full action plan - portland, oregon

Home Again

Citizens Commission on HomelessnessDecember 2004

A 10-year plan to end homelessness inPortland and Multnomah County

Action Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.........................................................................................................................1

Brief History of Homeless Planning ...................................................................................4

Community Planning Process .............................................................................................6

Current Data and Demographics ......................................................................................11

New Research....................................................................................................................18

Three Strategies .................................................................................................................20

Nine Action Steps ............................................................................................................22

Current Progress................................................................................................................31

Tasks to Implementation...................................................................................................32

Oversight and Evaluation..................................................................................................38

Conclusion.........................................................................................................................40

APPENDICES:Participants in Planning Process

Glossary of Key TermsAnalysis of the Data on Homelessness Report

Homelessness Working Group Summary ReportCoalition for Homeless Families Plan

Crossroads Preliminary Report

10-YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS – ACTION PLAN

1

INTRODUCTION

n any given night, about 4,000 peoplesleep on the streets, in cars, or inshelters across Portland. Homeless

people include adults, youth, couples, andfamilies with children. They are living on thestreets, either temporarily or for the long-term,for a variety of reasons. They may have becomehomeless because of an untreated mental illness,a physical disability, domestic violence, loss of ajob, or chemical dependency.

Homelessness was a relatively rare phenomenonuntil the 1980s, when many economic and socialchanges converged to cause its dramatic rise.These changes included the lack of growth in realearnings for those with low incomes, a growingscarcity of affordable housing, and the closing ofinstitutions that had long served the mentally ill.

Last year, about 17,000 people slept on streets, incars or in shelters within Multnomah County.1On one night in 2003, more than 450 peoplewere unable to find space in emergency shelters.2Among them were at least 175 children and theirfamilies.

The costs of homelessness are many. It almostalways worsens an already unstable familysituation. Homeless children often do poorly inschool. Youth and adults with mental illness ordrug and alcohol problems get worse when theydo not get the behavioral or medical attentionthey need. Citizens and visitors to Portland areoften disturbed by seeing so many homelesspeople on our streets. The result: a less livablecommunity for all of us.

This 10-year plan is part of a national movementto end 20 years of homelessness as a large socialproblem. Adopting the national model to local 1 Unduplicated Homeless System Reports, City ofPortland, Multnomah County, Fiscal Year 02-03.2 March 26, 2003 One Night Shelter Count, Mult. Co.Office of Schools and Community Partnerships.

needs will result in a decrease in the number ofpeople on the streets in Portland, and willsupport a regional, state, and national effort toend homelessness in ten years. The steps outlinedin this plan will cost money, but it will not cost asmuch as it would to manage homelessnessthrough expensive public emergency systems inthe years to come.

The plan lays out broad strategies, specific actionsteps, and a detailed work plan to guidegovernment, non-profit agencies and otherpartners to attain these desired outcomes:

• Fewer people become homeless;• The frequency and duration of

homelessness is reduced;• More homeless people move into and

stay stable in permanent housing;

A large population of homeless people is asymptom that our community is not healthy. It isnot healthy for those who are homeless, and nothealthy for the rest of the community. Theperception that homelessness is hurting the localeconomy exists among individual citizens,neighborhoods and many in Portland’s businesscommunity. The end to chronic homelessnessneeds to be one of our top priorities as acommunity.

This 10-year plan is built on three principles:

1. Focus on the most chronically homelesspopulations;

2. Streamline access to existing services toprevent and reduce other homelessness;

3. Concentrate resources on programs thatoffer measurable results.

The three principles are inherent in each ofthe Nine Action Steps.

O


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Nine Actions to End Homelessness:

1. Move people into housing first

The most critical issue facing all homelesspeople—the lack of permanent housing—will beaddressed first. Other services and programsdirected at homeless people and families willsupport and maintain homeless people in thispermanent housing.

2. Stop discharging people intohomelessness

When institutions like jails and hospitalsdischarge their homeless clients, they oftenstruggle to link these clients to appropriateservices because there is a lack of permanentsupportive housing available. This also applies tothe foster care system, which discharges youngpeople at the age of 18, who are at high risk ofbecoming homeless. Implementation of this planwill help prevent discharge of homeless people tothe streets by providing linkages to the rightservices and permanent supportive housing.

3. Improve outreach to homeless people

Outreach workers will be able to offer homelesspeople immediate access to permanent housing,rather than requiring many intermediate stepsbefore housing is offered. A new day resourcespace will be considered, equipped with basicsupports and direct access to housing and desiredservices. In addition, we will improve access toassistance for homeless families throughMultnomah County’s six regional service centersand culturally specific sites to ensure that thebasic needs and safety of children are met.

4. Emphasize permanent solutions

Too many are using the shelter system astemporary housing. Currently, only 27% ofpeople in the homeless system are placed inpermanent housing. We will increase this numberto 40% within three years. By 2012, we will place

and maintain 60% of homeless people inpermanent housing—more than doubling thenumber of people placed in permanent housingin seven years. Under this plan, shelters will onceagain be able to provide quick access into shelterand quicker transition into permanent housing.

5. Increase supply of permanent supportivehousing

By all accounts, permanent supportive housing isone of the most effective tools for ending longterm homelessness. By 2015, the City andCounty will create 2,200 new permanentsupportive housing units for chronicallyhomeless individuals and homeless families withspecial needs.

6. Create innovative new partnerships toend homelessness

Ending homelessness in ten years will requiretremendous effort and tremendous resources.We will improve relationships and partnershipsamong government agencies, non-profits andinstitutions to leverage funding available forpermanent supportive housing. By demonstratingour success, we can recruit new partners for oureffort, including the business community andordinary citizens.

7. Make the rent assistance system moreeffective

Rent assistance subsidies are one of our besttools to end homelessness. To maximizeeffectiveness we must streamline funding andservice access. Rent help is particularly importantfor families, who fare best when placed inpermanent housing as quickly as possible.Outreach workers will have the ability to offerrent assistance immediately upon placement inhousing.


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8. Increase economic opportunity forhomeless people

The City and County will coordinate efforts toimprove access to workforce assistance forpeople who are homeless. For homeless families,this also includes increasing childcare supports.Additionally, the City and County will also workwith the State of Oregon and federal agencies onstreamlining the receipt of disability benefits byhomeless people who are eligible and in need,but are currently not receiving benefits.

9. Implement new data collectiontechnology throughout the homelesssystem

All partners in the homeless system will adopt ashared web-based database. This will allow us tobetter count the number of unduplicatedhomeless persons, and the frequency, depth, andbreadth of homelessness. This tool will help us:track the outcomes and service improvementsfor homeless people who access the system; andplan more effectively to serve greater numbers ofhomeless people.

In order to make sure that this plan succeeds, wehave built in a system of accountability andmeasurable outcomes. No public funds will beused for programs or services that do notdemonstrate measurable success toward endinghomelessness.

Outcomes in the First Year

We can expect significant change over the nextyear. We will report to the Citizens Commissionand the community on attainment of these goals.

• 175 chronically homeless people will havehomes

• 160 new units of permanent supportivehousing will be opened and 300 additionalunits will be under development

• 20 “hard to reach” homeless youth will behoused permanently

• Waiting lists for shelters and turn awaycounts will be reduced by a minimum of fivepercent

• Rent assistance program reforms will becompleted to produce a streamlinedadministration and increased outcomes forfamilies and individuals

• 250 homeless families with children will bepermanently housed

• Resources for permanent supportive housingwill increase from 12% to 20% of the overallhomeless service system

• An enhanced partnership to endhomelessness will be formalized by publicand private community partners

• The new Homeless ManagementInformation System will be fully operationalin 26 homeless service agencies

We all have a stake in ending homelessness. Asmembers of a community, we want to take careof our citizens, including families with children,seniors, and those with illnesses or disabilitieswho cannot care for themselves. In addition, allof us want safe, clean and livable neighborhoods.It starts here, with a plan that ends homelessnessas we know it.


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BRIEF HISTORY OF HOMELESSPLANNING

The public response to increasing homelessnessin the 1980s led local decision-makers, businessleaders, and homeless advocates to cometogether to forge a solution. Numerouscommittees and reports addressed thesimultaneous increase in poverty and loss ofaffordable housing in the downtown core.

To better utilize resources and avoid overlappingefforts, the City of Portland and MultnomahCounty made an agreement in 1983, known asResolution A, which divided responsibility of thearea’s public resources. In relation to homelessand human services, the City of Portland agreedto manage the development of facilities, housingand public safety projects and the County agreedto manage human services. Within this division,services for victims of domestic violence weredesignated to the City. Services for homelessfamilies, adults, and youth were designated to theCounty. Almost 10 years later, the agreementwas amended to switch the responsibility ofhomeless adult services to the City of Portlandand domestic violence services to MultnomahCounty.

In 1986, Mayor Bud Clark’s 12 Point Plan,“Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness,” provideda multidimensional framework to organize andstreamline the community’s resources in an initialeffort to address the diverse needs of homelesspeople. With the adoption of this plan, the Citygeneral fund contribution to homeless servicesgrew from $300,000 to $700,000 per year in and,along with Multnomah County, attracted morethan $6 million in federal funding under thefederal McKinney Act.

