Fix Homelessness | How to rebuild human lives

Homelessness Data Suggests Economic Factors Not a Main Driver

_{Caitlyn McKenney
February 18, 2025
1
Homelessness}

Caitlyn McKenney reacts to data shared by the Mayor of Normandy Park WA that shows the role of addiction and mental illness in homelessness. This data should inform policymakers in Washington as they consider a bill that would make it easier to sue cities for restricting public camping. …

Discovery Releases New Data and Policy Approach for Seattle’s Homelessness Crisis

_{Discovery Institute
November 7, 2024
2
Homelessness}

Download the Report. Discovery Institute Releases New Homelessness Data and Policy Approach for Seattle Seattle, WA- If the growth rate of unsheltered homelessness in King County remains unchanged, the population experiencing unsheltered homelessness will double from nearly 10,000 to a staggering 20,000 in less than three years. A new report from Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness Initiative offers policy recommendations and new data to address the crisis. A study performed by Discovery Institute found that 49.7% of people experiencing homelessness and enrolled in Seattle programs first began experiencing homelessness outside of King County. Data also reveals a dramatic redistribution of funding away from emergency and transitional beds towards permanent …

Springs Rescue Mission: Spiritual Recovery Through Love, Not Force

_{Marvin Olasky
February 14, 2025
4
Homelessness}

A Springs Rescue Mission (SRM) document declares, “Our faith is why we do what we do, but faith is never required of others to receive basic relief services.…We believe it is God’s job to change people, not ours.” Old-style missions often thought they could change people by requiring attendance at chapel services. SRM does not have a campus church or any required service. SRM’s Christian statement emphasizes that God is “the one who transforms. Therefore, when guests make bad choices, it’s up to God to work with them. It’s God’s job to change people. It’s our role to help in the project, not own it.” Last March, though, The Gazette — Colorado Springs’ daily newspaper — reported criticism of SRM during public …

A Rent Control Argument You’ve Never Heard

_{Caitlyn McKenney
February 11, 2025
1
Homelessness}

In this short video, Caitlyn McKenney responds to an argument for rent control made in a Washington State public debate on the subject. …

Springs Rescue Mission: A Rare Alliance Between Church and State

_{Marvin Olasky
February 7, 2025
4
Homelessness}

Two weeks ago I noted how Colorado Springs city officials a decade ago handed a $3 million federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to Springs Rescue Mission (SRM) leaders. Later, City Hall gave $3 million more. That was because SRM, an explicitly Christian organization, was ready to help homeless wanderers in Colorado Springs, and no one else was ready. Strict church-state separationists didn’t like it, but city housing executive Steve Posey noted that the HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) contract detailed public benefits: “SRM would build a commercial kitchen; they would build an overnight shelter for several hundred people; they would build a day center with showers and laundry facilities. Nowhere in those contracts, or any ongoing contracts for …

Caitlyn McKenney Discusses Her Seattle Times Op-Ed with Brandi Kruse

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty
February 5, 2025
1
Housing}

Discovery Institute Research Fellow Caitlyn McKenney appeared on Divided with Brandi Kruse this week to discuss McKenney’s op-ed in The Seattle Times, “Sensible WA Tenancy Laws Will Help Housing Stability.” McKenney argues that nonsensical laws protecting tenants from eviction cause harm to housing stability. This is substantiated by emergency funding applications from Seattle affordable housing units, documenting the assaults, unsafe and unsanitary conditions, drug use, arson, and other criminal activity occurring without any recourse. “Instead of mandating rent control, lawmakers should provide housing stability by enacting smart landlord-tenant laws,” writes McKenney. Watch McKenney and Kruse discuss. …

Is Housing a Human Right?

_{Caitlyn McKenney
February 4, 2025
67
Housing}

The U.S. Constitution establishes life, liberty and property as unalienable rights but makes no room for a human right to the provision of housing.

