Here in Washington State we have seen many examples of the Democrats (and their wealthy special interest friends) attacking the initiative process. This has included: Supporting legislation to weaken the initiative process Spending tens of millions to defeat citizen initiatives Recklessly adding “emergency” clauses to controversial bills which prohibit initiatives Hire expensive law firms to...
1 – Housing First creates dependency on government, Treatment creates self-sufficiency Housing First creates dependency on government’s expensive social services while treatment creates independence. Providing someone with free shelter (which is often very unsafe) does nothing to solve the disabling addiction and mental health problems. The individual then becomes dependent on government services. Yet with...
Results from a new statewide survey reveal that an overwhelming percentage of Washington residents are demanding a change in how our state and local governments approach homelessness. After more than a decade of rising homeless rates while adhering to expensive Housing First policies, the public strongly supports changing the focus to one based on addiction/mental...
Recent statements and releases from our state’s s highest elected officials suggest that their attention is primarily directed towards partisan disputes with the Trump Administration, rather than safeguarding taxpayer dollars. This emphasis on political battles appears to come at the expense of implementing effective oversight measures to prevent waste and fraud in public spending. As...
A new poll finds that Washington State residents overwhelmingly support the Trump Administration’s efforts to encourage treatment-based solutions (for both drug/alcohol addiction and mental illness) to battle the homelessness crises. Moreover, a large majority of Washington voters believe that current homelessness programs that DO NOT address addiction and mental health issues should be closed down....
Major stories about government fraud and waste make headlines for only a day or two before vanishing. Because the media quickly drops these stories, the people responsible avoid accountability and keep profiting from the wasteful and fraudulent system. Politicians make promises to fix the problem, but rarely is anything meaningful done as the waste and...
It has been nearly six months since then King County Executive Dow Constantine was handed $6 million by his cronies on the Sound Transit Board of Directors to lead its financially troubled organization. Yet his desire to recklessly and carelessly spend taxpayers’ money (while constantly demanding more) at the county still lives on. Remember at...
Local communities, frustrated by the failed progressive homeless policies of their urban neighbors, are taking proactive steps to safeguard their public places, while encouraging those suffering in encampments to accept much-needed mental health and addiction treatment. The City of Camas became the latest Washington State community to enact a camping ban when its city council...
Over the years, ChangeWA has occasionally sided with the long-time Times columnist, Danny Westneat, especially when extremists like Kshama Sawant, Lisa Herbold, and Pete Holmes controlled Seattle City Hall. But on his recent column explaining why Seattle crime rates have dropped, Westneat appeared to have forgotten several important occurrences which have had far more impact...
Since the Obama Administration adopted the Housing First model in 2014, homelessness has increased: The Trump Administration’s July 24 Executive Order (EO) has shaken up how our country will confront its homelessness crisis, especially in how we attempt to help the overwhelming majority of destitute individuals suffering with mental illness and drug addiction. Essentially the...
Last week’s executive order from the Trump Administration firmly declared that the federal government is changing its homeless strategy after more than a decade of disappointing results from Housing First policies. These orders have brought encouragement to those who support more resources for addiction and mental health treatment and angered those who financially benefit from...
Today, the Trump Administration began to dismantle the ineffective and costly Housing First homelessness policies, which have caused the country’s homeless problem to become even worse. The Obama-era policy resulted in a record-breaking 770,000 people to suffer on our streets during the last year of the Biden Administration. In Washington state, homelessness rose 78% since...
A recent state drug proposal could further enable struggling addicts to keep using illegal substances while providing financial benefits to drug companies, bureaucrats, and disingenuous treatment centers, according to treatment advocate Ginny Burton in an op-ed for Center Square. She raises concerns over the effectiveness of the “Safer Supply” drug policy being discussed by Washington...
This is the third article of three on the various costs associated with homelessness. In this article we examine the costs associated with government-funded services and the lack of accountability of taxpayer funds. We also look at whether these services are attracting homeless individuals from other states. King County politicians boast that they work with...