Guidance from the 12 Point Plan led to thecreation of two large shelters with more than 150beds each as the community’s primary responseto homelessness. It also led to the developmentof programs to effectively work with people whowere on the streets and inebriated or suffering

from severe mental illness. The investment inthese services signified a shift in the City’sresponse to homelessness from one of arrestingpeople on the street due to inappropriate publicbehavior to one that began to address theproblems homeless people face.

In 1994, the U.S. Department of Housing andUrban Development (HUD) began urgingcommunities to develop comprehensive andstrategic plans, termed Continuum of CarePlans (see Glossary), to address housing needsand homelessness. By 1997, Multnomah County,the City of Portland, and the Housing Authorityof Portland (HAP) formed the McKinneyAdvisory Committee (MAC) to oversee thecommunity’s Continuum of Care application.

In 1999, the Housing and CommunityDevelopment Commission (HCDC) transformedthe MAC into a 15-member committee, calledthe Advisory Committee on Homeless Issues(ACHI), to move discussions beyond theContinuum of Care application and focus onlarger homeless systems issues. ACHI membersevaluated and prioritized local projects, andconducted a community analysis of needs andgaps. In 2003-2004, the Continuum of Careapplication functions was coordinated with thePlan to End Homelessness planning process.

Recent Planning Efforts in the HomelessSystems

The Homeless Family System has undergonechanges since the January 2000 adoption of aCommunity and Family Service Center System.The Community and Family Service Centersprovide community-based services for children,families and adults in Multnomah County.

In July 2000, the Multnomah County Board ofCounty Commissioners adopted the "HomelessFamilies Plan for Multnomah County: Five-YearRoadmap for Service Development." This planwas a comprehensive, strategic plan for therevision and expansion of services to helphomeless families in Multnomah County become


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“The system will collaborativelyeradicate the institution ofhomelessness through the support ofpeople in their efforts to have homes,income, and relationships.”- Revisioning Committee, June, 2001

self-sufficient members of this community. Lastyear, the Coalition for Homeless Familiesupdated this plan to include twenty strategies thataddress family homelessness. [See Appendix B]

The Homeless Youth System has undergonesignificant changes since 1998. In response tocommunity and media criticisms of a lack ofaccountability in the existing service system, theBoard of County Commissioners initiated aredesign effort to coordinate a comprehensivenew homeless youth system. A broad-based ad-hoc committee recommended a model thatprovided a continuum of services ranging fromimmediate relief off the streets, to assistance andsupport in permanently transitioning youth outof homelessness and becoming productivemembers of the community.

In 2003, the Homeless Youth Oversightsubcommittee changed the focus of the systemto engage youth quickly into the continuum, andlimit services to those youth not willing toparticipate in further services. Youth are assignedto one of two service coordination agencies inthe continuum based on an assessment of theireducational or vocational needs, which becomesthe primary focus of the youth's service package.The changes were made to improve youthengagement rates and to increase the focus onachieving positive youth outcomes.

Over the last five years, the HomelessDomestic Violence System has increased itscapacity to provide new services. An increase infunding has resulted in expanded culturallyspecific services and the development of asupervised visitation program. Funding from theCity of Portland enabled the system to beginimplementation of mental health services tomothers, as well as children aged 0-5, exposed todomestic violence. In 2003, the closure of oneshelter allowed for the creation of a drop-incenter for domestic violence survivors. Thedrop-in center facilitates access to resources,temporary housing in motels, and rentalassistance.

In 2002, a new Domestic Violence Plan wasapproved by the Multnomah County Board, tobe implemented gradually from July 2003 to June2008. The plan includes the development of on-site collaborative services placed at offices ofother social services, multi-disciplinary walk-incenters and, increased advocacy for acoordinated community response to domesticviolence.

The Homeless Adults System conducted acomprehensive community planning process in1993 to closely examine and restructure housingand services. The outcome of this process, theShelter Reconfiguration Plan, determined that arange of shelter and housing options would bestaddress the diverse needs of homeless adults,who do not have children with them. This plancalled for $12.7 million in capital investments and$4.5 million annually in public and private servicedollars.

With the implementation of the ShelterReconfiguration Plan complete, the City ofPortland’s Bureau of Housing and CommunityDevelopment (BHCD) recognized that aresponsive public policy needed to addresschanging community circumstances. Further,directors of organizations in the HomelessAdults System wanted to increase collaborationand enhance working relationships among theirdiverseprograms.Toaccomplishthis, theyformed a“RevisioningCommittee”in late 2000that resulted in the “Enhancement Plan”,focusing on moving homeless people intopermanent housing and retaining that housing.


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COMMUNITY PLANNING PROCESS

As a community, we are embarking onsomething new in the 10-year plan. This is not ahomeless plan; it’s a plan to end homelessness. Itinvolves all homeless systems as well asmainstream housing, physicaland behavioral healthcare, andcorrections agencies. It alsoinvolves community-basedplanning with neighborhoods,business associations andhomeless and formerlyhomeless people. This planengages systems, agencies andpeople who have contact withhomelessness. It is one ofmany steps needed toimplement the systems changethat is necessary to truly endhomelessness as we know it.

To demonstrate political willand bring together allstakeholders needed toeffectively end homelessness,the Housing Commissioneron Portland City Councilestablished, with theendorsement from the Chairof Multnomah County, theCitizens Commission onHomelessness (CCOH).This body was comprised ofelected officials, business andcommunity leaders,neighborhood associationchairs, and personsexperiencing homelessness.The CCOH was intentionallyset up withoutrepresentation of governmentor non-profit agency staff toallow for an external process that would helpdevelop broad community support for a plan.

A second planning body was established tocontinue the necessary coordination andplanning with non-profit agencies and multipleparties with interests in homelessness. The Planto End Homelessness Coordinating

Committee (PTEHCC)represents a differentconstituency of non-profitagencies, “mainstream”agencies (such as CountyCommunity Justice, healthand mental healthdepartments, and theHousing Authority ofPortland) serving homelesspeople, representatives fromother planning bodies, andhomeless and formerlyhomeless people.

Between November 2003and November 2004, eachplanning body held monthlymeetings that had broadparticipation by peopleinterested in the future ofhomelessness in Portlandand Multnomah County.Staffing for these bodiescame primarily from the Cityof Portland’s Bureau ofHousing and CommunityDevelopment. Liaison staffprovided support to thesebodies from MultnomahCounty’s Housing Office,Office of School andCommunity Partnerships,Department of CountyHuman Services andDepartment of CommunityJustice, as well as the

Housing Authority of Portland. Non-profitagency staff and community partners alsocommitted numerous hours to planning.

Citizens Commission Principles

Why We Are Doing This• Involuntary homelessness is not tolerable in

our community• Resources and support must be directed to

programs that help people exit homelessness

What We Are Doing• Seeking to focus our community on the goal

of ending involuntary homelessness• Identifying ways to better coordinate

components of an effective homeless system• Engaging previously untapped resources to

reach our goals• Establishing complementary efforts with other

communities in the region to addresshomelessness

How We Are Doing It• Building strategies that cross all systems to:

° Produce successful models that result inthe best outcomes

° Build cost benefit models to assureeffectiveness and efficiency

° Ensure accountability in all fundingstreams

° Encourage innovation andexperimentation

• Planning today’s efforts to be effective in 10years and beyond

How Will We Know It Works• There are fewer people who are homeless in

our community• Reliable evaluations demonstrate that

increased numbers of people are exitinghomelessness, not returning, and are living:° in permanent housing° independently° self-sufficiently


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In an effort to increase coordination and supportsystems change across the silos of the fourhomeless systems (adult, youth, domesticviolence and family systems), eight newworkgroups were established across functions ofthe continuum of homeless services. Some willcontinue to oversee ongoing planning andimplementation work while others completedtheir charge.

These workgroups were:

Discharge Planning - This workgrouprecommended broad-based policy changes to a)provide adequate and accessible resources toconduct appropriate discharge planning; and b)hold institutions accountable for dischargingpeople to housing and other related supportsrather than the shelter or the streets.

Short-term Rent Assistance - This grouprecommended strategies to streamlinedistribution of $2.2 million from 7 differentfunding streams that provided short-term rentassistance through three different entities (City,County, and Housing Authority).

Chronic Homelessness - The ChronicHomeless Stakeholders group reviewed systemschange issues arising from the implementation oftwo federal grants that provide $9.2 milliondollars for housing and services for chronicallyhomeless adults, and recommended strategies toovercome systemic barriers that are included inthis plan.

Outreach and Engagement - This workgrouprecommended deep coordination acrosshomeless and other systems (including police andparks) and implementing best practice standardsfor outreach and engagement to homeless peoplewho were “difficult to engage” in long termservice and housing to help end theirhomelessness.

Facility Based Transitional Housing - Thisworkgroup recommended maximizing use of

transitional housing facilities, includingdetermining who was most appropriate fortransitional housing and who might be betterserved by permanent supportive housing.

