Health Through Housing reports ER and jail drops, but not drug use or overdoses

What this chart asks

Which results does King County's Health Through Housing publish about its residents, and which does it leave out?

Why it is shown this way

• Horizontal bars, one row per measure, so the labels read in full.
• The two unpublished measures keep their rows with no bar, so the gap is visible next to what is reported.
• Rows stay in the dataset's order: health care, then jail, then the missing measures.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

Not published

Drug or alcohol use

Drug or alcohol use and overdoses appear nowhere in the 2025 dashboard, its data appendix or the 2022-2025 annual reports.

Data and accessibility

The chart's data and images are in the strip under it.

Dataset king-county-health-through-housing-measures, analysis two-year-change

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

What King County's Health Through Housing reports about its residents, 2025

1. King County DCHS, 2025 Health Through Housing Annual Report (June 2026) Housing, health care, ER, hospital and jail figures for 2025; read in full for drug use, overdose and death measures

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Written by the county department that runs the program, which has an interest in showing it works. Health figures come from the department's own analysis of Medicaid claims and hospital emergency department data.

2. King County DCHS, Health Through Housing 2025 Dashboard Data Table Appendix (June 2026) Every table behind the 2025 dashboard (Tables 1-23); read in full

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. The text version of the program's own dashboard, prepared by the department's performance and evaluation team.

3. King County, Health Through Housing (HTH) dashboard Live dashboard tabs: Who We Serve, Housing Performance, Occupancy and Length of Stay, Healthcare Access, Health Outcomes, Criminal-Legal Outcomes, Supportive Services

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. The program's own public scorecard; the implementation plan names it as the place results are reported.

4. King County DCHS, Health Through Housing Annual Reports for 2022, 2023 and 2024 Earlier annual reports, read in full for drug use, overdose and death measures

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Same publisher and method as the 2025 report.

5. King County, Initial Health through Housing Implementation Plan 2022-2028 The goals and draft performance measures the program promised to report

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Adopted by the King County Council by ordinance; sets the program's goals and reporting.

6. King County, 2024 MIDD Behavioral Health Sales Tax Fund Annual Summary Report Outcomes for the county's supportive housing services program and its Oxford House sober-housing vouchers

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. Annual report of a separate county behavioral health sales tax run by the same department.

7. Public Health - Seattle & King County, King County Overdose Fatality Review 2024 and 2025 reports Countywide fatal overdoses among people living in permanent supportive housing

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Written by the county health department's overdose review team from Medical Examiner records; not a housing program report.

8. King County Regional Homelessness Authority, 2025 program performance reports and system performance measures Housing measures the regional authority reports for supportive housing

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record. Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. The regional agency that funds and oversees much of the homelessness system reports on its own programs.

9. King County Council staff reports on Health Through Housing annual report motions 2023-0217, 2024-0225, 2025-0175 and 2026-0159 What the council was told about results

   Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (King County government). Public record; figures restated, document linked

   Reliability: Government. Written by council staff, summarizing the executive's reports.

10. City of Seattle Office of Housing, 2025 Housing Levy annual report Seattle's housing results reporting

    Retrieved November 11, 2026. Public record (City of Seattle). Public record; figures restated, document linked

    Reliability: Government. Has a stake in this finding. The city office that funds supportive housing reports on its own levy.

11. DESC annual reports 2024 and 2025; Plymouth Housing 2025 annual report What the two largest supportive housing operators report

    Retrieved November 11, 2026. All rights reserved (figures restated, documents linked). Public record; figures restated, document linked

    Reliability: Other. Has a stake in this finding. Nonprofit operators funded by the county and city, reporting on their own programs.

Limitations

• The changes compare the year before move-in with the second year after, with no comparison group; they show change, not what housing caused.
• Not published means not in the program's public reports; the county may track these internally.
• Public Health - Seattle & King County counts fatal overdoses among all supportive housing residents countywide, not for this program.
• Deaths are left off because they are not a change-in-use measure; the annual reports give only a count of residents who died while enrolled (10 in 2025).
• The hospital and ER changes cover residents who agreed to share their identifying information in the county's homeless records.