Advocates Admit Many Seattle Homeless Ignore Shelter Offers

A lot of money has been spent on trying to 'fix' homeless problems in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. But some new data shows many homeless persons do not act on offers for shelter.

Only 1 in 6 homeless registered in shelters according to data

ShiftWA, a non-profit group that "seeks to shift" the political debate in WA State, reports some new data from homeless advocates showing many homeless people do not take advantage of shelter opportunities.

Shift cites an August 3rd, 2023 story from NW News showing recent efforts to shelter homeless persons did not fare well.

This last week, there were protests against recent homeless sweeps in Seattle, including the ones conducted prior to the MLB All-Star Baseball game at T-Mobile Park. They also protested the use of homeless sweeps during extreme weather conditions, such as the heat this summer in King County.

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Services Not Sweeps and other advocacy groups revealed a recent effort to canvass homeless encampments and offer shelter to people. According to the data, information was given to the homeless about where they can go and register at shelters.

Homeless advocates told City Council members during recent efforts, 1,300 "offers of shelter" were made, of those, there were 554 referrals, but only 206 confirmed homeless shelter registrations. According to ShiftWA, that's about 1 out of every 6 homeless persons who actually utilized the help.