Title
Jungle Encampment Transition Update
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive an update on the Jungle encampment transition planning process.
Report
Issue:
Receive an update on the Jungle encampment transition planning process.
Staff Contact:
Stacey Ray, Assistant City Manager, 360.753.8046
Presenter(s):
Stacey Ray, Assistant City Manager
Chief Shelby Parker, Police Department
Background and Analysis:
In February the City launched in partnership with Thurston County and the City of Lacey, a Regional Jungle Encampment Transition Team (Regional Team) with a goal to safely and compassionately close the longstanding encampment in Olympia known commonly as the “Jungle.”
The Jungle is an approximately 20-acre site with a mix of City, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and private land ownership. It is located between Pacific Ave and Martin Way and adjacent to a Category 1 wetland. The site is currently unsecured, with the City of Olympia having in place an Option to Purchase Agreement with the private property owner that allows staff access for homeless outreach, support and clean-up activities.
After having successfully closed 14 prior encampments through the transition of residents to shelter and housing options, the Jungle is the last remaining large established encampment in the region. Due to the encampment’s size, significant impact on the surrounding community, and the conditions under which individuals are subsisting, both elected officials and executive leaders agreed that a regional effort was needed to make effective and sustainable progress in closing the site.
The Regional Team’s make-up is representative of that shared effort and the value of also working in partnership with providers who have long been engaged in homeless response efforts in Thurston County. Regional Team members include representatives from the City of Olympia, Thurston County, the City of Lacey, Intercity Transit, Interfaith Works, Family Support Center, and Olympic Health and Recovery Services. The make-up of the team brings leadership, expertise, access to a diversity of resources, creative problem-solving, trauma-informed practices and collaboration across multiple disciplines to address the complexity and challenges of the site closure.
Since the Regional Team’s establishment, several key milestones in the planning and implementation process have been reached: the encampment has been designated an Encampment Resolution Program (ERP) site per the guidance and funding parameters established by the Washington State Department of Commerce; the City of Olympia Homeless Response Team has completed the initial step of establishing a ‘by-name’ list of established residents; approximately 20 individuals have been transitioned into housing; and a coordinated effort amongst the City and several service providers is underway to complete Coordinated Entry intake forms for every individual to better understand their level of vulnerability, and health and housing support needs.
In addition, the Regional Housing Council (RHC) recently approved a proposal from the Regional Team to allocate approximately $290,000 in one-time unallocated ERP funds towards supporting the Jungle closure, including funds for the City’s Homeless Response Team to use to support residents before they transition and funding for a new Housing Navigator position to identify pathways for housing placements.
Unlike a typical planning process, the Regional Team is establishing strategies for the encampment closure and adapting implementation in response to the Jungle as an evolving crisis with an ever-changing funding and resource environment. The ‘by-name’ list identified approximately 290 encampment residents, and with the known severe constraints on available housing and shelter units in Thurston County, closing the encampment will be a multi-year process. Planning strategies being developed by the Regional Team will need to address how to transition individuals into housing, safety and stabilization support for individuals who are on the list and waiting to transition, and support for individuals who come to the site and are not on the list.
With the Jungle being the size that it is and having been established for so long, it has significant public safety impacts on surrounding properties, broader community, and for encampment residents. The Jungle can attract challenging and criminal behavior and be an unsafe environment, in particular for residents there who are often vulnerable to being victimized. Planning strategies being developed in partnership with the Olympia Police Department are intended to address public safety impacts, bringing added support to residents and the surrounding area.
The purpose of this agenda item is for staff to provide City Council and the community with an update on the Jungle encampment transition planning process and site management strategies. The update will include the process to date; key milestones and accomplishments; engagement and communication efforts underway; current strategies being implemented to support management of the site and the wellbeing of the residents; evolving challenges that will require sustained regional effort; and next steps and an anticipated timeline. Chief Shelby Parker will outline what the Olympia Police Department proposes specifically to help address the safety and wellbeing of residents, as well as impacts from the site on the surrounding community.
Climate Analysis:
Developing and implementing strategies to safely and compassionately close the Jungle encampment does not have a significant impact on climate.
Equity Analysis:
The Washington State Department of Health regularly publishes statewide data on homelessness, and consistently, the data shows that people of color are more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. The 2025-2030 Thurston County Local Homeless Housing Plan acknowledges this and aims to prioritize limited resources by establishing values that include racial equity, the voice of lived experience in information systems, trauma-informed service delivery, the equitable prioritization of individuals for assistance, using data to drive decision-making and the use of evidence-based and best/promising practices, all of which contribute to reducing disproportionate impacts to marginalized community groups.
These values are actively being centered by the Regional Team in the Jungle planning process and reflect the City of Olympia’s commitment to approaches to addressing homelessness established in the One Community Plan. All partners involved in this effort are committed to balancing compassion with accountability and seeking first to house individuals before closing the encampment. The team’s engagement efforts have included centering individuals with lived experience through members’ contributions, relationship-building between the Homeless Response Team and Jungle residents, and several planned listening sessions with the Regional Housing Council Lived Experience Housing Steering Committee.
The Housing Response Team, with support from multiple other providers, is collecting every individual Jungle resident’s vulnerability score to better understand their unique challenges and support needs. This enables the team to work to place the most vulnerable individuals first and identify offers of housing that residents can accept so as not to endanger their eligibility to stay on the by-name list per Department of Commerce ERP guidance.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
There is widespread community and regional interest in the current condition of and future planning to close the Jungle encampment. The Jungle is the last remaining significant encampment in the region and the largest existing ERP site in the state. Due to its size and the severity and complexity of housing its residents, it has significant impacts on the surrounding area, including specifically property and business owners residing and operating nearby. It will require an extensive amount of dedicated and sustained City and regional support to make meaningful progress in its closure.
Financial Impact:
Project management for this body of work and support for the Regional Team is being provided by the City of Olympia Assistant City Manager, who then is also engaging a cross-department team regularly in information sharing and problem-solving. The Regional Team does not have a dedicated funding source but instead relies on participating jurisdictions and service providers’ existing budgets, time and sharing of expertise as partners in this effort. The Olympia Police Department will support this effort through the existing Crisis Response Unit and Neighborhood Policing Unit staffing.
The City has committed to funding quarterly major clean-ups at the Jungle to improve the safety and wellbeing of residents and address air quality issues because of the burning of trash on site. The last clean, which was completed in July using a private contractor, cost approximately $150,000.
The Option to Purchase Agreement with the private property owner, JJP Group LLC, was amended in June for $80,000. It will be in effect for 12 months.
Options:
1. Receive an update on the Jungle encampment transition planning process.
2. Do not receive an update on the Jungle encampment transition planning process.
3. Receive an update on the Jungle encampment transition planning process at a future meeting or refer to a committee.
Attachments:
None