In Washington State’s two most populous counties there are two differing approaches to combatting the homelessness crisis. If past results are any indication, one county will continue to break records for the number of people who are homeless and for the number of homeless deaths, while the other will see significant positive results helping those who are chronically homeless.

The key difference between the two Puget Sound neighbors is that King County leadership has chosen to ignore the data to argue that the “region’s housing market” is the only reason any person is homeless, while Pierce County recognizes that addiction and mental health issues play a significant role in homelessness.

With two completely different assessments on the cause of the homelessness problem, there are two differing approaches (and success rate) to how to solve the issue.

In King County, the centerpiece of Executive Dow Constantine’s latest “State of the County” speech was to blatantly misuse data to attack the commonsense belief that mental health and addiction play a substantial role in the homeless crisis. As Constantine and other elected officials stubbornly adhere to this “housing first” principle, the county has gone on a half-billion-dollar spending spree to buy former hotels to warehouse homeless individuals, while ignoring mental health and addiction.

Executive Constantine was also the driving figure in the development of a dysfunctional, unaccountable, and expensive housing bureaucracy (The King County Regional Homelessness Authority) which in just two years has lost the confidence of elected officials, neighborhood groups, media, and the public, as homeless numbers continue to soar.

Because so little attention is given to helping people with addiction and mental health issues, the unsafe behavior continues despite the free, taxpayer-funded public housing. Sadly, large amounts of public money are being used to enable addicts to continue their self-destructive acts as both the number of overdose deaths and homeless deaths broke records again in 2023.

Meanwhile, many in Pierce County have seen the massive failure of their northern neighbor’s approach and instead they searched the country for methods that were successful.  ChangeWA interviewed Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier last week about what was found in their research and how his county seeks to build on the success of Austin, Texas’ “Community First Village” which has an incredible 85% retention rate.

Dammeier spoke of why this approach has proven to be successful, informing ChangeWA readers that residents will “receive onsite addiction and mental health treatment, be offered onsite employment opportunities to help them pay rent, will be required to comply with a code of conduct that requires them to be good neighbors and obey the law.”

While KCRHA once sought to spend an incredible $12 billion of public dollars to provide a warm place for many addicts to continue self-destructive actions, Pierce County will spend just $50 million (most revenue coming from local businesses and nearly all residents paying rent) to provide hundreds of chronic homeless individuals with life tools to help with addiction, mental health, education, and employment issues, which are needed to survive in the modern world. 

One approach leads people to more problems, while the other provides permanent solutions.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Pierce County has been able to recognize the failures of King County’s approach because they appear to be more beholden to partisan loyalty instead of the data. While it is very difficult to find pretty much anyone who supports the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, there continues to be discussion to form a similar, failed bureaucrazy in Pierce County.

As in King County, the drive behind forming a bureaucracy comes from political leaders who don’t want to be held accountable to the voters for failing to reduce homeless numbers.

Fortunately, Executive Dammeier has held firm against those who seek to copy Seattle in his county. In his interview, Dammeier provided his negative impressions about the KCRHA saying he has “seen expensive failures, intolerable delay, growing squalor, less dignity, and government overreach.”

With Dammeier in the final months of the two terms allowed for his position, a possible Pierce County homeless authority is among the many decisions voters must consider this November when choosing the next county executive.

Dammeier concluded his ChangeWA interview by giving his successor a piece of advice: “My hope for the next Executive is that they are committed to dignified, effective housing solutions that offer hope, and get people mental health care, addiction treatment, and housing within a supportive community.”

This approach has worked elsewhere when the Seattle/King County approach has failed. Future Pierce County elected officials would be wise to ignore partisan pressures and instead follow the path that has proven results.