Consumer Feedback - This workgroup ofconsumers and former consumers of homelessservices, formulated recommendations to addressbarriers to accessing housing, incorporatinginformation from the Crossroads projectdatabase of interviews with 600 homelesspersons.

Shelter and Access - This workgroup exploredthe cross cutting issues of shelters in all homelesssystems, recommending best practices to reducelength of stay and recidivism, and easier access tohousing and services for homeless people. Thegroup also explored the new role of shelters asour community-focused efforts and resources onpermanent housing.

Bridges to Housing – This workgroupcontinues to explore a regional approach topermanent housing and services for homelessfamilies across 4 counties with resources frompublic and private organizations, particularlyfoundations. The group examined the bestpractices of the “Sound Families” initiative thatoccurred in King, Pierce and SnohomishCounties in Washington State.

Other community based efforts contributed tothis plan. The Southeast Uplift HomelessnessWorking Group conducted more than onehundred community dialogues and sponsoredseveral community forums to share storiesbetween housed and homeless people. Theirefforts are recorded in their Summary Report(see appendix).

Crossroads also conducted an intensive researchproject interviewing over 600 homeless andformerly homeless people. Their preliminaryreport describes what they found in theseinterviews (see appendix).


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In addition to these workgroups and communitybased processes, many others contributed to the10-year plan to end homelessness, including:

• The Housing and CommunityDevelopment Commission (HCDC). Thisinter-jurisdictional citizens’ body reviews andmakes housing policy recommendations tothree jurisdictions (Portland, Gresham, andMultnomah County) regarding housing andcommunity development issues. It isresponsible for the development of thecountywide Consolidated Plan, whichincludes strategies for the Continuum ofCare, and has oversight for the activitiesfunded from these programs: HOME,CDBG, HOPWA, ESG and HUDMcKinney programs. HCDC is also the leadentity for the Continuum of Care.

• Population-Specific Planning Groups.Recognizing that the needs of varioushomeless populations require specificplanning and coordination, the jurisdictionscontinue to use different advisory groups forthe four homeless systems (adults, families,domestic violence, and unaccompaniedyouth). Members are drawn from interestgroups, such as providers of services;housing developers; advocates; homelesspeople; other funders, such as relevant Stateagencies; the Housing Authority of Portland;representatives from Commissions/Councils;business representatives; the police bureau;neighborhood associations; and others.

• Policy Advice on Services. TheCommission on Children, Families, andCommunity (CCFC) advises the county onservices for persons/families regardless ofincome. CCFC’s Poverty AdvisoryCommittee (PAC) advises the CCFC onpolicy issues related to programs forextremely low-income populations and hasmembers who include low-income persons,youth, elected officials/their staff, advocates,and other community members.

• The Regional Blue Ribbon Committee onHousing Resource Development. MayorVera Katz and Portland City CommissionerErik Sten convened the Regional BlueRibbon Committee on Housing ResourceDevelopment in 2003 to develop a strategyto increase the supply of affordable housingin the Tri-County (Washington, Multnomahand Clackamas) Metropolitan Region. TheCommittee will adopt final recommendationsin December 2004. These recommendationswill include a legislative and public relationsstrategy to secure permanent resources tomeet identified housing needs, perhaps byreversing a current legislative provision thatprohibits local fees on the transfer of realestate. The Committee is empanelling anongoing steering committee that will overseestrategy and monitor the upcoming legislativesession.

• The Special Needs Committee. This is asubcommittee of HCDC that began inJanuary 2002. Membership includescommunity leaders who are instrumental inhousing development, housing managementand service provision for people with specialneeds below 30% of median income who areeither homeless or at-risk of homelessness.The goal of this group is to find ways todevelop additional supportive housingincluding identifying untapped mainstreamresources, addressing regulatory barriers, andlooking for additional financial resources. Itshould be noted that the work of thiscommittee initiated the current systemschanges efforts to end homelessness as weknow it. This group has subcommittees thatalso tie into homelessness issues:

o The Housing and Services Partnershipgroup – Oversees the “Fresh Start”program, which reduces housing barriersfor “hard-to-house” populations, andorganizes training for housing andservices agencies.


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o The Special Needs Families Group –Explores issues of families who havespecial needs adults and children.Particularly their housing and serviceneeds.

• Poverty Reduction Framework. Thisframework will be the policy guidance forlocal anti-poverty and community serviceprograms. The Poverty Advisory Committeeof the Commission on Children and Familiescompleted its efforts in December 2003. Aspoverty is a key contributor to homelessness,this framework is integral to other policiesand programs that work with homelesspeople.

Current Day-to-Day Responsibilities:Multnomah County Offices, City ofPortland’s BHCD

Multnomah County is responsible for planningand contracting for services to all homelesspopulations countywide, except single adults.The Office of School and CommunityPartnerships (OSCP) funds a decentralized andgeographically based system of communityservice centers, special needs providers, accessagencies and system-wide resources. OSCPcontracts with six non-profit agencies in these sixdistricts to provide services that primarily servelow-income and homeless families. Services tohomeless youth (funded through OSCP) anddomestic violence populations (responsibility ofthe Domestic Violence Coordinator’s Office) aredelivered through networks of non-profitagencies and are available countywide.

The City of Portland Bureau of Housing andCommunity Development (BHCD) hasresponsibilities for planning, coordinating,funding, and evaluating services for homelessadults countywide. Having homeless programmanagement in BHCD, which also manages cityhousing and economic opportunity programs,enhances the connection between housing,employment and micro-enterprise programs and

homelessness and increases linkages amonghousing providers, workforce programs, andhomeless and shelter providers. The City alsoprovides funding for rent assistance andhomeless youth services via a formal agreementwith Multnomah County.

Formal Organizational Chart. The diagram onthe following page shows the key structures andparticipants in the planning and implementationof housing and services for people who arehomeless or at risk of homelessness. Theseinfrastructures in Portland/Gresham/Multnomah County also are important in thecoordination/linkage of housing and services forvulnerable populations.

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10 Year Plan to EndHomelessness and

Continuum of Care Plan

Multi-Systems Changeaffecting:

� City and County Polices� Funding Priorities� Roles and Responsibilities

Citizens Commission on Homelessness(Oversees 10 year Plan Process)

Coordinating Committee� Workgroup Leads� Government Reps, Agency Reps,

Advocates, Other Partners� Liaisons to Special Needs Comm, Bridges

to Housing Homelessness WorkgroupGroup, State Policy Team, Coalition forHomeless Families, Poverty AdvisoryCommittee

Workgroups� Chronic Homeless Stakeholder� Consumer Feedback� Discharge Planning� Facility Based Transitional Housing� McKinney Prioritization� Outreach and Engagement� Short term rent assistance� Shelter/Access Workgroup� Bridges to Housing

Portland City Council

and

Multnomah County Board ofCommissioners

Process that Developed Portland and Multnomah County 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness

Special Needs Committee� Housing and Services

Partnership Group� Families with Special Needs

Housing and Community Development Commission(Oversees Consolidated Plan and Continuum Process)

Homeless Youth Oversight Committee, Homeless Youth Continuum Planning

Homeless Families Network, Parenting Teens Network, Coalition for Homeless Families

Family Violence Coordinating Council, Domestic Violence Provider Network

Homeless Adult Directors Network

Non-profit, HomelessAgency Networks byPopulation System

Homelessand Formerly

HomelessPeople

Housing,Special Needs,and Homeless

Advocates

Business andNeighborhood

Groups

Opportunities for Ongoing Public Participation


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Figure 1: Percent of individuals served inhomeless systems by household typeMarch 15, 2004 One Night Shelter Count

Persons in Families with

Children52%

Single Adults 47%

Unaccomp-anied Youth

1%

CURRENT DATA

How Many People are Homeless?

Accurately determining the number ofhomeless people in a given area isproblematic. Simply counting the number ofpeople who request assistance is insufficient.The “hidden homeless” — those doubled ortripled up with family or friends, those whoprefer to remain out of sight, and thosesleeping in places the enumerators did notlook — are often missed, resulting in anunderestimation of the homeless population.

Further, there are many who may be housedbut live in imminent threat of harm due tofamily violence. Portland and MultnomahCounty employ a variety of methods to betterdetermine the number of homeless people inthe community.

• A one-night shelter count is conducted ona designated day during the months ofMarch and November each year. This is apoint-in-time count of all homeless peopleusing shelters, motel vouchers, transitionalhousing, and rent assistance as well as thepeople who were turned away from theseresources on the same day. The one-nightshelter count primarily reflects systemcapacity rather than absolute numbers ofhomeless people.

• Annual street counts are conducted in anattempt to enumerate the hiddenhomeless living outside or in a vehicle. Ina count conducted by JOIN on May 28,2003, 1,571 people were counted sleepingoutside or in vehicles.

According to these methodologies, weestimate that in Multnomah County:

° 16,000-18,000 persons experience homelessnessannually.3

° 4,000 persons experience homelessness on anygiven night.4

The one-night shelter count on March 15,2004 revealed that of the 2,524 personsrequested shelter. Of these, 2,059 weresheltered and 465 were turned away. Of thoseserved, the majority were persons in families(52 percent), 47 percent were single adults,which includes a small proportion of couples,and 1 percent were unaccompanied youth.(Figure 1).

