Fix Homelessness | How to rebuild human lives

Reforms to Involuntary Commitment Law Can Save Lives

_{Caitlin Cory
July 14, 2025
4
Mental Illness}

In its 2026 state budget, New York is putting a concerted effort behind addressing severe mental illness by expanding its involuntary hospitalization law and increasing the number of psychiatric beds. Kendra’s Law, which allows the involuntary hospitalization of those with a mental illness who pose a threat to themselves or others, will now also allow the hospitalization of those who are unable to care for themselves because of their mental illness. Washington state would do well to follow New York’s example. In Washington state, involuntary hospitalizations are handled by designated crisis responders (DCRs) under the state’s Involuntary Treatment Act. DCRs determine whether the individual exhibiting a mental illness or substance use disorder is “in danger …

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 …

New York Governor is Right to Invest in Mental Illness Treatment

_{Caitlin Cory
June 30, 2025
5
Mental Illness}

On April 28, Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled a $254 billion state budget for fiscal year 2026, which focuses heavily on improving the safety of New York City’s subway system. As part of this effort, the budget includes provisions to enforce laws and beef up police presence. But Governor Hochul’s budget also addresses a related issue: tackling homelessness and treating severe mental illness. The budget includes $25 million for “welcome centers” that will connect homeless and mentally ill people on the subway with essential services. An additional $16.5 million will be set aside for Assisted Outpatient Treatment, $2 million will go to staffing in the Office of Mental Health, and $160 million will create 100 inpatient psychiatric beds. Additionally, Kendra’s Law is being …

King County’s Homeless Count Revised Up to 16,868 Due to Improved Survey Method

_{Spencer Pauley
June 19, 2025
4
Homelessness}

The following is an article originally published by Spencer Pauley at The Center Square. King County’s 2024 homeless population has been revised upward by 483 people after new data was derived from a unique survey method used by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. Unlike other agencies, KCRHA conducts its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s required Point-in-Time, or PIT, unsheltered count in even- numbered years. Sheltered counts are done every year. When the agency initially reported its count in May 2024, 16,385 people were tallied. However, the count was recently revised to a total of 16,868 homeless people in King County. This is a result of a subset of the unsheltered homeless population being added to the count as data continued …

Microsoft Pulls Major Tech Conference from Seattle Over Crime, Drug Use, Homelessness

_{Ari Hoffman and Jonathan Choe
June 10, 2025
5
Homelessness}

Seattle has lost one of its most high-profile tech events due to mounting concerns over public safety and deteriorating conditions in the city’s downtown core. Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer host its annual Build conference in Seattle starting in 2026, citing issues related to rampant homelessness, visible drug use, and urban decay. According to an internal email obtained by journalist Jonathan Choe of the Discovery Institute, Visit Seattle—the city’s official tourism and marketing organization—was informed that Microsoft will cancel its 2026 event and release all future holds for the conference in Seattle. The email, titled “DEFINITE BOOKING CANCELLATION NOTICE,” said the decision was heavily influenced by the experience of company …

Farewell

_{Marvin Olasky
May 30, 2025
4
Homelessness}

After writing weekly for three years, this is column #156 and my last in Fix Homelessness. Three conclusions: “Housing First” is profoundly inhumane. Encouraging people to commit suicide by enabling their addiction — now you can drug and drink in privacy — is wrong. All drugs are not the same. People can live with a weed habit. People die with a meth habit or years of alcoholism. When addiction incapacitates a person, the right principle is Deal With Addiction First. The same principle goes for mental illness. Freedom’s not another word for no thinking left to lose. When a person goes from muttering to himself to hearing his own muttering plus voices yelling at him, it’s not kind to leave him alone. When medication can help as it often does, any …

Cereal or Eggs?

