King County Executive Girmay Zahilay and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on Wednesday, July 1 announced a new, three-step plan to stabilize, right size and reset the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA), saying the changes are intended to strengthen financial oversight while maintaining critical services for people experiencing homelessness across the region.
According to King County, the plan follows an independent forensic evaluation released in April 2026 that identified significant concerns with KCRHA’s financial management, governance structure and internal controls. The changes also are intended to position the agency to remain eligible for federal homelessness funding that supports communities throughout King County, including South King County cities such as Burien, SeaTac, Des Moines, Tukwila, Kent, Auburn, Normandy Park and White Center.
“KCRHA was created because homelessness is a regional challenge, and I continue to believe a regional response is the right approach,” Zahilay said. “But believing in a regional response also means making sure it works.”
He said the actions are intended to stabilize the agency, narrow its focus to work it is best positioned to lead and strengthen accountability so public resources deliver the greatest impact.
Wilson said the changes are designed to address the agency’s challenges while maintaining continuity of services.
“The steps we’re taking today will let the agency focus on rebuilding public trust, making a strong application for federal funding, and helping our city and region deliver better outcomes for people experiencing homelessness,” Wilson said.
As part of the immediate stabilization effort, King County and the City of Seattle will jointly hire an independent financial monitoring firm to work inside KCRHA through the end of 2026. Beginning this month, the firm will help improve invoicing, strengthen financial controls and support timely payments to service providers.
The county and city also will assist KCRHA with preparing its application for the 2026 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care funding opportunity, which is due in August.
Under the restructuring plan, KCRHA will narrow its mission to focus on its core responsibilities as the region’s Continuum of Care lead agency. Those responsibilities include coordinating federal funding applications, overseeing the Coordinated Entry System, managing the Homelessness Management Information System database, conducting the federally required annual Point in Time count and coordinating severe weather responses for unsheltered people.
King County said reducing the agency’s responsibilities will lessen its administrative workload and allow it to concentrate on regional coordination and maintaining eligibility for federal funding.
The plan also calls for homelessness service contracts currently managed by KCRHA to be transferred to King County’s Housing and Community Development Division within the Department of Community and Human Services and the Seattle Human Services Department.
Transfer plans are scheduled to be submitted to the King County Council and Seattle City Council by Aug. 1. Contract administration would begin transitioning from KCRHA to the county and city agencies in January 2027.
King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, whose District 8 includes Burien, said the top priority during the transition is maintaining stability for people experiencing homelessness, service providers and funding.
“The most important thing right now for our region’s homelessness response system is stability, stability of housing and services for people experiencing homelessness, stability for the providers delivering essential services, and stability in the funding that makes this work possible,” Mosqueda said.
King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn called the announcement “a step in the right direction,” but said the county should go further by eventually ending the Regional Homelessness Authority. “This is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough,” Dunn said, arguing that King County should ultimately take back responsibility for homelessness services.
King County said it and the City of Seattle will work with service providers throughout the transition to help maintain continuity of funding and services.
The announcement also outlines a longer term regional reset process. Zahilay and Wilson said they will work with local governments, service providers, labor organizations, businesses, philanthropic partners and people with lived experience to help shape the future of the regional homelessness response.
King County said recommendations also will be informed by the Breaking the Cycle Workgroup, established under Zahilay’s March executive order. That group’s report is due Nov. 30 and is expected to include recommendations on improving coordination across homelessness, addiction, behavioral health and incarceration systems.
In addition, the county and city plan to convene Regional Reset Conversations with jurisdictions and other stakeholders, with recommendations expected during the first quarter of 2027.
why give all those tax dollars away for someone to waste when you can waste it yourself?
This is futile as King County has a proven record of mismanagement and waste among it’s agencies dealing with all this. KCRHA deserves the financial oversight, but where’s plan to do the same at King County?