Require Treatment and Accountability in Seattle’s Tiny Home Villages

Seattle needs a compassionate response to homelessness that gets people off the streets and provides a real path out of active addiction. Tiny home villages should be part of that solution, with clear treatment requirements and the resources to meet them.

We are calling on the City of Seattle to make participation in addiction treatment and ongoing recovery a condition of continued residency in city-funded tiny home villages for residents experiencing substance addiction.

The proposed requirements are straightforward:

• Immediate shelter and stabilization. People should be able to move into a tiny home without first getting sober on the street. A safe place to sleep, access to hygiene, and protection from violence and weather must come first.

• Required treatment within 30 days. Residents experiencing addiction must receive a professional assessment and begin appropriate treatment within 30 days of moving in. This should include medically supervised detox when clinically indicated, followed by residential rehabilitation or a structured outpatient treatment program based on assessed needs. A referral alone does not meet this requirement.

• Required sobriety and continued participation. After the initial 30-day stabilization period, continued residency must require active participation in the prescribed treatment plan and abstinence from illicit or non-prescribed substance use. Confidential, clinician-directed drug testing, including blood testing when appropriate, should be part of monitoring compliance. Prescribed addiction treatment medications must not count as a violation of sobriety.

• A city obligation to make treatment available. Seattle must fund and coordinate treatment placements, transportation, on-site case management, and ongoing recovery support. Residents who are willing to participate must not lose housing because the city cannot provide a treatment opening.

• Clear consequences with a compassionate response. These requirements must be enforceable conditions of residency, not optional suggestions. A relapse should trigger prompt clinical reassessment and increased support. Persistent refusal to participate in available, appropriate treatment should trigger a formal review of continued eligibility, with due process, disability accommodations, and a coordinated transition to an appropriate alternative placement rather than an automatic return to the sidewalk.

Tiny homes cannot be places where people are left in active addiction without a plan, expectations, or meaningful help. They should provide a compassionate place to land and a structured path toward recovery and permanent housing.

If Seattle is going to tell people that living on the street is unacceptable, it must offer a safe place to go and accessible treatment once they arrive. Housing, treatment, and accountability must work together.

Sign this petition to call on Seattle to establish enforceable treatment and recovery requirements in city-funded tiny home villages, and to fund the services necessary for residents to meet them.