_{Marvin Olasky
May 23, 2025
4
Homelessness}

“Morning by morning new mercies I see.” That line from the hymn written in the 1920s, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” summarizes not only the Christian life but the way some beaten-down humans suffering homelessness come to believe that God can change their lives — or at least they can improve their own lives by moving from cereal (morning by morning) to bacon and eggs. “Bird by bird, buddy.” In the 1990s, Annie Lamott wrote Bird by Bird, a book about becoming a writer. The title comes from the time her ten-year-old brother fought frustration while trying to finish a report on birds that he’d struggled over for three months. “My father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, …

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Street Report

from Jonathan Choe

Mayor Bruce Harrell Answers Questions About Homelessness Amid Re-Election Campaign

_{Jonathan Choe
July 9, 2025
2
Homelessness}

What Does Harrell Plan To Do? Nearly four years ago, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell campaigned on the promise of making a serious dent in the city’s homeless drug crisis. But under his watch, there are more people living on the streets, the fentanyl epidemic remains out of control, and many encampments that were cleared are now repopulating. So this evening, I asked him what he plans to do about this ongoing issue that could become a political liability for his re-election campaign. #BREAKING: Addicts say a new batch of fentanyl laced with meth, insect repellant, and rat poison is hitting the streets of Seattle. Late Tuesday evening, I was reporting in Chinatown-ID and saw a group of people struggling to revive a man laid out on the sidewalk. Even after… …

Black Market of Stolen Goods Rides the King County Metro

_{Jonathan Choe
July 9, 2025
1
Crime, Law, and Order}

Lawlessness Reigns It’s the worst kept secret in Seattle, but King County Metro buses are being used by criminals to transport stolen goods. The addicts tell me they like to ransack the downtown Target store, then bring the items back to 12th Ave and Jackson St. in Little Saigon. As I was conducting an interview, a dude got off the bus with a duffle bag and started flipping stolen sneakers, cologne, and promising to come back with even more items. The proceeds are then likely used to buy fentanyl or other illegal street drugs. Once again, no cops in sight. Mayor Bruce Harrell’s city remains a lawless playground. WHO'S BUYING? During investigation into Little Saigon's open air black market, I couldn't believe stuff being sold. From EBT cards to …

Homeless Woman Suffering from Frostbite Ignored on Seattle Street

_{Jonathan Choe
July 9, 2025
1
Homelessness}

Where Are City Workers? Hundreds of people are walking past a homeless woman in downtown Seattle suffering from frostbite. She’s missing fingers and toes. We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez is the only outreach worker who’s stopping to help. Where are the city funded workers? I got her a burger and we walked to a nearby women’s shelter where she can hang and shower and hopefully sleep. Angeline’s is an excellent resource for walk-ins and typically has beds. It just takes a little extra time and because I love food so much believe that GOOD food vs.…— We Heart Seattle (@weheartseattle) July 9, 2025 I wanted to share that I saw this woman right back out on Blanchard last night smoking Fentanyl. 😭— We Heart Seattle (@weheartseattle) …

Seattle Senior Citizens Carry “Taser Canes”

_{Jonathan Choe
July 9, 2025
1
Crime, Law, and Order}

Criminal Playground Senior citizens say they are scared to walk around parts of Seattle. The city has turned into a criminal’s playground under Mayor Bruce Harrell. So some of them are now carrying “taser canes.” We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez got a demonstration. I think I need one as well. …

Seattle’s Belltown Neighborhood Overrun by Homelessness and Addiction

_{Jonathan Choe
July 9, 2025
1
Homelessness}

Social Services Row Crime, chaos, and death sums up what’s happening in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. The cross streets near social service providers like Plymouth Housing and REACH continue to be the root of all drug-related problems. They are both notorious pushers of the failed “harm reduction” and Housing First policies that have led to even higher rates of homelessness and drug overdose deaths in the region. Making matters worse, the Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) ordinance has been a total flop since it’s barely being enforced. …

We Heart Seattle Attempts to Assist Woman Undressing on Seattle Sidewalk

_{Jonathan Choe
July 9, 2025
1
Drug Epidemic}

Lost to Drugs The street crisis in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood is being fueled by drugs and mental illness. Some of the city funded non-profits like REACH and Plymouth Housing also have a presence in this neighborhood. Critics say their clients are the ones running wild on the streets and causing most of the problems. Late Tuesday evening, Andrea Suarez of We Heart Seattle tried to help a woman undressing on the sidewalk. But she was lost in her drug-induced mania. …

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Restorations Podcast

Brian Chandler’s Journey from Addiction to Service

_{9
Caitlyn McKenney
March 26, 2025}

In this episode of Restorations, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by Brian Chandler of Seattle's Union Gospel Mission.

Homelessness CEO Spends 24 Hours Unsheltered in Seattle

_{8
Caitlyn McKenney
February 26, 2025}

In this episode of Restorations, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by Kim Cook the CEO of Bread of Life Mission in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square.

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.

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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