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Street Report

from Jonathan Choe

Downtown Seattle Becomes a Massive Open-Air Drug Den by Night

_{Jonathan Choe
February 18, 2025
2
Homelessness}

New As Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell wraps up his latest State of the City address, the drug crisis downtown remains a massive black eye with no end in sight. Want proof? Early Tuesday morning, I walked the area around 3rd Ave & Pike St. and it was zombie land. No cops, no outreach, just human suffering. While the drug dens are less visible during the day, the problem is just being moved around. So it all comes back at night. Everyone who lives and works downtown knows this. The current plan is a band-aid solution because the root causes are not being addressed. There’s gotta be interventions and better treatment options before we hand out any more free drug supplies. And what about demanding more metrics and clearer standards for success in order to hold our policy …

Vacant Seattle Home Catches Fire. Witnesses Blame Homeless

_{Jonathan Choe
February 12, 2025
1
Homelessness}

Happening Now Massive fire inside a vacant house on Walker St in S. Seattle. Witnesses say it was likely started by the homeless. Neighbors have been complaining about more tents and RVs showing up in this area which is also near the Taco Time off Rainier Ave. Crews are responding to a report of a fire in a single-family residence at 2400 block of S Walker St. Please avoid the area.— Seattle Fire Dept. (@SeattleFire) February 12, 2025 …

Homeless Building Treehouses to Evade Camping Ban, Causing Environmental Damage

_{Jonathan Choe
January 30, 2025
1
Homelessness}

New For the past few years, all eyes have been on Seattle’s homeless drug crisis. But Kent’s street problems are being compounded by the “nomad class.” These are the people who have tapped out from society and are refusing shelter and services. They want to stay in nature and have taken over prime wetlands and greenbelts, building treehouses to evade enforcement in this South King County city. Beautiful streams are now clogged with trash and the environmental cost to clean this up is easily in the millions. I spent the past week investigating the situation which is spread out across the city. I will be launching the entire series soon. Here is a preview. …

Law Enforcement Presence Only Moves Criminal Activity to New Area of Seattle’s Chinatown

_{Jonathan Choe
January 29, 2025
1
Crime, Law, and Order}

New Late Tuesday evening, I wanted to check on Little Saigon in Chinatown-ID. There’s been a massive law enforcement push to clear the streets of drug addicts and the black market of stolen goods. 12th Ave & Jackson St remains clear. But all the action has moved to King St and Weller St. Last month, Mayor Harrell decided to give the problematic DESC Navigation Center more time to move. That means CID residents will have to put up with crime and drug dealing for a couple more months. Good deal…not. NEW: Massive law enforcement presence all week in Seattle's Chinatown-ID. Officers from SPD and King County Sheriff's Office are targeting the notorious 12th Ave & Jackson St. drug dens in Little Saigon. They're even going after people on side …

Drug Dens and Black Market Return to Downtown Seattle Streets

_{Jonathan Choe
January 28, 2025
1
Crime, Law, and Order}

New After months of positive progress, parts of downtown Seattle have regressed. Look what’s happening on a Tuesday evening! The drug dens have come roaring back and the black market of stolen goods is thriving at the corner of 3rd Ave & Pike St. But now the hoard has moved over to Walgreens and Piroshky Bakery. Councilmember Bob Kettle and Downtown Seattle must ask for consistent patrols at all hours of the day. Otherwise, this place will turn into a wasteland. Btw, no doubt this is spillover from recent crackdowns in Chinatown-ID. The lawlessness just moves from one neighborhood to another. Consistent enforcement is the only way to get ahead of this crowd. The addicts must get into treatment. More arrests are needed. No more catch and release. …

Washington State Debates Rent Control

_{Caitlyn McKenney
January 24, 2025
2
Housing}

SB 5222 WA’s Senate Housing Committee heard testimony on SB 5222, a bill that would mandate a 7% cap on rent increases (aka rent control). If you care about the cost of housing, watch these key moments from expert testimony. But first, the bill’s sponsor asking for grace. PRO PRO price cap: Bryce Yadon says renters “deserve the same assurance I have that my mortgage won’t increase 25% in a single year because the bank decided they didn’t plan.” “I’ll have to do some research…” Sen Chris Gildon asks Bryce for an example of where rent control has worked. “I’ll have to do some research and get back to you.” Counter-Question Sen Alvarado (who introduced the bill as a Rep in the …

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Restorations Podcast

Addiction Treatment Should Look Like This

_{7
Art Dahlen
December 5, 2024}

In this episode of Restorations, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by the founder of Battlefield Addiction Art Dahlen. As a former addict, Art shares personal insights on addiction treatment, the policy environment in Seattle, and the power of language.

