Homelessness | Change Washington

This could be Katie Wilson’s “moment,” if she adopts a commonsense homelessness strategy

The instability of Seattle’s political system is best illustrated by the revolving door at the mayor’s office. Since 1998, none of the City of Seattle’s chief executives left office under their own volition. Four (Mayors Schell, Nickels, McGinn, and Harrell) were defeated at the polls, one (Mayor Murray) resigned, and one (Mayor Durkan) chose not...

WA officials file lawsuit to tragically keep failing homeless policies in place

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Attorney General Nick Brown announced that Washington State joined a federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration to allow state and local governments to continue controversial “Housing First” homelessness policies. These ineffective measures, which disregard the role of mental illness and addiction in rising homelessness, have resulted in an 80% more people...

Seattle Times fails to meet its own standards for its coverage of the homelessness crisis

November 2, 2025, was the 10-year anniversary of Seattle/King County declaring homelessness an emergency. A decade later, government actions have caused homelessness to increase 68% and thousands have died (mostly from drug overdose). The Seattle Times, despite having an editor (Molly “MJ” Harbarger) and two reporters (Greg Kim and Anna Patrick) to cover the issue,...

The Price of Silence

When is the last time you visited downtown Seattle? Or Portland? Or San Francisco? Are these places the towns you once vacationed to and felt safe site seeing? Nearly thirteen years ago, I prayed for death as I wandered the streets of Tacoma in the middle of the night—no place to go, no belongings, everything...

Commonsense Solutions to our never-ending “Homelessness Emergency”

Last week, ChangeWA reviewed the negative outcomes of Seattle and King County’s Emergency Declaration issued 10 years ago this month. This week we look at two commonsense ways to quickly lower homelessness, cut dependence on costly government programs, and save taxpayer money. Progress has been made – just a few years ago these policies weren’t...

‘Housing First’ in Washington: A Decade of Failure and Tragedy

ChangeWA marks the 10-year anniversary of the City of Seattle and King County declaring homelessness an emergency with the first of a two-part series. This week we will examine the devastating results of the region’s homelessness strategy. Next week in part two, we will provide commonsense solutions that have reversed the negative trends in other...

Thank you to We Heart Seattle for five years of making a real difference

Time to acknowledge something positive in Seattle… Those of us at ChangeWA celebrate the five-year anniversary of We Heart Seattle! When Seattle progressives’ public safety, drug, and homeless policies were causing the rapid decline of the city in 2020, Andrea Saurez and a small group of like-minded friends went into action. At first, they cleaned...

Extremists fund their violence with tax money meant to help the homeless

A new report reveals how violent extremists are funded by taxpayer money intended to help those suffering on our streets. In early October The Capital Research Group, in collaboration with Seattle’s Discovery Institute, released “Infiltrated: The Ideological Capture of Homelessness Advocacy” which describes how public funds are being diverted away from helping homeless individuals and...

From Addiction to Accountability: A Path Forward for Washington

The leniency in Washington’s judicial system was recently displayed by the repeat offender (36 arrests and 20 convictions) who killed a 20-year-old woman as he attempted to flee police in Pierce County. Despite serving numerous short sentences in his life, the suspect clearly has never been “rehabilitated.” It appears he views his many brief lockups...

Spokane citizens seek to bring commonsense solutions to homelessness crisis

Spokane provides the latest example of how citizens are forced to correct politicians’ failed policies because stubborn elected officials refuse to admit that their extremist, “Housing First” policies have made problems worse. Housing First is the policy strategy that provides free taxpayer-funded housing for homeless individuals regardless of their addiction, mental health, or criminal status....

Rethink Criminal Justice and Recovery

By Ginny Burton After nearly 30 years of active drug use, the criminal justice system became the intervention that saved my life. When felony charges finally pulled me off the streets, it wasn’t punishment that made the difference—it was the pause. Incarceration removed me from homelessness, stopped the criminal behavior that fed my addiction, and...

Why Is Dow Constantine Being Rewarded After a Decade of Failure in King County?

Among the regular stream of meaningless partisan statements issued by Governor Bob Ferguson’s communications team was one of last week which has received almost no attention from the local press. It is significant because it reveals the lack of accountability by our political leaders, and it helps explain why the Seattle/King County region and our...

Why Treatment is superior to Housing First to solve homelessness

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...

Voters See Through Failed Housing First Policies — Demand Real Solutions

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...