3 This is an annualized estimated based on the MultnomahCounty and the City of Portland database systems that trackunduplicated numbers of homeless persons served throughfour homeless systems.4 This is a point-in-time estimate based on One-Night ShelterCounts in November and March in 2002-2003 and the annualstreet count conducted by JOIN.


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Families with

Children28% Single

Adults 58%

Unacc-ompanied

Youth4%

Victims of Domestic Violence

10%

Figure 2: Percent of homeless categories servedby homeless systems in fiscal year 02-03How Many Persons Experiencing

Homelessness Are Served Annually?

According to records tracked through the Cityof Portland and Multnomah County, thefollowing numbers of unduplicated homelesspersons were served through the fourhomeless systems in fiscal year 02-03:

• 9,699 single adults• 4,682 persons in families, of which 2,332

were children under 18• 1,637 persons in households dealing with

domestic violence• 713 unaccompanied youth

TOTAL: 16,731 persons

Jerry and his family had been homeless before heturned 10 as his parents migrated from state tostate chasing work. By the time Jerry wasfourteen, he told his parents he wanted to get ajob and drop out of school. Of course, his parentshated the idea, yet Jerry was determined. He tooka job in a bowling alley and soon found thebowling alley was his home. By 15, Jerry was inreform school, then ran away. His life since thenhas been the street, juvenile hall, temporary hotelrooms, and bouts in jail. Somewhere in there, hewas married and earned his GED. Jerry uses thewords, “roamed,” “sporadic,” “nomadic” and “self-sufficient” to describe his life. There was a lack ofdirection when I was young. The only directionwas the direction I was heading.

What are the primary reasons forhomelessness?

The principal underlying cause ofhomelessness is the gap between the cost ofhousing and what people can afford to pay forit. This gap has significantly widened over thepast ten years (see Figure 3). Unemploymenthas remained high in Oregon, and has beenespecially hard on entry level or low wageworkers. For growing numbers of persons,work or government entitlement programsprovide little, if any, protection againsthomelessness.

Approximately 30 percent of Portland’shomeless persons have chemical addictions,and 18 percent have a mental illness5.According to the March 15, 2004 one-nightshelter count, 14 percent were victims ofdomestic violence and 10 percent werehomeless due to a physical disability.

5 Gaps Analysis Survey of providers of shelter, transitionalhousing, day-services & outreach of (1) all served and (2)those who requested services, but were not served.


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$61,800

$157,900

$26,928

$41,278

$0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

$140,000

$160,000

$180,000

1990 2000

Home Values

MedianIncome

Figure 3: Percent Change in median income and homevalues in Portland from 1990 to 2000

US Census Bureau

Major cuts in Oregon’s expanded Medicaidcoverage through the Oregon Health Plan(OHP) have exacerbated the vulnerability tohomelessness.

When people who are homeless are askedabout reasons for leaving their most recentliving situation, the most common responsesare low incomes and unemployment, followedby drug or alcohol problems. Clearly, povertyand homelessness go hand in hand. Althoughunemployment was one of the leadingresponses for homelessness, this study alsofound that 12 percent of homeless personswere employed. Their average length of stayin shelter was five months, which is slightlyless than the national average (six months).6

Impact of Federal and State PolicyChanges on the Local Level

An important consideration when discussingour community’s planning history is theimpact of federal policy shifts, as well as thehealth of the national economy andunemployment rates.

Federal funding for rental-housingconstruction and for rent-subsidy assistancehas been halved in the past 20 years, droppingfrom $32 billion (1980) to $16 billion (2000).Between 1960s to 1980s state-funded mentalhospitals across the United States closed. Theclosure of these facilities were intended to bereplaced by community mental health centersto provide services to those with mentalillnesses in the least restrictive setting. Thisplan never came to fruition, and as a resultpeople with major mental illnesses were leftwithout the needed support.

States sought to shift the burden to federallyfunded Medicare and Medicaid, however theSSI application and approval process oftencan takes up to several years. Research by Dr.

6 US Conference of Mayors, A Status Report on Hunger andHomelessness in America’s Cities, 2002.

Dennis Culhane from the University ofPennsylvania has shown that whenunemployment rates rise, TANF (TemporaryAssistance for Needy Families – oftenreferred to as welfare) applications andcaseloads rise. He has termed TANF a “defacto unemployment program,” for manyfamilies.

Since the summer of 2001, communitiesacross the country have seen significantincreases in homelessness, despitecoordinated efforts to create housing andservices for people who needed them. Thisparalleled a dwindling economy.

Clearly, an essential part of any plan to endhomelessness is advocacy at the State andfederal level. We must keep our electedofficials and policy makers informed ofchanges in homelessness and povertynumbers, and educate the general public – thevoters – so they understand the impact oftheir votes.


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Figure 4: Number of Persons Seeking Emergency Shelterwith Certain Characteristics

March 15, 2004 One Night Shelter Count

DEMOGRAPHICS

Race

The homeless population in Portland andMultnomah County is diverse. People of colorare disproportionately represented inPortland’s homeless population,although they represent a smallerpercentage of Portland’s totalpopulation. For example, 50 percentof Portland homeless personsdescribe themselves as whiteand 19 percent as black orAfrican-American.7 However,nearly 79 percent of Portland’stotal population is white, whileonly 6.6 percent are black orAfrican-American.8 Race islinked to levels or educationand income.

Education

A survey conducted by severalPortland agencies indicated that Portland’shomeless persons have varying degrees ofeducation. Of the 539 persons surveyed, 32percent had not completed high school, 42percent had completed high school orreceived a GED, 15 percent had some college,5 percent had an Associate or Bachelor’sdegree, and nearly 2 percent had at least somegraduate school.9 Education is linked to levelsof income.

7 March 26, 2003 One Night Shelter Count, Mult. Co. Officeof Schools and Community Partnerships. Percentages basedon total number of individuals requesting services.8 U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting Data (PublicLaw 94-171) Summary File.9 Portland Bureau of Housing and Community Development,Transitions to Housing Pilot Project Report of Findings,2003.

Homeless Veterans

Veterans tend to represent a large number ofhomeless persons. According to the March15, 2004 one-night shelter count, 6 percent ofthose who were sheltered were veterans.However, annualized records put thispercentage at 13 percent of all homeless menand women.

Domestic Violence

Another primary cause of homelessness,especially for women and families, is domesticviolence. In Multnomah County, domesticviolence providers assisted 1,952 persons infamilies during fiscal year 03-04. This isalmost half of all homeless persons in familiesthat are assisted by County-contractedproviders (1,950 of 4,129). In addition,research shows that 4 out of 5 homelesswomen are victims of family violence asadults (Institute for children and poverty,research and training division, Homes for theHomeless Report).

122296

1129

76

0200400600800

10001200

Veterans DomesticViolence

Disability FromCorrections


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Homeless with Special Needs

People with special needs are those with asevere andpersistentmentalillness, asubstanceabuseproblem, adevelopmental disability, aseriousphysicaldisability, oracombinationof theseresulting inimpairmentto normalfunctioning. People with special needs aremore likely to have repeated episodes ofhomelessness and to remain homeless forlonger periods of time. In 2002, 7,890 peoplewith special needs in Multnomah County didnot have permanent housing for all or part ofthe year.10

According to the Special Needs CommitteeFinal Report, on any given night in 2002,twenty-nine percent reported that they wereeligible for services directed to thepsychiatrically disabled, developmentallydisabled, substance abusing and dual-diagnosed populations. Fifty-five percent ofhouseholds of every size, and sixty percent ofsingle adults, indicated a disability as theprimary reason for their homelessness (e.g.,substance abuse, mental illness, or a medicalproblem).11

10 Housing and Community Development CommissionSpecial Needs Committee Report, 2003.11 March 27, 2002 One Night Shelter Count, MultnomahCounty Office of Schools and Community Partnerships.

Chronic Homelessness

Many of the people who live on the streets arehomeless for years, as opposed to days ormonths. Many require medical and mentalhealth services in addition to help finding ahome. Most people who lose their homestemporarily stay in shelters, motels and cars.

There are an estimated 1,600 chronicallyhomeless persons in our community. Thisestimate is based on an annual street countand national research, which determined thatthe chronically homeless represent a smallproportion of the total homeless populationand disproportionately have multiplediagnoses, such as severe mental illness andsubstance abuse.12 The chronic homelessestimate was substantiated by a street countconducted by JOIN, an organization thatworks with people on the streets. The streetcount found 1,571 persons sleeping on thestreets or in cars on May 23, 2003.

12 Culhane, DP, Metraux, S, Hadley, T., (2001) The NewYork/New York Agreement Cost Study: The Impact of SupportiveHousing on Services Use for Homeless Mentally Ill Individuals. NewYork: Corporation for Supportive Housing.

