SPOKANE, Wash. – The city of Spokane is witnessing a decline in homelessness, according to new data shared at a Spokane City Council finance and administration meeting.
Dawn Kinder, the director of Neighborhood, Housing and Human Services, revealed that the 2025 Longitudinal Systems Analysis report shows an 11% reduction in individuals served by the homeless system from 2024 to 2025. Kinder highlighted, “We saw a 31%, 31.8% increase in people exiting homelessness into permanent housing. We saw an 85.7% increase of individuals exiting emergency shelter straight to permanent housing. And then we saw 42.9% fewer people returning to the system in the first 130 days of exit,” said Kinder.
These improvements align with the city’s adoption of a five-year plan aimed at ending homelessness through an inter-local agreement. Despite the progress, Council Member Michael Cathcart expressed concerns about the allocation of city funds towards drug treatment and rehabilitation compared to housing…