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KCRHA CEO Kelly Kinnison Resigns Amid Fallout From $13 Million Audit
Dr. Kelly Kinnison is stepping down as CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority on November 16, two years into the job, as the agency shrinks after a forensic audit found it lost track of $13 million and local leaders stripped away most of its budget.
Dr. Kelly Kinnison resigned Thursday as CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, ending a two-year tenure as the agency she led is being partially dismantled in the wake of a scathing financial audit.
The KCRHA governing board announced the resignation in a press release, saying Kinnison's departure reflects changes in the organization's "mission, purpose, and service scope." Her resignation takes effect November 16. Board officials said she was not formally pushed out.
The resignation caps months of turmoil set off by an April forensic evaluation that found the agency had lost track of $13 million because of weak internal accounting practices. In July, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay responded by reclaiming administration of roughly $160 million in homelessness service provider contracts, cutting the authority's budget by more than two-thirds.
What remains of the agency is now responsible for coordinating the region's $67 million grant application to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and for regional functions such as the biennial Point-in-Time count of people experiencing homelessness in the county. The downsizing has already led to 10 layoffs, one voluntary departure and the elimination of six unfilled positions, according to reporting by PubliCola in August.
In prepared statements, Wilson and Zahilay offered polite thanks to Kinnison, but the mayor's comments pointed to the fiscal problems that triggered the restructuring. "I have a responsibility to the people of Seattle to ensure that financial challenges at KCRHA are addressed and stabilized," Wilson said. The two leaders said they "will make a recommendation soon on interim leadership" but offered no further details about the agency's direction.
The leadership change deepens uncertainty for an agency already facing pressure from Washington, D.C. The Trump administration has rewritten HUD's grant criteria to disfavor providers that use the "Housing First" model, an approach the Seattle region pioneered and has invested in heavily. HUD has already cut off funding to Los Angeles County's homelessness authority, citing in part financial accounting problems there.
A similar rejection for the KCRHA could imperil the agency and put at risk 4,500 units of transitional and permanent supportive housing. Wilson and Zahilay have so far declined to share contingency plans should the authority fail to receive its full funding request from HUD.
For a region already grappling with a worsening homelessness crisis, the resignation leaves the agency's future â and the housing and services tied to it â hanging on decisions still to come from local leaders and federal officials.