Drugs and alcohol… theycovered up the pain andagony I experienced beinghomeless. You’ve got to havea place to go, you know, tolive, to find a job, to have anaddress, a phone number, tobe clean, to have nice clothes,to present yourself and yourskills. It’s a catch-22 situation.Not able to get a job becauseyou’re dirty, dusty, maybewet. Even if you could go geta shower, you’d have to putyour dirty clothes back onagain. —Thomas

The U.S. Department of Housing &Urban Development (HUD) defines achronically homeless person as anunaccompanied individual with adisabling condition who has been livingin a place not meant for humanhabitation (i.e. the streets) or inemergency shelter for at least a year orhas had at least 4 episodes ofhomelessness in the last 3 years.

A disabling condition is defined as aone or more of the following: adiagnosable substance dependency,mental illness, developmental disability,or chronic physical illness or disability.


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2% 2%3% 4%

81%

57%40%

14%13%

70%

0% 0%1% 1%

72%

27%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Emergency Shelter Vouchers Rent/MortgageAssistance

Transitional Housing

Single Adults Unaccompanied Youth Couples Without Children Families

Our community is considering enhancing theHUD definition of chronic homelessness toone that recognizes the true nature and scopeof local chronic homelessness amongindividuals and families. Many participants inrecently awarded federal grants to help endchronic homelessness have more than one ortwo disabilities and have experiencedhomelessness for up to 10 years. Inpartnership with local practitioners, the localhomeless planning body will explore using a“severity index” to capture the true nature andlevel of services and housing needed forhomeless people, particularly chronicallyhomeless people.

While research places an emphasis on adultchronic homelessness, we know that familiesexperience chronic homelessness. Moreresearch needs to be done on these familiesand their impact on services costs, but in themeantime, our community has developed awork-in-progress definition for chronichomeless families.

Types of Services Received

Of the 1,340 total households served onMarch 26, 2003, most received emergencyshelter (36 percent) or transitional housingassistance (47 percent). The majority ofindividuals receiving emergency shelter weresingle adults, while the majority of individualsreceiving vouchers, rent/mortgage assistance,and transitional housing were individuals infamilies (Figure 5).

Working Definition of Chronically HomelessFamilies: Households with one or more childrenand the hardest to house adult/s with a disablingcondition, and/or multiple and severe barriers,who have experienced homelessness two ormore times in a three year period, or livingoutside, doubled-up or in shelters for six monthsor more.

Barriers include: criminal history, evictionhistory, immigrant status, financial issues,language/culture, domestic violence, disabilitiesin household, credit history, child welfareinvolvement, A&D issues, and lack of skills andemployability.

Figure 5: Type of Assistance Received by HouseholdMarch 26, 2003 One Night Shelter Count


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21 32

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Sing

le A

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Una

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edY

outh Co

uples

with

out

Child

ren

Fam

ilies Sheltered

Turned Away

Homeless System Capacity

The current system does not have the capacityto meet the total demand for homelessservices. The average length of homelessnessis 21 weeks (more than 5 months) and theaverage wait to gain access to a publiclyfunded shelter is between 4-6 weeks (up to 10weeks in the winter months).13

According to the one-night shelter count, 20-25 percent of requests for emergency sheltergoes unmet in Portland and MultnomahCounty.

On March 26, 2003, 180 households (337individuals) sought immediate help withhousing but providers were forced to turnthem away due to lack of capacity. Of those,101 were single adults, 226 were individuals infamilies with children (74 families) and 10were individuals in couples withoutchildren (5 couples). Nounaccompanied youth was turnedaway that night (see Figure 6).

13 Conference of Mayors, A Status Report on Hunger andHomelessness in America’s Cities, 2002.

Turn-away data also indicated that somegroups are better served by the current systemthan others are. Out of the total single adultsseeking assistance the day of the one-nightshelter count, 10 percent were turned away.Of those in families, 17 percent were deniedassistance. In addition, there are few resourcesavailable for couples or family groupingswithout children.

Meanwhile, women accounted for 48% of theindividuals served, but 57% of the individualsturned away. When asked about their currentliving situation, those turned away werestaying with friends or family, followed byliving on the street.

Figure 6: Individuals Sheltered and TurnedAway by Household Type

March 26, 2003 One Night Shelter Count


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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Transitional Episodic Chronic

% of Persons % Days Used

NEW RESEARCH

Landmark research projects conducted by Dr.Dennis Culhane and others have changed theway advocates and planners strategizesolutions to homelessness. They describehomeless persons as falling into three groups:chronic, episodic, and situational ortransitional.

This national research also documented useof emergency resources. By far, the largestpopulation of homeless people are thosewho experience transitional or short-termhomelessness. However, as Figure 7illustrates, chronically homeless peopleconsume the most resources.

Chronically homeless people are in andout of emergency systems, live on thestreets or in shelters, and generally sufferfrom untreated mental illness, addictionand have physical disabilities. Thesehealth conditions worsened, or are often aresult of, being homeless for long periodsof time.

New research is also emerging on homelessfamilies who are frequent users of emergencysystems. Generally, the characteristics of mosthomeless families are similar to housed low-income families. However, research from Dr.Culhane indicates that two years followingplacement in permanent housing, 7-15% offamilies return to homelessness.

Additionally, studies found that children whoare separated from their parent(s) in homelesshouseholds tend to experience homelessnesslater in life more frequently. About 20% ofhomeless families placed in housing had achild placed in the foster care system. Theseinitial findings by Dr. Culhane and otheremerging research will be critical to gainingimproved understanding of assistance thathelps end family homelessness. It will beimportant to gauge the different housing andservice needs for families who are transitional,episodic, or those families that have the severecharacteristic of experiencing chronichomelessness.

Figure 7: Emergency shelter use during a 2-yearperiod in Philadelphia.

Chronically homeless persons stayed an average of 252 days peryear; Episodic persons 3-4 times for 73 days and

Transitional persons 1-2 times for 20 days.

Chronic - experience homelessnessfor a year or longer.

Usually individuals with multipledisabilities.

Episodic - multiple episodes ofhomelessness that are short or long-term.

Individuals and families withmultiple needs.

Situational or transitional - one timeand short-term homeless experience.

Individuals and families with jobloss or primarily economic crises.


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Cost of Homelessness

The cost of implementing the 10-year planwill be substantial, but it will not be asexpensive as maintaining homelessness. Astudy by Dr. Culhane found that the averagechronically homeless person costs at least$40,440 in public resources each year. If thatperson were in permanent supportivehousing, the annual savings would be $16,282.

National studies in multiple communities haveshown that when formerly homeless peopleor people who are at risk of homelessnessmove into supportive housing, theyexperience:

• 58% reduction in Emergency Roomvisits14

• 85% reduction in emergency detoxservices15

• 50% decrease in incarceration rate16

• 50% increase in earned income• 40% rise in rate of employment when

employment services are provided

In short, more than 80% stay housed for atleast one year.17

During implementation of the 10-year plan toend homelessness, staff will conduct regularstudies of cost savings and reduced relianceon emergency services due to increasedassistance for chronically homeless people.This will be accomplished by the HomelessManagement Information System (HMIS)that is set for full implementation this spring. 14 Supportive Housing and Its Impact on the Public HealthCrisis of Homelessness, Corporation for Supportive Housing,2000.15 Analysis of the Anishinabe Wakaigun, Sept. 1996-March1998.16 Making a Difference: Interim Status Report of theMcKinney Research Demonstration Program for HomelessMentally Ill Adults, 1994.17 Supportive Housing and Its Impact on the Public HealthCrisis of Homelessness, Corporation for Supportive Housing,2000.

Using our resources more effectively

Chronically homeless people currentlyconsume about half of all the resources spenton homeless and emergency programs. Theseare the people for whom the current system isnot enough. They are the homelesspopulation most likely to be cycled back outonto the street rather than supported inpermanent housing. When homeless peopleenter the homeless system and quickly moveback out into the streets, it creates strain onhomeless programs already at capacity andeconomic pressure on institutions like jailsand hospitals.

Concentrating resources on housing personswho are chronically homeless will eliminatethis pressure on the system and allow us touse the homeless system more effectively forother homeless people, including families andthose who are temporarily homeless. It willalso help us respond more quickly andprevent homelessness that threatens a personor family.

To end homelessness, we need to think aboutresources differently. We need to directresources toward long term solutions, andmake sure safety net programs are gearedtowards ending people’s homelessness, ratherthan managing it. We know that, annually,54% of all homeless resources are directed toshelter and transitional housing while only12% support permanent housing. If we aremoving people toward long term solutions,we must invest in long term actions such aspermanent housing.

Cost savings and efficiencies will be a primarycomponent of implementation. Expendingresources in the most effective manner towardpermanent solutions is an advantageousapproach to ending long term homelessness.


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THREE STRATEGIES

This 10-year plan is built on three primarystrategies:

1. Focus on the most chronicallyhomeless populations;

2. Streamline access to existing servicesin order to prevent and reduce otherhomelessness;

3. Concentrate resources on programsthat offer measurable results.

The overarching goal of this 10-year plan is tomake the homeless system better and increaseaccess to permanent supports beyond thehomeless system. Our goal is to endhomelessness rather than just manage it.

