Amid count, city steps up sweeps of homeless

Officials for the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness claim that “What we’re doing is working.” That was exactly what they said last year when there was an increase of 196 unsheltered people counted in King County since 2008’s count. Almost five years into the 10-Year Plan, we have not made up the housing units lost since the start of the plan. Next year the plan will also be “working,” no matter what the count is and no matter how much housing is or is not available.

Here’s a little perspective regarding Seattle’s count in particular. This year, Seattle learned to do green-area sweeps only days before the count and the city also learned to step up the ticketing of cars and trucks — the homes of many homeless — to get them off the streets. The resultant effect was noted by counters who live in the neighborhoods they counted, who spoke of the absence of cars and camps they’d seen recently.

Last year the number of people counted in cars or trucks in Seattle was 513; This year the figure was 590. The totals in Seattle’s parks and bushes/undergrowth was 102 in 2009 but 173 in 2010.

It’s unknown how different the count would have been if the city hadn’t very recently banned the cars and [hadn’t] swept the camps. It’s also unknown where those people went, but it’s entirely possible they went deeper into the areas we don’t count, thus causing the count to be even less accurate than the “snapshot in time” it is purported to be.

The sweeps are working, unlike the plan.

— Sally Kinney, Seattle