The City of Issaquah is one step closer to providing adequate health and human services after a survey by Redmond’s Family Resource Center (FRC) revealed that human service agencies were interested in participating in an Issaquah campus.

City of Issaquah staff and councilors are currently considering the idea of an ‘under-the-one-roof’ style facility to house health and human services providers, with a particular emphasis on low-income families, the disabled, and those requiring emergency services such as domestic violence and youth counseling.

Support for such a campus, modeled after the Family Resource Center at 16225 NE 87th St. in Redmond, has been gathering momentum in the city since about 2006.

The purpose of the FRC survey, paid for by the city from mitigation funds from the Talus development, was to first gauge if there was interest in a health and human services campus in Issaquah from the service providers themselves, before any further steps were taken.

The answer is yes. Of 25 respondents, 14 agencies reported they were interested in the project, while another six agencies indicated potential future interest. Of the 14, two were definite, six were very interested, and six expressed possible interest in being located on the campus.

Services provided by the 14 agencies include medical, dental, youth and family counseling, assistance to seniors, emergency services, help for developmentally disabled, and language services.

“This is good news for the people of Issaquah,” said Chair of the Issaquah Human Services Commission, Paul Winterstein. “As good as the idea of a human services campus sounds to us, unless there is interest from the organizations who will occupy it, nothing will happen.”

Winterstein said that FRC, the commission, and the council’s Services and Operations Committee, could now move into phase two of the survey process – how much a campus would cost, where it would go, who would run it, and how it would be paid for.

Winterstein was clear that while the city had worked closely with the FRC to explore how they could replicate their highly successful campus here in Issaquah, it was highly unlikely the city would fund and operate such a facility.

“Issaquah made the decision a few years back that it would not be involved in the direct provision of (health and human) services,” he said. “The city has neither the intention nor the will to pay for providing these services, but it does want to facilitate it happening.”

The total estimated amount of space needed by the agencies which responded to the FRC survey ranged from 28,000 to 52,000 square feet.

The great strength of the FRC model, Winterstein said, was the co-location of related services.

“Co-locating things like basic medical and dental services not only enables these businesses to share overheads and reduce costs, but greatly improves the accessibility of these services to those who need them,” he said. “You know, you get a young mother who needs to see a health care provider, and in the same building there is support for childcare assistance, or English as a second language support, it makes a huge difference to how the services are utilized. Particularly if you can put them near public transport, for instance. We know that the ability to get there without a car is very important.”

Winterstein is one of a large group of councilors and community volunteers who has worked hard to bring a campus in Issaquah closer to fruition.

Three years ago a group made up of nonprofit, business, government, and volunteer leaders, and co-chaired by former councilor John Rittenhouse, and resident Margaret Moore, began exploring the feasibility of a human services campus in Issaquah, conducting a community needs assessment.

The effort received a tremendous boost 2008 when the city decided that the $1 million it received from the developers of the Talus neighborhood, to free the development company of its affordable housing commitments, could be used for developing a human services campus.

In 2009, a key informant study of 60 community leaders confirmed the view that services are needed in the Issaquah area and that there is community support for the project. Family Resource Center then partnered with University of Washington graduate students to study real estate issues in Issaquah before planning a feasibility study.

“We asked about the reason agencies want to participate,” said Family Resource Center executive director Pam Mauk. “While all could check multiple answers, and we assume pursuing a new or expanded location relates to real estate needs, we were interested to see that the answer with the most responses was ‘We would like to participate in a one-stop human services campus.’”

With agency interest confirmed, the center is beginning the next phase of the feasibility study which will be conducted over the next four to five months.

For more information, contact Pam Mauk at 425-869-1174 or pamm@familyresourcecenter.org.