In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling that allows cities to punish people experiencing homelessness even when there is no shelter available to them. Now cities in Washington are increasingly passing and enforcing laws that fine, arrest, and punish people simply for trying to survive outdoors, even while failing to provide accessible shelter options. Lawmakers should protect people experiencing homelessness by passing a state law that stops this kind of criminalization. Local governments should focus on real solutions to homelessness, instead of punishing and harming people.

Fining, arresting, and incarcerating people who can't afford a home does not solve homelessness. It is also expensive and detracts from real solutions. Instead, local governments, with state support, should expand access to shelter, and focus on services, including shelter and mental health and substance use treatment, affordable housing, and also implement policies that keep people in their homes. These are real solutions that protect everyone in our community.

Criminalization causes harm and does not solve homelessness: Local enforcement actions have led to the loss of medication, identification cards, medical records, family photos, sleeping bags,bedding, and other vital personal property individuals need to survive. These laws represent, intentionally or not, a concerted effort by local governments to make the lives of unhoused residents harder and set people back further while not providing solutions that resolve homelessness.

Key points:

• According to data from the Washington Department of Commerce, 22,173 people were experiencing homelessness at the time of the Point In Time Count on January 30, 2025 (excluding King County's count of people who were unsheltered). This was a 4.4% increase from 2024.
• The Department of Commerce snapshot report for January 2025, which combines client information from three state agency data systems to provide the most comprehensive estimate of the homeless and unstably housed population in the state, found 158,791 people in emergency shelters or unhoused - a 2.2% increase over the snapshot from January 2024.

Protecting people experiencing homelessness is a key policy element in the Housing Alliance's "Roadmap to Housing Justice" - a comprehensive strategy to end the housing and homelessness crisis in Washington. You can learn more at wliha.org/roadmap