Human Services

In 2017, City staff reviewed its Human Services funding .  You can learn more about that process by viewing this presentation (pdf).  Based upon that review and community needs, staff proposed revisiting the City’s current funding allocations. As part of that process, funding for certain programs that had reflected Parks and Recreation services were shifted into a different funding source. As such, the City’s $75,000 annual Human Services allocation is intended to provide more direct Human Services.

In 2018, the City Council adopted guiding principles that would direct staff in allocating Human Service Funding. Those Guiding Principles are as follows:

•    Focus on outcomes and results rather than on the identity of the provider

•    Encourage provider collaboration to achieve the best value 

•    Collaborate with all funding sources to maximize funding investments

•    Consider prioritizing funding for areas that have been identified as the greatest need for the citizens of the City of Sequim 

Staff used these Guiding Principles as a basis for developing its Human Services Provider Summit held in November 2018. We took the ideas and information from that Summit, held a public meeting to discuss those results, and presented that information to the City Council. With that information, the City Council directed staff to develop a Request for Proposals (RFP) (pdf) – focusing on the City’s Guiding Principles – that would be a new form of service delivery for our community. 


Additionally, in December 2018 the City Manager andhomelessness 2018
three of our Public Works crew spent the night outside in the Sequim. You can learn more about their experience through this video. While their experience does not replicate the experiences homeless individuals may have, it does provide some insight.


For more information about the City’s efforts and human services funding video reasoning behind this effort, and for more information about the Human Services Provider Summit, please check out this video.