Making the homeless system work better

To move from the institutionalization ofhomelessness, the institutions that servehomelessness must change.

Rather than shuffling homeless people fromservice to service and back to the street, theaim of all government agencies, non-profitsand institutions in the homeless system mustfirst get homeless people into permanenthousing.

The aforementioned strategies emphasize a“housing first” methodology for endinghomelessness as well as a focus on reducingthe amount of time anyone — family orindividual — remains homeless.

“Housing first” does not mean that housing isthe only assistance offered. For many, housingwill be permanent supportive housing, whichoffers social services and physical andbehavioral healthcare. As stated earlier,research shows that addressing other life

issues in the context of permanent housing isthe best way to affect permanent change inthe lives of homeless people.

Why focus on chronic homelessness?

This plan has a focus on chronically homelesspeople—mostly single adults who have beenhomeless for a year or more. They aretypically the most visible and troubling part ofthe homeless population, as they often sufferfrom problems like drug addiction, untreatedmental illness, or disabilities. They oftenrecycle through our system unsuccessfully andplace heavy economic burdens on taxpayer-funded programs. This drain on resourceslimits our ability to effectively serve otherswho are homeless or may become homeless.

Homelessness affects many families as well.Every day, approximately 1,300 persons infamilies are homeless in Multnomah County,including 750 children18. Unfortunately, this isoften a cycle—research suggests that aportion of homeless families suffer fromrepeated episodes of homelessness, puttingkids at greater risk of school failure, mentalhealth problems and substance abuse. Becauseof the difficulties they face while young, thesechildren often grow up and fall back intohomelessness by themselves or with their ownfamilies, creating a multi-generationalhomelessness problem.

While this plan places an emphasis on endingadult chronic homelessness, we remaincommitted to efforts to end homelessness forall people, especially for families. We alsoknow that families experience chronichomelessness and are committed tounderstanding and serving this populationeffectively. By implementing this plan, we willbuild a system that serves all homeless clientsmore effectively.

18 Based on the March 15, 2004 One Night Shelter Count ofsheltered and turned away families.


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To end homelessness, we need to approachthe problem differently. The 10-year plan willuse the following strategies to make thehomeless system more effective:

Focus on the most chronically homelesspeople.

Research indicates that people whoexperience chronic homelessness often havemultiple barriers to permanent and stablehousing. Generally, no one agency or systemhas the services package to effectively providethe range of necessary support for peoplewho have experienced long termhomelessness. This is one reason thatchronically homeless individuals use adisproportionate amount of emergingresources.

Solutions require a shift from haphazardefforts from multiple agencies that fund orserve chronically homeless people to acoordinated, focused strategy that effectivelytransitions them in permanent supportivehousing. The solution is focused on thechronically homeless person’s success.

By focusing on new strategies, implementingsystems change and creating enoughpermanent supportive housing for the long-term homeless population, we will endchronic homelessness by 2015.

Prevent and reduce other homelessness(episodic & transitional).

The vast majority of people who experiencehomelessness fall into this definition –episodic or transitional (often also referred toas situational) homelessness. However, thesystem must provide effective and timelyinterventions in order to ensure that morepeople do not fall into chronic homelessness.This will allow us to prevent multi-generational homelessness.

The system will also work to provideassistance so people do not have to becomehomeless in order to receive help. Effectiveinterventions of rent assistance and supportservice can help people maintain stablehousing during a financial or personal crisis.

The jurisdictions will adopt a coordinateddischarge policy that will guideoperationalization of protocols to helpinstitutions discharge people to stable housingsituations.

Concentrate resources on programs thatoffer measurable results.

By effectively coordinating the many publicagencies, institutions and service providerswho make up the homeless system, andthrough the collection of accurate and timelydata on the homeless population, we willprovide the homeless system with a new levelof accountability.

Agency-based outcomes will focus on housingplacement and retention for all. Thesestrategies can be successfully accomplishedthrough a number of reforms to the homelesssystem.

Using these principles, the plan emphasizes a“housing first” methodology to end chronichomelessness and shorten the length ofhomelessness experienced by anyone in ourcommunity.

The plan also supports the fullimplementation of a data system that willensure the ability to conduct meaningful andaccurate evaluations of programs funded withpublic resources to end homelessness.


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Moving people intohousing first savesmoney. A study byPortland StateUniversity showed thatonce homeless peoplemoved into permanentsupportive housingthey spent 65% lesstime in hospitals andvisited the emergencyroom 51% less.

NINE ACTION STEPS

Progress towards permanently eliminatinghomelessness requires action by all partners inthe homeless system: the local governments,social service providers and non-profits whoregularly provide services to homeless peopleand by the hospitals, corrections facilities andothers who have clients who are homeless.

These are the steps by which we will endhomelessness by 2015:

1. Move people into housing first

The most critical issue facing all homelesspeople—the lack of permanent housing—willbe addressed first. Other services andprograms directed at homeless people andfamilies will support and maintain homelesspeople in this permanent housing.

The continuum of shelter, services andtransitional housing does not work foreveryone. Many people enjoy supports inshelter and transitional housing that go awayonce they move to permanent housing.

Practical research shows that moving peopleinto housing first is the most effective way tosolve homelessness. For example, nearly 1,200households were served and exited Portlandand Multnomah County’s transitional housingprograms last year. Once these householdsleft the program, an average of only 40%found and remained in permanent housingafter 12 months19. In contrast, of thosehouseholds served through the housing first

19 Based on 02-03 Annual Progress Reports required by HUDfor facility-based and scattered site transitional housingprograms that receive federal funding in Portland andMultnomah County.

approach both locally and nationally, 80 to 90percent remained inhousing a year later20.

Not only dohouseholds stayhoused longer, butmoving directly intohousing with supportsis also more cost-effective. Housingfirst programs costanywhere between$1,200 to $7,800 perfamily depending onthe level of direct financial assistance and casemanagement services. 21

However, even the most expensive programscost about the same as housing a family inemergency shelter for four months. Theseresources could be better used to supportfamilies in permanent housing, most of whomremain in that housing for years.

The City and the County will jointly workwith non-profit agencies to shift from theexisting continuum of housing services to amodel that supports “housing first” for allhomeless people.

20 Housing retention rates at 12-months from JOIN,Pathways to Housing, a housing first program in New YorkCity for individuals who have psychiatric disabilities andsubstance use disorders, and the National Alliance to EndHomelessness, Inc. Training Curriculum on Housing First forFamilies, March 2004.21 National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Summary ofHousing First Research”, LaFrance Associates, LLC: March2004.

Housing Connections is a significant resource to helphomeless persons find permanent housing:(www.housingconnections.org) is an innovative housinglocator service connecting people with affordable,accessible and special needs housing in the PortlandMetropolitan Area. Developed by the City of Portland withfederal grant funds, it is a highly effective tool in findinghousing that meets the needs of persons experiencinghomelessness.


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2. Stop discharging people intohomelessness

When institutions like jails and hospitalsdischarge their homeless clients, they oftenstruggle to link these clients to appropriateservices because there is a lack of permanentsupportive housing available. This also appliesto the foster care system, which dischargesyoung people at the age of 18, who are also atrisk of becoming homeless.

Implementation of this 10-year plan will helpthese institutions and prevent dischargingtheir homeless clients to the streets byproviding linkages to the right services and

more permanentsupportivehousing.

Health care,foster care, youthand correctionsfacilities will agreeto avoiddischargingpeople intohomelessnessthrough the

adoption of a universal discharge process.This process will link homeless people, upondischarge, with housing and other services.

The homeless youth system and the fostercare system have already made progress in thisarea. They have established a single point ofcontact between the foster care system andthe homeless youth system that has theauthority to make disposition decisions. Theyare also meeting weekly to ensure smoothcommunication. The Citizens CrimeCommission report on the foster care systemwill also likely lead to several systemic reformsthat improve discharge and placement ofyouth aging out of foster care.

In the next two years, the Discharge PlanningWorkgroup will continue to coordinateplanning and link homeless people currentlyin institutions with other solutions.Institutions and agencies that connectinstitutionalized people to permanent housingwill be required to report on progress. Theywill be evaluated on their adherence to theuniversal discharge process.

The 10-year plan will help this Workgroup layout a process to determine best practices, helpidentify resources, and ensure long-termpartnership for all facilities that treat anddischarge homeless people.

3. Improve outreach to homeless people

“Outreach and engagement” refers tooutreach and social service workers whosefocus is to link homeless individuals orfamilies with services and/or permanenthousing. The 10-year plan will promote bestpractices in order to make future outreach andengagement activities more effective.

Linking homeless people to services andpermanent housing will be done more quicklyand effectively through coordinated outreachand engagement.

Outreach workers will be able to offerhomeless people immediate access topermanent housing, rather than requiringmany intermediate steps before access tohousing is offered.

A new day/resource space will be consideredas one tool to improve access to homelessassistance as well as provide a place forengagement. This facility will be equippedwith basic necessities such as lockers andshowers. Most importantly, this resourcespace will provide homeless people with quick

Effective dischargeplanning is happening:A Discharge PlanningWorkgroup developed,and is in the process ofimplementing, a “UniversalDischarge Assessment” tosystematize effectivedischarge planning acrosshospitals, jails andemergency shelters.


