City officials answered hard questions about their new homeless encampment initiative at a Federal Way City Council meeting on Tuesday.

One of those questions: Where will homeless people go once the camps are closed?

It was asked by Councilwoman Susan Honda after Federal Way Police Department Deputy Chief Stephen Neal, who’s heading the initiative, and Community Services Manager Jeff Watson gave a presentation on the 18 homeless encampments in Federal Way, the problems they have posed and what the city is going to do to fix the situation.

In answering Honda’s question, Watson at first said people would be connected to the appropriate resources, such as Catholic Community services, the YWCA or the Multi-Service Center.

Then he admitted the harsh reality.

“What I’ve had to tell people that have called me and said, ‘I’m homeless, can you help me?'” Watson said, “is, I put them in touch with organizations like the ones that I’ve just listed, but I’ve also very candidly told them, ‘Look, I have to tell you that the chance of you getting shelter is very slim’ because, as I think it’s been acknowledged this evening, there is insufficient housing, there is insufficient shelter.”

Watson lamented that the homelessness crisis is not just in Federal Way or South King County but across the nation as a whole. He said the way systems are set up to care for these individuals is a matter of getting on a list and facilitating a fair and equitable process so “those who may be homeless in one part of the county don’t have a better chance than others.”

While that may be so, the city’s approach to dispelling homeless encampments in Federal Way still begs the question: Where will they go if the organizations the city is referring them to cannot help?

“At some point I think we’re going to deplete our resources,” Councilwoman Lydia Assefa-Dawson said. “There’s not enough housing out there for people and I really believe that everybody has to be housed, but we can’t do it.”

Neal said addressing homeless encampments has been a 20-plus year job within Federal Way, but creating this initiative now came after an annual One Night Count report that showed a 150 percent increase in people sleeping on the streets on a night in January.

Additionally, a large fire at a homeless encampment broke out, which caused a response from South King Fire and Rescue and prompted a tour of the area by Mayor Jim Ferrell. Ferrell said cleaning up camps like that is a matter of establishing public health and safety.

“We’re fully cognizant here at the city about the human aspect of this, and there is no emphasis of being cruel or heartlessly moving people off a property,” Ferrell said at the meeting. “Every care will be taken to preserve the dignity of human beings and to make sure they have the referrals.”

Councilmen Martin Moore and Mark Koppang commended the city and mayor for the initiative, while Councilwoman Dini Duclos said her experience on the original committee to establish a 10-year plan to end homelessness gave her perspectives that were, at the time, “shunned.”

“I was one of the people who said, ‘We’re not going to end homelessness in 10 years,'” she said, adding that the city has to protect the people in the community and be stern about people camping out. “The more we allow this to happen, the greater it’s going to be.”

Once homeless encampments are identified around the city, officials will determine if they are located on public or private land. If they’re on public land, the people living there will be notified that the camp will be closed and given information about various human services – housing, chemical dependency, mental health and more. If the camps are on private land, city officials will notify the landowners and inform them that they are not in compliance with city code.

In a previous article, city officials said people will be trespassed if they don’t comply.

Second-degree trespassing is a misdemeanor; first-degree trespassing is a gross misdemeanor.

Lynn Ormsby, one of a handful of community members who provided comment on the issue during the meeting, said she’s seen the encampments firsthand.

Ormsby is actively fundraising with the Federal Way Day Shelter Coalition to raise money for a day shelter, which is projected to open this summer.

“One of the reports we heard is, last year there was about 125 people living in the woods who knew and learned how to access the six meals that are provided in the week, health services that might be provided with HealthPoint,” she said. “They knew how to find dumpsters. These people looked out for each other, but what they’re telling us is there are about 175 new people and that things have become very difficult.”