Homelessness Problem in Seattle

If not there, then where?

Homelessness in the United States has reached epic proportions over the last two decades. Three major cities in this country - Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle have actually declared a "state of homeless emergency." In the US, there are 650,000 to 3.5 million Americans who are homeless at any given time. Almost half of these homeless are families with children. Seattle is known to be a socially and politically progressive city that has a wide variety of organizations that say they are directly addressing homelessness, yet homelessness has risen to unprecedented numbers since the failed Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness was started in 2005. Recently, I received an email newsletter from Seattle city councilmember, Tim Burgess asking my opinion regarding Council Bill 118794 which would establish a right for people experiencing homelessness to camp out in cars or in a tent in most public spaces within the city of Seattle. In the email newsletter, Burgess ask readers to consider the question of whether the city should allow this bill to pass into law or seek to address the issues that are at the core of homelessness. It was really a rhetorical question - at least in my opinion. Burgess goes on to discuss why he voted against the bill:

"The proposed ordinance is not the balanced approach the people of Seattle deserve, an approach that carefully weighs and balances compassion with our public health and safety obligations. This ordinance tips this balance decidedly away from our public health and safety responsibilities and will do nothing to move people from homelessness to safe and appropriate housing."

At first glance, I agreed with Burgess' analysis, but when I considered the problem from the perspective of the an actual homeless person it became quite clear to me that his analysis only addresses half the problem - and is really focusing upon homelessness from an administrative and public policy perspective. While I wholeheartedly agree with a solution that involves new and well thought out public policy, I also realize that the homeless are homeless right now. When the shelters are full, there is no other alternative except to sleep outside if you are homeless. I have worked with several organizations in Seattle who's focus is exclusively on public policy and I have yet to find anyone working in those organizations who had ever experienced homelessness themselves. That's puts them at a distinct disadvantage when thinking about solutions that go beyond public policy to the actual life and daily experiences of a homeless individual. I believe there is a dichotomy between solutions that address public policy and solutions that provide direct services to the homeless that has yet to be merged and homelessness will not be solved without that merger.

I can say from my own experience with being homeless, many of the programs that involve direct outreach to the homeless are limited to those individuals that HUD defines as "chronically homeless", i.e. those who have a visible and obvious mental condition such as schizophrenia, chronic depression, drug addiction, and a host of other mental challenges that make them appear to not want help getting off the streets. I can also say with 100% certainty that of all of the homeless persons I've spoken to, not a single one of them would remain on the streets if they could get and keep housing. The biggest complaint I've heard from most homeless guys who don't appear to seek social services is that the social services do not really help. What they are really saying is the social services they encounter do not go far enough. The truth is that there are no programs in Seattle that provide comprehensive, rap-around type services that include housing, mental health services, AND life skills training. There seems to be a public perception of homelessness (even among those providing homeless services) that  homeless people deserve some help, but not enough to actually get them healthy enough to become independent from all social services. That would be too much help, and God knows those homeless people should do some of the work themselves! Homeless people put in a lot of work. It takes a lot of work to find food, safe shelter, make appointments often with no money to get there, and plan how you are going to do it all over again the very next day.

Believe me, it takes organizational skills to find out which shelters provide food and at what time, and on what day, which DSHS office is not so crowded that you have to wait 2-3 hours to be seen for two minutes, what agency provides assistance with getting your ID card, where you are going to sleep if you don't get into a shelter that night, where you are going to shower, which agency gives out bus tokens, where you are going to eat the food you get from the food bank, how to get an Obama phone, where you are going to find a computer to look for work. And to put a sharp edge on this point I will also say that homeless people also have to always be on the look out for the police. They are routinely harassed for sitting, lying or sleeping in public spaces.

Many cities in Washington have in the past several years created city ordinances that criminalize being homeless. In many places in Seattle - especially downtown, the homeless are strictly targeted for pan-handling, sitting, standing, lying or sleeping in public spaces. The police will warn you first, as if it just happened to be your last day of being homeless and you will never need a place to sit, stand or sleep again, then if they see you doing that behavior again you get cited. If you miss your court date or cannot pay a fine levied upon you, the next time the police see you, you go to jail. This cycle of criminalization is perpetuated by these cruel and misguided ordinances, and many politicians believe it is the solution to the homeless problem as if removing the homeless from visible sight will solve homelessness.