Statement - Kincaid for Congress - Washington's 1st District - 2026
Background Checks for All Taxpayer Funded Housing Facilities
The Housing First model has no system to detect residents with active warrants. That is not a policy gap. It is a public safety failure. And a 15 year old girl paid the price.
A 15 year old girl was waiting for the bus at the Northgate transit bus stop . Joshua V. Kowalczewski, 36, rode up on a bicycle, asked her age, told her she was attractive and then threatened her and forced her into the nearby woods where he sexually assaulted this innocent child.
Kowalczewski had 28 arrests and 13 convictions spanning 19 years. He had 9 active warrants across 5 jurisdictions at the time of the attack. He has had 46 warrants issued against him since 2008. Not one of his prior arrests resulted in significant jail time. A recent drug possession case had been diverted into a treatment program. He was free.
His last known address was the Chief Seattle Club at 410 2nd Ave. Ext. S. in Seattle . A Housing First facility for Native American homeless people, funded by taxpayer dollars. We do not know whether he was staying there at the time of the attack. But that is almost beside the point.
According to KOMO News reporter Jeremy Harris, Housing First facilities do not check whether someone has active warrants when they arrive. And if a resident does not have a warrant at the time they move in but acquires one while staying there, nobody checks then either. There appears to be no database that law enforcement can search when a warrant is issued to determine whether the subject is currently residing in a Housing First facility. The warrant exists. The person may be steps away in a taxpayer funded bed. And no one connects those two facts.
This is a systemic failure. It is not about one facility. It is about every Housing First facility in Washington state and across the country. The government is funding a network of facilities where dangerous individuals with active warrants can live without detection, then walk out the door and into our communities.
What happened to this innocent child could have been prevented. It is time to say enough is enough. It is time to stand up and shout. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."
This campaign is calling for a federal requirement that is simple, straightforward, and long overdue.
This is what basic accountability looks like. We run background checks on people who drive school buses, work in hospitals and coach youth sports. We should at minimum know who is living in facilities funded by the public . We should make sure that a warrant for someone's arrest does not go unnoticed simply because that person happens to be sleeping in a government funded bed.
The Housing First model has failed the public safety test. Providing housing with no conditions, no accountability, and no warrant checks does not just fail the community. It failed that 15 year old girl.
"We do background checks on people who drive school buses, work in hospitals, and coach youth sports. We should at minimum know who is living in facilities funded by the public. A warrant for someone's arrest should never go unnoticed simply because that person happens to be sleeping in a government funded bed."
- Kincaid
Sources: KIRO 7 - Questions raised why Seattle rape suspect was out after 28 arrests and 13 convictions - MyNorthwest - Homeless man held on $1 million bail for alleged rape of 15-year-old near Seattle bus stop
Related: A Smarter Strategy to End Homelessness - When the System Looks Away
Paid for by Kincaid for Congress - kincaidforcongress.com - Washington's 1st Congressional District - 2026

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