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Changes in shelter arehappening:As a result of the DomesticViolence Plan implemented in2003, 150 more women andchildren retained or obtainedstable housing throughvouchers, rent assistance andintensive advocacy. This wasachieved without increasingfunds, by closing a shelterand redirecting resources to acentral access center open 12hours/day, 6 days week.

and direct access to programs that move theminto permanent housing. Services will betailored towards the varying needs ofhomeless people, such as services for womenwho are victims of domestic violence,immigrants who do not speak English or forwhom English is a second language, andpeople with mental, physical, and cognitive ordevelopmental disabilities.

In addition to the new center, we will improveaccess to assistance for homeless familiesthrough Multnomah County’s six regionalservice centers and culturally specific sites inorder to ensure that the basic needs and safetyof children are met.

Some of the practices in community-basedoutreach and engagement that will beencouraged include:• Offer immediate options for people on

the street to meet their needs, such asimmediate rent assistance so homelesspeople can move directly to housing(“housing first”)

• Provide culturally appropriate servicesthat engage people with diverse needs

• Problem-solve issues with Police, Parks,and others that interact with individualsand families on the street

• Use private market housing that isaccessible and affordable to homelesshouseholds

• Establish consistent outcomes foroutreach efforts and follow outcomesthrough the adoption of the HomelessManagement Information System (HMIS),which allows tracking and coordination ofhomeless households and services that areavailable to them

Systemic changes to implement coordinatedoutreach for all homeless people who areoutside will:• Initiate regular meetings between all

outreach efforts to problem-solve and

support each other’s engagement withhouseholds sleeping outside

• Use peer review meetings to evaluate areaoutreach programs

• Work with households living on thestreets to foster a low impact on thebroader community

• Develop strategies to create an outreachteam to work with low-income familiesliving in sub-standard motels to assistthem in transitioning to permanenthousing

4. Emphasize permanent solutions

Too few homeless people are currently placedand supported in permanent housing. Toomany are using the shelter system as longer-term housing.

Currently, only 27 percent of people currentlyin the homeless system are placed inpermanent housing. We will increase thisnumber to 40 percent within three years. By2012, we will place and maintain 60 percent ofhomelesspeople inpermanenthousing—more thandoubling thenumber ofpeople placedin permanenthousing inseven years.

Homelessshelters wereoriginallydesigned assafe places for people who needed temporaryemergency housing. With the growth ofchronic homelessness, shelters have ended up


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housing people for longer and longer periodsof time. Under this plan, shelters will return totheir original purpose by providing easieraccess into shelter and quicker transition outof shelter. The length of time that homelesspeople stay in emergency shelters will bereduced from the current average stay of 150days to 45 days.

To move from the institutionalization ofhomelessness, the funding entities, programs,and organizations that provide homelessservices must make changes.

Rather than relying on the shelter andtransitional housing systems as the “end” ofhelping homeless people, the focus of thehomeless system will be to ensure strongconnections to permanent housing and othersupport systems.

Examples of change include:• Helping households circumvent shelter or

unneeded short-term housing wheneverpossible by moving them directly intopermanent housing

• Regaining immediate access into sheltersby implementing shorter stays andensuring quick placement into housing

• Altering transitional housing facilities tofocus specifically on households needingshort-term and intensive structuredinterventions and reconfiguring sometransitional facilities into permanentsupportive housing

5. Increase supply of permanentsupportive housing

By 2015, the City and County will create 1,600new housing units designated for chronicallyhomeless persons and 600 new unitsdesignated for homeless families. These willbe “permanent supportive housing” units,

offering social services to residents dependingupon their level of need.

These additional housing units will be addedto the homeless system’s permanent units. Weestimate that 1,200 will be developed throughnew construction, and 1,000 throughrenovation and conversion of other types ofhousing, as well as leasing units from theprivate sector.

A Paradigm Shift

In the past 15 years, affordable housing hasbeen developed primarily to be affordable tohouseholds with incomes from 30% to 60%Area Median Income (AMI). The 10-year plancalls for developing permanent supportivehousing to serve households with incomesbetween 0% and 30% AMI, with an emphasison those with the lowest incomes (0%-15%AMI).

The Portland Metropolitan Region has a gapof 13,241 units that are affordable to incomesbetween 0% and 30% AMI.

-HUD Comprehensive HousingAffordability Strategy, 2000.

Financing of the units affordable at 30% -60% AMI (just housing production withmoderate service coordination) relied heavilyupon private equity financing including firstmortgages from banks and equity from taxcredit investors. Because the units generateincome from rents, the public subsidy thatfilled financial gaps was typically less than aquarter of the total development expense.While rents were set to serve householdsbetween 30% and 60% AMI, a survey ofmembers of the Community DevelopmentNetwork indicates that 68% of tenants inpreviously subsidized housing have incomesof only 15% to 30 % MFI, meaning that 68%of the residents of the existing affordablehousing stock are experiencing a significantamount of rent burden.


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While the cost of developing affordablehousing units is a relatively fixed cost, the newunits serving 0%-30% households will notproduce enough income from rents tosupport private debt at the levels thatpreviously funded projects leveraged. TheCity’s subsidy per unit will need to increase asa result, and the City’s subsidy will have to beprogrammed as debt-free.

Another shift is from“transitional” housing,defined as limited durationhousing supported by variousservices to move an individualor family out of this housing,typically within a 24-monthperiod. The “housing first”model moves householdsfrom the street or shelter, intoa permanent housing situation (with no timelimit on their access to that unit), supportedby various services to stabilize an individual orfamily (some services for temporary needs,some services for on-going needs). This caninclude “transition in place” housing, wherethe services gradually diminish over two years,but the household does not need to move.Placement into market rate housing, orexisting permanent supportive housing, willbe determined by an individual’s or family’sneeds, income, and access point into thesystem.

Once placement occurs, the services providedare focused on stabilizing the individual orfamily, versus transiting them from one placeto another.

This shift calls for the housing system tooperate differently. The housing projectsdeveloped previously were not specificallydesigned or financially structured to serve

those with housing barriers.These barriers can includepoor credit or evictionhistory; criminal history;disabilities for anyone in thehousehold includingchemical addiction, mentalillness, andphysical/developmental;child welfare issues;domestic violence; and

immigration status or language barriers.

For homeless people to be successful underthe “housing first” model, they should notspend more than 30% of their income onhousing expenses. The housing industry bothneeds to avoid over burdening very-lowincome people with rent payments, and itneeds to have adequate cash income to coveroperating costs and “enhanced propertymanagement”22 for those who need it.

The following table summarizes the shifts:

22 Enhanced Property Management includes base operatingexpenses, plus the costs of activities like 24-hour front deskcoverage, security, more frequent lease up and turn over,resident services coordination, and asset management.

From: Targeting rents to households with incomes between 30% and 60% MFITo: Targeting rents to households with incomes between 0% and 30% MFI

From: A “step ladder” approach (street to shelter to transitional housing to permanent housing)To: A Housing First approach (homelessness to permanent housing)

From: A drive to spread City subsidy across as many units as possible, with an eye toward productionTo: A drive to provide deep City subsidy to fewer units, with an eye toward stabilization

From: Ad hoc coordination of services and housing coordinationTo: Well planned and committed coordination of services and housing

From: Support services that transition people from one housing situation to anotherTo: Support services that stabilize people in a permanent housing situation

Portland is a model for PermanentSupportive Housing:

Central City Concern operates over500 units of permanent supportivehousing for people with alcoholism andadditions as well as co-occurringdisorders. CCC also provides intensiveclinical, social and employmentservices for people in these units.


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New Tools are Needed

An Operating Subsidy Fund and a RiskMitigation Pool are necessary to fund thedifferences outlined above and to undertakeeffective asset and property managementusing the Housing First model under the 10-year plan.

Operating Subsidy Fund: This fund isnecessary to support units/projects that haveno/shallow long-term, predictable cash flowfrom rents or rent subsidies. It is estimatedthat 1,100 units would need to be supportedfrom this Fund. The fund will distribute some$33,000,000 over a 10-year period, averagingjust over $3.3 million per year (assuming$3,000 per unit per year23).

Example: The City of Seattle, Office ofHousing, provides $1,100,000 per year overseven years for units housing people withincome up to 30% MFI, ensuring that unitsare available to extremely low income familiesand people with disabilities.

Risk Mitigation Pool: This pool is necessaryto support damage repair when thoseexpenses exceed annual budgets. It isestimated that 1,200 units would need to haveaccess to this fund pool. It is estimated thatthis pool will distribute some $3,800,000 overa 10-year period, averaging just over $382,000per year (approximately $10,000 per unit perturn over24).

Example: The State of Oregon, provides arisk mitigation pool for qualified housingproviders serving persons with developmentaldisabilities, who are former residents ofinstitutions.

23 $4,000 per unit per year includes base annual operationsplus enhanced property management.

