Homelessness

76 Stories

Does the US Supreme Court ruling on public camping bans criminalize homelessness?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that cities can ban camping and sleeping in public, even if there is no shelter to send them to, overturning a previous ruling that has guided cities' approaches to homelessness for years.
Kate Walters

Dyer Oxley
More than 16,000 people are experiencing homelessness in King County, up from 2022

Preliminary data released Wednesday from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority’s Point-in-Time Count found 16,385 people are experiencing homelessness in the county. That’s over 3,000 more than were counted two years ago.
Casey Martin
The homeless scatter across Washington state as cities ban them from public spaces

Camping bans emerging across Washington state could be a preview of what’s to come nationwide, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision expected in June. Justices are considering whether to overturn lower-court rulings in Oregon and Idaho that protect homeless people from being ticketed, charged, or arrested for sleeping on public property when there is no shelter available.
Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest
Seattle’s troubled past and present suggest a new approach to mental health

The story of Seattle’s first known homeless man and how he was treated speaks to the continuing problems with mental health care 170 years later.
Will James

Sydney Brownstone

Esmy Jimenez
Vulnerable patients caught in ‘churn’ between Washington mental health care systems face life and death circumstances

Lost Patients is a deeply-reported, six-part docuseries examining the difficulties of treating serious mental illness through the lens of one city's past, present and future. With real-life testimonials from patients, families, and professionals on the front lines, Lost Patients provides a real, solutions-oriented look at how we got stuck here...and what we might do to break free.
Will James

Sydney Brownstone

Esmy Jimenez
Why Burien is suing King County over the city's own camping ban

The battle between the city of Burien and King County reflects a struggle places up and down the West Coast are experiencing: trying to understand how to regulate the rising number of visibly homeless people on their streets, and what can be done to support those people.
Libby Denkmann

Sarah Leibovitz
Week in Review: Burien, police, and uncommitted delegates

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with The Stranger’s Rich Smith, Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan, and political analyst and contributing columnist Joni Balter
Bill Radke

Kevin Kniestedt
Burien's camping ban draws (more) legal scrutiny

The debate over homeless encampments in Burien is getting messier. Last week after the city widened a controversial ban on camping, the King County Sheriff’s Office said deputies would not enforce the rule, which they suspect is unconstitutional. A lawsuit from the Sheriff’s Office followed, and now a federal court will decide. Publicola Editor and Publisher Erica Barnett is here to talk about this escalating situation.
Patricia Murphy

Vaughan Jones
Libraries in Western Washington confront the challenges of being open to all

Libraries are taking on a new role as social service providers, hiring mental health professionals and in some cases building an entire in-house social services team to help people in crisis who come to the library because they have nowhere else to go.
Libby Denkmann

Stephen Howie

Jason Burrows
King County Sheriff questions constitutionality of Burien's camping ban

King County and its Sheriff's Office are raising questions about Burien's ban on public camping and are asking a federal court for answers. Until they get those answers, deputies won't be enforcing the ban.
Dyer Oxley

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