Mayor Bruce Harrell has announced a new plan to revive downtown Seattle. This includes a plan to tackle homelessness which gets to root issues like addictions, unlike previous plans which suggested increased spending and housing-first solutions. 

“I believe that the fentanyl crisis on our streets is causing death and disorder, and I can’t mince words there,” Harrell said. “We have an obligation to do more for those suffering from substance abuse disorder.”

Police Chief Adrian Diaz and Citywide Councilmember Sara Nelson, who is herself in recovery from substance abuse, supported the plan. “This is personal for me,” she said, “because if I hadn’t sought recovery through inpatient treatment, I would not be standing here right now.” 

As reported recently by The Center Square, King County experienced a 24 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2022. More than 1,000 people died from a drug overdose compared to 700 in 2021. In contrast, in 2012 there were 274 overdose deaths.

As for the homeless population the county has also experienced a 14 percent increase in the population since 2020. As we’ve observed in the past, much of the record-level homelessness deaths in recent years are driven by drug overdoses, particularly fentanyl.

Downtown business owner Leyla Farange told local outlet KOMO news that addressing the drug epidemic is critical to solving homelessness. “It got bad,” she said, “There is a still people out there and we have a huge drug problem. We keep saying homeless but this is a drug problem.”

Harrell’s plan will be much more effective with buy-in and support from the county level, but there has been little of either. Instead, County Executive Dow Constantine has been largely silent on the matter. This is a community problem and will require the community to work together to fix it.

We’ve been advocating for solutions that take root causes into consideration, and consider this an important step in the right direction. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. 

King County Regional Homeless Authority was set to release a new plan last week, but has yet to do so. Their current plan simply won’t work – and it’s incredibly expensive. KCRHA’s proposal would cost $12 billion over the next five years on the same failed programs that funnel money to organizations with no track record of getting people back on their feet. 

The plan is too expensive, doesn’t address the root causes of homelessness, and needs serious changes before it should even be seriously considered. They need to take a hard look at the root causes of homelessness, the barriers that are keeping people from regaining jobs and homes and the failure of current programs rather than just putting people in housing and leaving them there without any support. 

Kevin Dalhgren, an expert on the issue of homelessness, said “A key issue is that the KCRHA is basing all of its plans on a false premise – that homelessness is a housing issue. With that premise, it’s easy to see why they believe the Housing First model will work.” That fundamental misconception is why these proposed solutions continue to fail. He continued, “ have worked in Housing First programs and have seen rampant drug use, abuse, violence, theft, and chaos. These housing programs are often very triggering to those who genuinely want to recover, so they choose to return to the streets rather than live in a counter-productive environment.”

He said that there is a path forward, but it’s not what KCRHA has been proposing. “The solution to ending homelessness is to empower that population to reach their fullest potential and for many to become self-sufficient. Once they do that, they will not need to utilize our system and can move on with their lives to be productive members of society.”