Good news is hard to come by BUT just announced our framework to prioritize supportive housing- important before, during, & after this pandemic. Thanks to for this careful, detailed summary:
Pinned Tweet
4
8
34
Follow
Click to Follow ProfSaraRankin
Sara Rankin
@ProfSaraRankin
Law Prof, Director of Homeless Rights Advocacy Project at Seattle U School of Law, mom, rescue dog fan
Sara Rankin’s Tweets
Our study found that encampment clearance/sweeps could increase deaths among people experiencing homelessness by 25% by 2028. "Sweeping" people is not a solution to #homelessness, but is rather a form of (costly) state-sponsored violence.
Quote Tweet
Ceasing involuntary displacement of people experiencing homelessness may mitigate some health-related harms associated with #homelessness. ja.ma/41bODYQ
44
742
1,156
Show this thread
Apparently it's World Mental Health Day.
There are too many days/months to keep track of them all.
But just a reminder...
There are more people with serious mental illness in our jails and prisons than there are in our hospitals receiving treatment.
1
12
27
Important work by : “The murders of people experiencing homelessness across the U.S. is on the rise… people experiencing homelessness are two to three times more likely to be a victim than a suspect of a crime.”
Quote Tweet
Hot off airwaves: @OPB re: @thenation #homeless #homicides story, my saddest: Thx Matt Fowle, @DWhitehead2020 & Brian Davis @NationalHomeles, @GrahamPruss, @BarbaraDiPietro, @hchomeless, @ludwighurtado. 
@mrejfox, @jordangalephoto & @streetroots #orpol opb.org/article/2023/0
@mrejfox, @jordangalephoto & @streetroots #orpol opb.org/article/2023/01
1
Homelessness counts are best for identifying long-term trends, our told 's Soundside, adding that point-in-time counts are especially inaccurate.
3
6
I’ve never made a political social media post in my life, and I’m 100% comfortable posting this. It’s not political. I’m posting it because my wife is a teacher. And because we have 2 school-aged kids. And because I’m proud to work with and call him a friend.
2:16
1.9M views
1,724
16.7K
50.2K
NEW: Records obtained by show that Seattle officials carried out more than 900 sweeps in 2022, a dramatic rise over the previous two years. The vast majority of these removals were done without any prior notice.
7
138
200
Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing. Shelters are not housing.
2
5
6
“The Housing First approach to homelessness works. The issue is we don’t have enough homes.
If 10 people were in a boat crash but there were only five life jackets, we wouldn’t say that life jackets don’t work.”
I love this metaphor from . #HousingsNextChapter
5
21
72
As I said months ago, policing is downsizing, no matter how much $ the President, or Mayors try to throw at it. Nearly every force has a recruitment problem, now that hard truths have been revealed. Time to invest in community conflict resolution, jobs, mental health, housing.
Quote Tweet
A new study finds that some police forces are losing officers at a faster pace since 2020. In New Orleans, there's a grudging acceptance that it's time to offload some duties to civilians. n.pr/3Jk1xMU
44
707
2,899
People don’t like to hear that their reaction to visible poverty is a form of discrimination. But it absolutely is. It's a prejudice that plays a significant role in criminalization. Read more in this interview with Professor Sara Rankin:
2
12
23
If you think people with mental illness who are living on the streets should be “locked up,” read this. Permanent supportive housing is the right answer.
Quote Tweet
Los Angeles County is locking up thousands of people with mental illness—then chaining them to tables for their "rec time" and not providing them with the therapy or group programming the DOJ has mandated the county provide. theappeal.org/los-angeles-co
Show this thread
3
11
36
Show this thread
We traveled to Houston this week to meet up with our peers at to hear how they’ve been able to reduce unsheltered homelessness and a few things really stick out. 1) The Houston team (similar city/county/housing authority/CBO structure as we have) is 100% committed 1/
3
27
58
Show this thread
Using the criminal law to punish our unhoused neighbors for our collective, systemic policy failures is not going to fix a thing. And on top of being totally useless and just plain cruel, this “approach” to houselessness is also unconstitutional.
3
13
32
Show this thread
NEW: A UW report published today shows that Seattle human services workers are underpaid by a whopping 37% percent compared to their peers. The poor conditions have led to high turnover, burnout, and a lack of capacity for providing essential provisions.
6
77
260
Show this thread
55% of Americans support expanding the Supreme Court.
66% support setting term limits.
73% support establishing a code of ethics for SCOTUS justices.
Public opinion is clear: it's time to reform the Court.
3:40
692K views
From
Robert Reich
203
1,042
3,265
Show this thread
The city of Seattle has renamed the street on 21st & Union D’Vonne Pickett Jr. Way in honor of the beloved businessman and pillar of the Central District.
Pickett graduated from Seattle University in 2014 and was a member of the men’s basketball team.
seattleu.edu/newsroom/stori
15
66
If they want to arrest people experiencing homelessness off the streets to force them out of sight, then make them say it. Don’t let them use “treatment” as a euphemism when they can’t even describe what it is, who qualifies, or where to get it.
