Will Supreme Court Ruling Call More Attention to the Unhoused?

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that cities can outlaw homeless encampments caught many by surprise.

Brad Blackburn III and his professional peers, however, were ready.

Blackburn III, corporate partnerships manager at YouthCare Seattle, an organization working to end youth homelessness, notes that he and others working to end homelessness were prepared for the ruling, considering conflicting lower court rulings and jurisdictional differences across the U.S.

He’s hopeful that the ruling — as much as it’s a blow to those working to end the displacement of the unhoused — will result in greater awareness of the issue and spark even more cooperation among various groups across the region. Specifically, the region needs more resources, especially shelter beds.

“I think it’s really important to always remain optimistic and view the positives in the situation,” says Blackburn III, who recalls that he was only two months away from being homeless himself earlier in his career after he lost a job. “The silver lining is that more people are going to be aware that the issue is not being addressed. And the more awareness we have, the more we can actually mobilize people on the ground and get them to put pressure not only on elected officials, but also corporate partners and entities.”

An annual report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that on a single night in January 2023, about 28,000 people across Washington state experienced homelessness, or about 36 people for every 10,000 residents. About half live in the Seattle-King County area. The report notes that many of those people are youth and families.

Between 2007 and 2023, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Washington increased more than every other state save for California and New York. According to Real Change, the city of Seattle conducted 2,827 sweeps in 2023, an average of 7.75 sweeps per day, and three times as many as 2022.

Last September, Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison drafted a brief — which was joined by numerous other U.S. cities — asking the Supreme Court to review a 2018 Grants Pass, Ore., law prohibiting outdoor camping. That law overturned a 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling that limited outdoor camping unless adequate shelter beds were available.

Davison issued a statement following the Supreme Court ruling emphasizing that local jurisdictions must address the issue.

The statement read, in part: “Supporting people who are homeless is a crucial responsibility we all bear. At the same time, we cannot ignore the impact of encampments on our communities. Local governments, nonprofit groups, and interested community members must all work towards common goals of more affordable housing, less fentanyl and addiction, and better behavioral health treatment.”

That’s exactly what Blackburn III hopes will increasingly happen.

“It really comes down to partnering and working together,” says Blackburn III, noting that BIPOC youth are disproportionately unhoused. “When you look in our communities, despite all of us working on it, and even the city putting so much money into it, it’s not getting fixed fast enough.”

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