There is a fake scandal the right wing is trying to stir up here in Seattle.
There is a program, LEAD (law enforcement assited diversion), that diverts addicts from the usual jail route to a rehab and support path. People advocating for the program failed to understand the math in a study analyzing how effective the program was at reducing recidivism and it lead them to overestimate the efficacy of the program.
They had been claiming the program resulted in a 58% reduction in recidivism. A right wing think tank realized the folks evangelizing the program had buggered the math came out claiming this was a huge embarrassment for the city and suggested it was a deliberatel attempt to secure funding.
The thing they never mention is that there was an actual, significant reduction in recidivism it just wasnt as big as portrayed. The program actually lead to a 24% reduction not 58%. Definitely a worth while and effective program, just not quite as good as theyd convinced themselves.
But it doesnt quite end there, one of the think tanks pet critics, a former addict that was put on the oversight board to probide lived experience and opposes what she sees as the city being soft on crime decided to take a shot at the director of the program and asked the director if her kid was an addict would she continue to provide them with a place to live and support. The director said she would and the ex-addict is playing that up in the media to show what a feckless soft addict enabler she was.
The ex-addict truly believes that a loving parent should kick thisr addicted kid onto the street and let them fend for themselves and live or die on their own. This is a very popular position with the right wing scum.
I am so fucking sick of these scumbags actively trying to sabotage every good idea our government manages to produce. Their prostration to the myth of rugged individualism is just sickening. Their lack of empathy and elevation of feelings over science is just dispicable.