3
23
70
Show this thread
The trauma of just getting by financially is something we need to talk more about. The stress and fear is chronic.
364
8,341
46.7K
Currently, I have patients (multiple) needing surgery on dead limbs due to frostbite AND patients (multiple) hospitalized with severe burns from propane-fueled tent fires.
Being homeless means you’re damned if you do AND if you don’t. It’s life threatening either way.
6
76
282
Show this thread
What an absurd take. The urgency is to get people safely housed - not to forcibly remove them with no alternatives. James, where do you think people go when an encampment is swept? McPherson Square encampment began when another was cleared 2 blocks away.
Quote Tweet
New Washington Post Editorial to lead tomorrow's opinion page:
It is time to clear out the McPherson Square homeless encampment.
Anyone who spends any time in downtown DC will appreciate the urgency:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/
Show this thread
4
116
342
Show this thread
Shout out to law professor
for her comments in this piece highlighting how those most in need can be overlooked. #WomenAlsoKnowLaw
vox.com/recode/2355373
GIF
read image description
ALT
1
2
3
The cruelty of criminalizing people with no homes always takes my breath away, no matter how expected. These laws do nothing to address homelessness, they merely punish those experiencing it. We could choose instead to end homelessness.
Quote Tweet
Starting today it will be a crime to sleep on state-owned land in Missouri. That includes streets, parks and underneath bridges and overpasses. You will be fined $750 and face 15 days in jail.
41
888
4,004
Our Crisis Care Centers proposal just passed unanimously out of Regional Policy Committee! Thank you, RPC members and staff
Next up: King County Council
After that: to the ballot for voters to approve
Let’s build places for people to go when they’re in behavioral health crisis
3
8
51
Show this thread
Perhaps as compelling is the fact that this law firm features the firm “pets” on its page. Winning on all counts.
3
Show this thread
"Carceral institutions are designed to cause illness, disability, dis-ease, perpetual fear, and premature death. Outside the near constant toxic exposures and death-hastening deprivations, theft of freedom--all on its own--is disabling."
-
2
511
1,515
This is my very favorite legal tweet of the day.
Quote Tweet
Marjorie Taylor Greene has been locked out of her Twitter account and her new video has been removed after Dr. Dre took legal action against her for using his music without permission.
His letter is amazing.
1
15
Show this thread
Harborview Medical Center has temporarily stopped accepting some patients due to excessively high patient volumes.
8
9
Super compelling to me especially in my work where housing, homelessness, and healthcare are inseparable— braided together with inequity.
Quote Tweet
“Medicine is a social science, and politics is just medicine writ large” -Virchow
Excited to be teaching #socialmedicine to med students @harvardmed again this year (and learning from them as well)
Virchow’s words have never been more relevant #medtwitter
2
5
JOB POSTING: Any Seattle #qualitative researchers out there looking for a short term qualitative research project near home? ❤️I don't have all the details but am sharing so folks can inquire and find out more. ❤️
Closes Jan 11th.
#qualitative
agency.governmentjobs.com/kingcounty/job
2
People experiencing homelessness were 2.4 times more likely to die from a COVID-19 infection compared to the general population in Los Angeles -- new research in by Natalie Porter & colleagues. 🧵(1/)
3
68
101
Show this thread
People in California and New York pay 20% of federal taxes and have 4 Senators. People in 21 states--AK ID UT MT WY ND SD NE KS OK IA MO AR LA MS AL TN KY IN WV SC--pay 15% of federal taxes and have 42 Senators.
What's that old saying? Oh yeah, taxation without representation.
3,720
7,796
22.6K
“Homeless students in WA face the most severe punishments from school — suspension and expulsion — at almost three times the rate of their housed peers. A child’s housing status is an even greater predictor of discipline than race.” By .
4
34
39
"Jails and prisons are fundamentally places of confinement and control rather than treatment, healing and health."
5
70
214
Healthcare is a fundamental human right.
It’s time that we join the rest of the developed world and expand access to medical care for all. #MedicareForAll
58
147
825
New study shows 43 of the 50 most populous cities in the US spend more on police, jails, courts, etc than on health & human svcs, public health, parks & rec, etc. This spending ratio is not correlated to public safety at all.
71
3,614
7,485
"Understanding homelessness as a housing problem explains the growing trend of older adults experiencing homelessness, as well as people with disabilities."
2
18
49
Many of the people who lose Medicaid will be eligible, but won’t be able to manage the bureaucratic requirements to “recertify” - often because of the very disability that makes them eligible!
Quote Tweet
Millions of Americans gained Medicaid coverage during the pandemic. Starting next year, millions are likely to lose it. cbsn.ws/3I0Zv5q
3
6
A thread on San Francisco’s homelessness crisis: why it’s spiraling, why the city is responding so inhumanely, and what unhoused San Franciscans and their allies are doing in response. (With links to some great reporting and analysis.)
43
913
2,910
Show this thread