Two very troublesome facts were revealed last week which provide more evidence that the progressives’ “Housing First” homeless policy and “Harm Reduction” drug policy are failing to end the suffering that is taking place on our streets.

1. The 2024 King County Point-in-Time Count revealed that despite spending billions in taxpayer dollars, the homeless population grew a shocking 23%, from 13,368 in 2022 to 16,385 during the past two years.
2. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. had a 3% drop in overdose deaths in 2023, yet Washington State had a 27.6% increase last year.

These numbers are similar to those in other progressive West Coast cities and states.

These facts require us to ask the legitimate question: Are Housing First and Harm Reduction effective policies to end homelessness and/or reduce the skyrocketing OD deaths in our state? Or are government actions enabling those who live the cruel existence of homelessness and drug addiction?

Housing First

Housing First philosophy is based on the belief that the homeless crisis is purely an economic problem. If we simply provide everyone, no matter if they have addiction or mental health issues, with free or subsidized housing, then those living on the street will suddenly be able to solve their destabilizing problems.

Those on the political Left have repeatedly argued that investment in Housing First programs will eliminate homelessness. Former President Barack Obama promised in 2013 that it would eradicate homelessness by 2023. As we have seen, the exact opposite has occurred as homeless numbers have steadily increased since the president made his claim.

King County Executive Dow Constantine’s Health through Housing Initiative is the perfect example of a Housing First project. According to the initiative’s dashboard, the executive purchased 15 hotels (with a combined total of 1366 units) for $268 million. This is nearly $200,000 per unit just for the purchase.

This expenditure is just the beginning of the cost these hotel purchases will have. According to King County, each unit will need $100,000 for Site Rehab, then an annual expense of $37,500 to $50,000 per unit for Building Operations and Staffing.    

Thus, if there are no surprise expenditures (which we know is highly unlikely), the total cost after the first year is $455,825,000, making the per unit cost $333,693!

Harm Reduction

The story is nearly identical with the Harm Reduction drug policies. While the rest of the country utilized many different approaches to reduce OD deaths by 3% last year, Washington state refused to budge from Harm Reduction drug policies, which resulted in a nearly 28% increase in drug overdose deaths in 2023.

Progressives believe that Harm Reduction (instead of abstinence and treatment programs) is the best method to reduce both the negative social and/or physical consequences from illegal drug use. It began in the mid-1980s as the AIDS virus was spreading through sexual activity and the use of dirty needles. 

Since the threat of AIDS has dissipated, public health agencies have used needle exchanges and safe injection sites to turn Harm Reduction into an enabling support system for illegal drug users. In Oregon they went to the extreme to decriminalize drugs. It was a disaster, and after just a couple of years, they reinstated criminal penalties.

Here in Washington, the Democrat controlled Legislature in 2021 chose not to fix state statutes after the Blake decision voided Washington’s drug possession laws. Finally, after two years of record overdose deaths, sanity returned to lawmakers in 2023 and drug possession laws were once again on the books. 

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s recently announced that he will spend $5.65 million to open a post-overdose facility operated by the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC).  While on the surface this might seem practical,  highly respected homeless advocate Ginny Burton stated her deep concerns to us,”We have yet to see harm reduction practices improve the lives of addicts using on the streets. Giving nearly 6 million dollars to drive synthetic opioid addiction even deeper suggests that we, as a society, are invested in the destruction of human life.”

The simple problem with Harm Reduction is that it makes it more comfortable and acceptable for drug users to be active in their addiction. The result is a record number of people continuing to die every year because the government is sadly enabling them to avoid treatment.

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While the thoughts behind Housing First and Harm Reduction may be well-intentioned, the facts continue to reveal they are expensive methods that do not solve the problem (and there is a legitimate argument they have made the suffering worse).

Many communities (such as San Antonio and Austin) are achieving success with innovative approaches which focus more attention on addiction and mental health. These communities believe in providing individuals with the ability to support themselves after public assistance helps them stabilize their lives.

It is frustrating that the current political leadership in Seattle and King County refuse to explore other methods to help those who are homeless, and instead continue their stubborn support of expensive Housing First policies which has not reduced homeless even one time in the past decade since homelessness was declared an emergency.