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In partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the new “Best Practices Toolkit: Addressing Homelessness and Addiction Through Housing First.” From the press release: This first-of-its-kind resource provides communities with practical and proven strategies to help Americans transition from homelessness and addiction to recovery and self-sufficiency. This toolkit advances a “Treatment First” model that prioritizes coordinated and accountability-driven engagement in evidence-based treatment and recovery support services to ensure access to effective, comprehensive, and evidence-based care necessary for homeless individuals. “It’s a policy change many of us who have spent time on the frontlines serving the homeless have been arguing for,” Senior Read More ›

Senior Fellow Michele Steeb appeared on NTD Newsroom to discuss the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new Treatment First Toolkit. On August 12, HUD released “Best Practices Toolkit: Addressing Homelessness and Addiction through ‘Treatment First.’” The Toolkit addresses the insufficiencies of Housing First to address the problems faced by a large population of the homeless who suffer from an addiction: A “Treatment First” model prioritizes coordinated and accountability-driven engagement in evidence-based treatment and recovery support services, to ensure access to the comprehensive and coordinated care necessary for homeless individuals with addiction to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency. “It’s a policy change many of us who have spent time on the frontlines serving the homeless have been arguing for,” Steeb Read More ›

Nick Allen, 58, died of fentanyl poisoning three months after moving into his taxpayer-subsidized apartment. Staff found him in his room three days later. Research Fellow Marsha Michaelis tells this sad tale to illustrate the fatal effects of treating addiction as a disability to be accommodated rather than an adverse condition to be treated.

Maria DeSersa was 34 years old when she was found dead of a fentanyl overdose in an apartment laundry facility in Federal Way, Washington. She had been a defendant in 24 cases over the span of seven years. Research Fellow and Program Coordinator Marsha Michaelis explores Maria’s tragic story to expose the failures of a lenient criminal justice system and what happens when we treat the addicted and the homeless like outlaws instead of providing them with the help and accountability that could set their lives on a new trajectory. Transcript “Babe, get up.” Those were the last words ever spoken to Maria DeSersa. But she couldn’t get up. She lay late last March on the grimy laminate floor of Read More ›

Independent journalist Kevin Dahlgren reports from the aftermath of the Spokane fires. Three separate fires in the Spokane area burned over 15 square miles and forced tens of thousands to evacuate earlier this month. Police have one man in custody who admitted to starting one of the three fires.

Developing As I first reported last month, the notorious Lewis Park drug den in Seattle is finally being shut down. This morning, city crews and cops booted everyone off the premises. Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson has allowed this hell hole to fester for months. Honduran fentanyl dealers used the deep woods and cover of darkness to prey on addicts. Multiple women were sexually assaulted. Fires raged out of control. The question now, where is everyone headed? We Heart Seattle is on the ground doing outreach. This is a developing story.

On the Ground Discovery Institute Media is on the ground in Spokane, WA. Kevin Dahlgren is reporting from the frontlines of the devastating inferno that decimated hundreds of homes. An arson suspect is in custody. Follow us for the latest updates.

“This Fire Could Have Been Prevented” Sources say the inferno that torched the Centennial Mills building in Portland’s Pearl District over the weekend may have been caused by homeless squatters. Kevin Dahlgren and I have been reporting on the ground and talked to witnesses who watched in horror as the historic 116-year-old abandoned structure went up on flames.

Kevin Dahlgren appeared on Newsmax on July 22, 2026, alongside Harrison Baum to discuss the suffering and exploitation of the homeless in Skid Row. Dahlgren described Skid Row as one of the worst and most corrupt places he has ever been. It’s “the embodiment of radicalized policies run amok,” he explained.

Another One Busted Bellevue community watch volunteers busted another fella this week. Young man allegedly tried to getaway with expensive steaks. But he was caught red handed and just walked away. Many of these stolen items end up in Seattle’s black market in Chinatown-ID. Homeless drug addicts steal and sell this stuff for pennies on the dollar to fuel their fetty and meth habit.