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An ideological war about homelessness is raging. Many on the right say substance abuse and mental illness cause homelessness. Many on the left emphasize the cost of housing. Those factors are real, but while living among and interviewing 80 men and women who had suffered long-term homelessness in Missouri, California, and Colorado, I learned more about what both sides underestimate: the impact of ACEs (“adverse childhood experiences”). ACEs include physical, sexual, or emotional abuse and other experiences that undermine any sense of safety and stability. Five out of six young homeless adults have been physically abused. Many have been sexually abused. Most have been otherwise neglected. Most homeless adults hold in their hands at least four ACEs, as the November Read More ›

The federal government is hoping you, the public, won’t notice that homelessness in America reached an all-time high last year. That was the impression given by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when it quietly released the 2024 annual homelessness report on the Friday between Christmas, Hannukah, and New Year’s. Nationwide, 771,480 people were experiencing homelessness in 2024, an 18 percent increase from the year before and the highest number on record. The HUD administration attributes this record-setting number to a lack of affordable housing, systemic racism, and rising inflation. Impossible to hide, the report also highlights the strain caused by a surge in migrants and asylum seekers: “new arrivals” made up 13,600 of Chicago’s sheltered population and Read More ›

Recent Housing of Urban Development (HUD) figures reveal that homelessness reached an all-time high in 2024. Robert Marbut addresses these new figures — and why Housing First isn’t solving the problem — on NewsNation Prime.

Despite being the main supplier of America’s fentanyl crisis, China does not have the same addiction problem. Robert Marbut appeared on NewsNation Prime to compare and contrast the robust ways that China addresses addiction with America’s harm reduction policies. Robert Marbut is Senior Producer of the new film, “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated,” now streaming at Salem NOW. To find out more about the film, go to fentanyldeathincorporated.com.

In December, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Robert Marbut appeared on NewsNation Prime to discuss the fentanyl crisis and the upcoming movie, “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated.” Marbut is the Senior Producer of the film. “We have never seen a drug this deadly, this lethal, this potent, ever in the history of the world,” Marbut told host Natasha Zouves. “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated” will begin streaming in 2025. To find out more, go to fentanyldeathincorporated.com.

Washington, D.C. — Homelessness reached the highest number on record nationwide in 2024 according to a report the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released on December 27 in a likely attempt to avoid public attention. Dr. Robert Marbut, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and former Federal Homelessness Czar, says, “HUD spent over 3.16 billion on homelessness in 2024 and continues to attribute rising homelessness to unavailable housing and systemic racism, while ignoring the fentanyl epidemic and untreated mental illness.” According to the national Point-In-Time count report, homelessness increased by 18.1% since 2023 to the highest number on record. Of the 771,840 people experiencing homelessness, 274,224 are unsheltered. The data reveals a 32.9% increase in people experiencing homelessness from 2020 Read More ›

After writing weekly columns about homelessness for two-and-a-half years, I’m ready to put what I’ve learned into book form. It will be my 30th book and maybe my last, although (as chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes states) “of making many books there is no end.” But since I have written a lot, I’ll paraphrase the opening of the Declaration of Independence: “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires” that I declare the reason for writing a book on homelessness when a bunch already exist. Some of those books are by reporters who have lived with homeless people. Others are by opinion writers who have sat in their offices and proposed policies. The “unique selling proposition” of my book is Read More ›

With Christmas coming, I’m taking a timeout from my usual columnizing to send greetings to Tony, a homeless man in Colorado. He is 67 years old and may be sleeping in a North Face sleeping bag within an abandoned 144-square-foot wooden structure adjacent to a cemetery. (His summer bed has been a picnic bench about a third of a mile from a Safeway/Starbucks.) Tony was born in Japan to a military dad. His family subsequently moved to Florida and then Arvada, a northwest suburb of Denver with a population that’s soared from 50,000 in 1970 to 124,000 now. When Tony was 16, he had some issues with his parents “just because I’m me,” and they sent him to a foster Read More ›

Where Is All the Money Going? King County homelessness authority CEO’s salary is $290,000 — that’s more than the Seattle median income and average tech salary COMBINED. Taxpayer funded. Meanwhile, Seattle’s homelessness crisis is third worst in the nation. Let’s take a look. KCRHA Employee Salaries The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has been embroiled in controversy since its start in 2022. Former CEO Marc Dones made $247,200. Hired this year, new CEO Kelly Kinnison is being paid $290,000. Kinnison is not the only one making $200k+. More Salaries King County Regional Homelessness Authority Salaries: CEO Kelly Kinnison – $290,000 CPO Irene Agustin – $205,000 CFO James Rouse – $285,000 Prior to the leadership change:Interim CEO Darell Powell – $285,000 Read More ›