A New Approach for Seattle’s Homelessness Crisis

_{6
Robert Marbut
November 13, 2024}

In this episode, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by Discovery Senior Fellow and former Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness to discuss a new policy report we coauthored to address homelessness in Seattle. Read the report. …

The ‘Sex Work’ Movement is a Lie

_{5
Kristine Moreland and SarahAnn Hamilton
July 25, 2024}

In this episode, Caitlyn McKenney talks with Kristine Moreland and SarahAnn Hamilton who are helping bring women out of sex trafficking and exploitation on the streets of Seattle.

Our Mission

Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative offers innovative research and compassionate solutions to the growing crisis of homelessness, addiction, and mental illness facing many American cities. Our mission is to serve as a resource for policy leaders, business owners, and neighborhood organizations trying to meaningfully reduce homelessness and to help those suffering realize their full human potential.

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Jim Palmer of the Orange County Rescue Mission on causes and cures for America’s homelessness crisis

_{8
Jim Palmer
November 1, 2021}

In this episode of Humanize, Wesley J. Smith speaks with Jim Palmer, the president of the Orange County Rescue Mission about the many causes and potential cures of America’s seemingly intractable homeless crisis. It is a crucial, if disturbing, conversation that touches upon the most existential needs of people and our mutual responsibilities to each other. Homelessness has reached crisis proportions in which even our most prosperous cities — such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle — witness thousands of people living in squalid tent encampments lining streets that provide scant shelter for people that many of us would rather ignore. It’s all such a mess, it is tempting to throw up one’s hands in despair. But understanding the causes of homelessness is …

Robert Marbut on America’s Homelessness Crisis, Strategies for Uplifting the Homeless, and Effective Government Policies

_{29
Robert Marbut
May 23, 2022}

Homelessness has reached crisis proportions. Few issues of human dignity are as heart wrenching as the wretched scenes in our most prosperous cities — San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle — where one can drive down main thoroughfares and be confronted with tent encampments lining streets that provide scant shelter for thousands of destitute people. The crisis is as multifaceted as it is seemingly intractable. What is the role of mental illness in the crisis? What about drug addiction? Is the rising cost of housing part of the problem, and if so, what can be done about it? What protections does society owe these vulnerable people based simply on their humanity and what responsibilities, if any, do they owe to greater society? It’s all such a mess, it is tempting to …

[not] anything helps

Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness Initiative pairs journalism with research on homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Our mission is to help city leaders, service organizations, and business owners meaningfully reduce homelessness and improve lives.

Resources

National Report

“Housing First” — and often only — has demonstrably failed. Congress and the Executive Branch must shift the focus onto untreated mental illness and substance abuse to reduce homelessness, drug overdoses, jail overcrowding, and misuse of emergency rooms. Herein we make policy recommendations to Congress to truly help rebuild human lives.

Get the National Report

Legal Guide

We have created a legal guide for cities to maintain compliance with the Martin v Boise decision. The guide outlines best practices for compliance and provides models for successful ordinances that balance enforcement, housing, and legal requirements. The guide is written by Joseph Tartakovsky, attorney for the City of Boise in the Martin v Boise case.

Get the Legal Guide

Case Studies

We have created case studies of cities that have delivered cost-effective and rapid results on homelessness. We’ll show you how San Diego built an emergency shelter and moved 700 people off the streets, how Burien eliminated camping in public parks, and how Modesto reduced quality-of-life crimes associated with homelessness by 83 percent — all within 60 days.

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