, such as medical calls to encampments by firefighters.
