By Megan Dunn / For The Herald
During a week where our area had the unhealthiest air quality in the world which made it unsafe to be outside, the Snohomish County Council successfully stopped a proposal that would have left people out on the streets.
The council rejected, along party lines of 3-2, a change that would have mandated drug treatment in exchange for housing in the two hotels recently purchased using American Rescue Plan dollars. The hotels will be renovated to immediately add more than 150 new units for emergency shelter with wrap-around services and constant staffing, potentially in time for our cold weather.
The failed proposal to mandate treatment in exchange for housing is not only ineffective, inefficient and cruel, proposing it also violated public trust. The policy would risk the federal funding source and could not be implemented for these hotels that are to be purchased with federal funds. In addition to violating the ARPA funding source requirements, the county would stand to lose another $20 million a year in federal housing funds, which require using a Housing First model.
Additionally, people who have substance use disorder have a medical condition recognized under the American Disabilities Act. The ADA prevents discrimination so the county can’t deny housing because of a medical condition such as diabetes or a physical disability. Similarly, we can’t deny people trying to find services or a safe place to live because of substance use disorder.
Leaving people out on the street who are struggling with substance use does not make the public safer and it does not help with their addiction. Helping a person find stability with housing first is proven to work. We were elected to spend taxpayers’ dollars responsibility, which means funding programs that are a proven model and do not put the county at risk or violating a person’s constitutional rights under ADA. Thankfully, a majority of the council voted to make a smart, humane and fiscally responsible investment based on best practice by approving the purchase the of hotels and supporting the Housing First model. We choose to treat people with dignity and promote public safety by providing low barrier shelter.
We are rising to the challenges that impact our residents and our local businesses and working directly on solutions that work to end homelessness, provide needed treatment, and get people off the streets and into the safety of the indoors. When the rest of the council is ready to start working on solutions instead of thoughtless delays, I hope they will join us.
Megan Dunn is a Snohomish County Council member, representing District 2. She lives in Everett.
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