Lewis touts new report on JustCARE program… but maybe he shouldn’t. (UPDATED)

(Updated, with Professor Beckett’s response to the City Council, and a note about one of the incidents cited) Yesterday morning, Councilmember Andrew Lewis held a press conference in downtown Seattle, the heart of his district, to highlight the first visible progress made in reducing the number of homeless encampments in the area. Lewis gave all the credit to the JustCARE program. He also highlighted the release of a report by a research team from the UW Department of Sociology that lavishes praise upon JustCARE.

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JustCare program faces fiscal cliff next month, scrambles for new funding

The JustCare program, which takes a compassionate and constructive approach to bringing off the streets 130 of downtown Seattle’s homeless individuals causing the greatest issues, is set to run out of money next month. That has left organizers and some local officials scrambling to find additional funds to keep the program running through September.

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The “prolific offenders” report: a close read

Two weeks ago, a consortium of business district and neighborhood advocacy groups released a report entitled “System Failure: report on prolific offenders in Seattle’s criminal justice system.” The report, authored by Scott Lindsay, a former public safety advisor to Mayor Murray and 2017 candidate for City Attorney, identifies 100 individuals who “cycle through the criminal justice system with little  impact on their behavior, repeatedly returning to Seattle’s streets to commit more crimes.” Heavy on findings but light on recommendations, the report paints a dire picture of the state of the criminal justice system in Seattle and King County, and the …

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Is there lead in Seattle’s drinking water?

First there was Flint, Michigan’s horrific revelations of high levels of lead in the city’s water supply. Last week, Tacoma revealed that it had found high levels of lead in samples taken from older homes, and this morning it was reported that two Tacoma schools tested for lead in its water last year.  This has raised questions about whether the residents of Seattle should also be concerned about lead in their water. This morning, officials from Seattle Public Utilities briefed the City Council on the issue, and the good news is that almost no one in Seattle should be worried. …

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