The Biden administration announced a new plan on Thursday to help reduce homelessness in five major U.S. cities including Seattle. The plan will provide federal assistance — but not direct funding — and support to help cities get unsheltered residents into permanent housing.
Seattle is one of the cities that will receive federal help under the All Inside plan. Officials say city has the third-highest population of homeless residents in the country after Los Angeles and New York. In 2022, there were more than 13,300 homeless people in Seattle, according to a one-night count required by the federal government. But local officials say different methods show there are four times as many living homeless in King County.
The federal plan will provide Seattle and the other cities as well as the state of California with help to secure existing Washington D.C. funding to build more affordable housing, provide rental assistance, and offer other services. The plan will also provide Seattle with technical assistance to help the city coordinate its efforts to reduce homelessness.
Mayor Bruce Harrell welcomed the plan, saying it is a “critical step” in addressing the city’s homelessness crisis. “What’s working in one city will work here because we’re dealing with the same American issues,” Harrell said.
The new plan is part of the Biden administration’s larger goal to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025. The administration has already allocated $2.5 billion to prevent homelessness, and it is expected to release more funding in the coming months.
The plan is a welcome development for cities like Seattle that are struggling to address homelessness, providing much-needed funding and support to help cities get people off the streets and into permanent housing. A regional plan for Seattle and King County has been slow to form as the King County Regional Homelessness Authority goes through an unexpected leadership change as it tries to forge an $11 billion strategy to address the crisis.
In addition to Seattle, the plan will also provide federal help to Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix.
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I wonder if this is really a clean up before the 2026 World Cup happens in these cities, but I still hope it helps everyone who needs it.
I’m guessing not? According to Wikipedia, Chicago and Dallas aren’t host cities, but NYC and San Francisco are:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup
But maybe it’s one of those political compromises that spreads the money around for a variety of reasons.
I wish these plans and articles would mention the drug crisis and mental health crisis and the need for mandatory treatment. The activist, progressive left continues to talk about housing and homelessness as one crisis and conveniently leaves out the drug piece which doesn’t fit with their ideological narrative. They don’t want to admit that “harm reduction”, “housing first”, “drug decriminalization”, and “criminal justice reform” are inter-related and have failed to address the homelessness and very likely have made it much worse and more concentrated here. If funding and “affordable housing” were the issue, then Seattle would be making progress rather than falling further behind states and cities that spend far less but take a balanced approach that uses carrots AND sticks. In reality, this city’s activists that shape the response seem to take a libertarian view that taking over a park, doing drugs on public transit, and stealing are human rights. No amount of funding on “housing first” will solve homelessness if we can’t acknowledge the elements of the current strategy that obviously are not working for society or the individuals that are suffering from addiction and mental health that need an intervention not more agency, than we will never leave this downward spiral. We need to vote for politicians on the local and state level that understand the complexity of the situation. I will not vote for anyone that says, “the solution to homelessness is simple. Build more housing!”
Agreed. Involuntary commitment today, housing help today, those who don’t want it – judicial system needs to ensure that the social contract they choose to break is enforced.
Not a snowballs chance can we jail our way out…
We need apts. with staff on site. Everything is done before they go out into the world. There’s few rules. But the ones they have are serious ones like violence or drug use on site for example.
Maybe all that’s why the feds are only planning to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025.
They don’t have funding is why
Drug recovery can only be implemented by the user. He or she must have a desire to sober up and a vision of something better in the outcome. Mandatory treatment is just punishment for using. I assume, if they refused, they’d go to jail? They’d serve their term, and go back to where they were before.
If they refuse? No housing. Jailing them won’t work and is terribly expensive.
“I wish these plans and articles would mention the drug crisis and mental health crisis and the need for mandatory treatment. The activist, progressive left continues to talk about housing and homelessness as one crisis and conveniently leaves out the drug piece which doesn’t fit with their ideological narrative.”
You make it sound as if all homeless folks are drug addict’s and/or mental health issues.
I am a disabled vet with mental health issues. 22 veterans a day commit suicide. I don’t fit your stereotype and I know about 3 dozen others like me. “Activist Progressive” used as a pejorative? Sounds like a MAGA voter.
Here’s what you alt right voters cry about relentlessly.
Drugs: Defund everything, including support services such as Food and shelter. No fentanyl test strips or clean needles. Jail offenders forever and ever for minor possessions. Take voting rights away et ilk.
Housing: Only if you meet extreme rules and consequences. That “druggies” and Mental health issues will easily follow and never be kicked out of the entire system upon failure. Complain about homeless people everywhere.
Then more MAGA delusional 1/2 truths to stoke fear…
“In reality, this city’s activists that shape the response seem to take a libertarian view that taking over a park, doing drugs on public transit, and stealing are human rights.”
“Stealing is a human right?” and you want people to take you seriously?
No, people are no longer on transit taking drugs or drinking. You clearly don’t ride transit at all.
Then you finish with more MAGA dogma…
“We need to vote for politicians on the local and state level that understand the complexity of the situation.”
Ummm…Look in the mirror. You are sadly misinformed and flat make stuff up in support of some dubious claims.
Here’s what you don’t understand…
Seattle has a huge homeless issue because we try to take care of all who need help. This word has spread across the nation as a place of compassion. So we get an inordinate amount of the homeless and recent immigrants being an agro state. Yes, there’s enough money to “solve” the crisis. These housing units will have staff on site! You’d have known that had you bothered watching real news stations and not admitted liars and grifters for information. These places are low bar entry because they are down on their luck as low as anyone can go already. Also? Not all will make it. Violence and alky/drug use is reason for banishments and that’s about it. Sorry, no firing squad :O(
Also? Private businesses are footing a chunk of the bill. The Kraken had to build low income apartments before we’d let them renovate the slummy Northgate wasteland. Other states in MAGA would be glad to pay for a new arena and apts and renovations just to have a hockey team on the backs of taxpayers. Most blue states have pro teams. Not red states. Blue states money funds red states who are “taker states”.
Pretty good for a bunch of “libtards” eh? And last time the Govt. had a budget surplus was under a democrats presidency. Y’all blow the budget to smithereens under Drumpf. White supremacy is too expensive. We need to go back to a real Democracy.
A review of 26 studies showed that housing first works to reduce homelessness. Check it out: https://www.thecommunityguide.org/media/pdf/he-jphmp-evrev-housing-first.pdf
Involuntary commitment is what we need. There should be 0 people on the streets – those who just need a bit of support should have free housing for 2 years to help them get on their feet; those who need serious treatment and commitment should get involuntary commitment in a facility.
Those who don’t fit in these buckets, and simply want to break the social contract we have between each other, the judicial system is built for that.
That’s your solution?
Thanks but no thanks.
So….. it’s funding dedicated to setting up a new office to help existing programs seek more funding, but without providing them any actual resources directly? Am I misunderstanding?
The idea that this is the most useful thing folks could come up with is pretty alarming.