6. Create innovative new partnershipsto end homelessness

Ending homelessness in ten years will requiretremendous effort and tremendous resources.

We will improve relationships andpartnerships among government agencies,non-profits and institutions in order toleverage funding available for permanentsupportive housing.

By demonstrating our success in movinghomeless people and families into permanenthousing, we also hope to recruit new partnersfor our effort, including the businesscommunity and ordinary citizens.

These new partnerships will bring us theadditional resources necessary to completelyend chronic homelessness. With the additionof new partners and new resources, we will beable to respond more quickly to homelessnesswhen it happens, and even prevent it fromhappening in the first place.

Interagency coordination leading to long-termsystemic change is the missing link indevelopingmorepermanent,supportivehousing.Over thepast threeyears,homelesssystempartnershave madeefforts toserve thosemost in needand more coordination is evident. Yet, an

We have partnerships tocreate permanentsupportive housing. 41units of permanent housingwith mental health and otherservice support will beavailable with the creation ofPrescott Terrace, apartnership of CascadiaBehavioral Healthcare, theHousing Authority ofPortland, Multnomah Countyand the City of Portland.


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Effective rent assistance ishappening: Of the 1,547households that received bothrent assistance andemergency vouchers from theMultnomah CountyClearinghouse, 89% werepermanently housed after sixmonths.

institutional divide still exists between housingand service funding that stymies thedevelopment of permanent supportivehousing.

Agreements will be developed among theCity, County and service providers to fundand implement permanent supportive housingthrough a “funders committee.”

Ongoing work will include the City andCounty regularly examining how services arebeing provided and how they could bedelivered more effectively and efficiently in anongoing basis.

Future steps in this area will be increasedcoordination with workforce funding agenciesand other state agencies that supportmainstream resources to homeless people.

8. Make the rent assistance system moreeffective

We will effectively coordinate existing rentassistance programs to sustain homelesspeople in permanent housing, once they areplaced there. Rather than having multipleservice providers and jurisdictions providerent assistance through different programs, wewill offer a streamlined program of rentassistance. This kind of assistance isparticularly important for families, who farebest when placed in permanent housing asquickly as possible upon facing homelessnessor the threat of homelessness.

Outreach workers will have the ability to offerrent assistance to those who are alreadyhomeless immediately upon moving them to apermanent housing situation, rather thanwaiting while application is made to a rentassistance program.

Rent assistance is a critical resource for endingand preventing homelessness. It can be usedto help homeless households obtainpermanent housing and at-risk householdsremain permanently housed. In MultnomahCounty, one-third of all households are payingmore than 35 percent of their income for rent,creating a rent burden and the need forsupplemental assistance in times of anemergency or crisis. In addition, thousands ofhomeless households rely on rent assistanceand supportive services to help them moveinto permanent housing and stay housed.

The number of programs and agenciesinvolved in providing rent assistance, eachwith their own eligibility requirements andregulations, makes these resources confusingto access and inflexible in meeting householdneeds. In addition, rent assistance resourceshave been used as a “stop-gap” measure oflast resort. This way of distributing funds hascontributed to duplication and unfortunatelyforces people in crisis to “shop around” forrent assistance.

Instead of multiple short-term rentalassistance programs managed by the variousfunders, the four jurisdictions (MultnomahCounty, City of Portland, the HousingAuthority of Portland, and City of Gresham)are considering channeling funds into oneadministrative entity to create a unified systemfor rent assistance. This new system of rentassistancewill haveconsistentprogramguidelines,sharedoutcomes totrackhousingstability, andan allocationformula based on Multnomah County needand policy priorities, including those related toending and preventing homelessness.


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We will have clear points of access tominimize the number of agencies people mustcontact and flexible resources so that agenciescan assist households based on theirindividualized needs.

This new system will be based on three overallgoals: safety off the streets, obtain permanenthousing, and maintain permanent housing.The four jurisdictions have been meeting todetermine how they will collaborate on aconsistent funding allocation strategy,communication flow between jurisdictionsand agencies, and data management andreporting in a unified system.

8. Increase economic opportunity forhomeless people

The City and County will plan together tostreamline the system that offers workforceassistance and economic opportunities tohomeless people.

Examples of this kind of change includegreater access by homeless people to centersthat provide job placement; coordinatedefforts on increasing employment and wagesfor homeless people; wealth creation; and

developingcommonstandards thatmeasure theemploymentoutcomes ofhomeless people.For homelessfamilies,childcare iscritical forsuccess in gainingemployment andsustaininghousing.

The City and County will also work with theState of Oregon and federal agencies onstreamlining the receipt of disability benefitsby homeless people who are eligible and inneed, but are currently not receiving benefits.

9. Implement new data collectiontechnology throughout the homelesssystem

By 2005, all partners in the homeless systemwill adopt the Homeless ManagementInformation System (HMIS), a web-basedsystem that helps in data collection andresearch. This will allow us to examine moreaccurate numbers of homeless persons, thefrequency of homelessness and the depth andbreadth of homelessness.

The Citizens Commission contracted anoutside consultant to conduct an in-depthanalysis of homelessness data (see appendixfor full report). This report concluded thatcurrent sources of data are imperfect and thatnew data collection methods employed viaHMIS will improve the quality of future data.

In addition, HMIS will tell us what is and isnot effective. This tool will help us: determineif effective discharge planning frominstitutions is being done; evaluate andimprove existing programs, provideinformation needed to assist clients, plan foradditional services and ensure effectiveallocation of resources.

HMIS will allow our community to usetechnology to assist in planning for zerohomelessness.

Access to SSI benefitsare being streamlined:Through the efforts ofMultnomah County’sDepartment of CommunityJustice and the localSocial SecurityAdministration, a newproject called JAB (JointAccess to Benefits)ensures that eligiblerecipients of SSI/SSDIcoming out of jail obtainthose benefits immediatelyupon discharge.


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The HMIS will advance coordination ofhomeless service providers by linkingoutreach, emergency shelters, transitionalhousing, as well as human service and housingproviders. By linking existing mainstream andhomeless resources, the community can movecloser to the goal of ending, not justmanaging, homelessness.

During one year (2002-03), approximately17,000 persons were served by providers ofhomeless services. However, this is a total ofunduplicated persons from separate datasystems operated by the City of Portland andMultnomah County. Compiling anunduplicated count will be possible withHMIS.

National research shows that most peoplewho are homeless avoid emergency shelters.Although not seeking shelter, theseindividuals and families obtain services fromfood banks, free clinics, and other places. Ahigh percentage of the individuals who soughtshelter were disabled with one or multipleproblems, including mental illness, substanceabuse, HIV/AIDS, physical disabilities, ormultiple diagnoses.

Information will be gathered to assist inanswering the following questions:

• With what mainstream public systems havepeople interacted prior to becominghomeless? (Example: an 18-year-old who“aged out” of foster care, poor dischargeplanning, inadequate after-care, etc.)

• What mainstream services do families needafter they are housed so that they do notbecome homeless again? 25

25 A Plan Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in 10 Years.National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2000.

• How many units of supportive housing areneeded to eliminate chronic homelessness?

• What assistance is most effective infacilitating re-housing for people who enterand exit the system quickly?

In order to be strategic and outcome-driven,communities must use comprehensive data.The HMIS, using ServicePoint software willhelp to gather this data.

A web based system is starting:

In March of 2004, the City of Portlandreceived a grant from the federalDepartment of Housing and UrbanDevelopment to implement aHomeless Management InformationSystem (HMIS), a web-baseddatabase that aids in data collectionand research about homelessness.This grant, matched with localresources, will allow for the training,equipment upgrades and dataconversion necessary to successfullyenable all partners to benefit fromHMIS.


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CURRENT PROGRESS

Success doesn’t wait for a plan; theimplementation of systems changes andimprovements began during the process ofplanning.

In addition to the achievements describedwith the “Nine Action Steps,” homelesssystem partner in Portland and MultnomahCounty have demonstrated significant stridestoward the goal of ending homelessness.

Resource development is happening:Perhaps the biggest accomplishment for thiscommunity was securing two large federalgrants to help end long-term homelessnessand a Robert Wood Johnson Foundationgrant through the Corporation for SupportiveHousing to plan and implement systemschange to help end chronic homelessnessthrough permanent supportive housing.Combined, these resources brought just under$10 million dollars in housing, services, andplanning funding to give this communitystrong tools to help bring an end to chronichomelessness. These resources also garnered acommitment of $11 million in the City’sbudget to fund permanent supportive housingthrough capital resources.

“Housing First” works:In the last fiscal year, JOIN moved 436homeless people (235 households) off thestreet and into permanent housing. Thisincluded 72 families with 127 children, 42adult only families, and 121 single adulthouseholds. 35% had a disability. Successrates are high with an 89% stable at 6 monthsand 79% stable at 12 months.

Chronically homeless people are in stablehousing with services:As of the end of September 2004, throughCentral City Concern’s CommunityEngagement Program, 64 chronicallyhomeless people were permanently housed

and 28 were engaged in services. Anadditional 42 people were contacted byoutreach workers. At least 200 chronicallyhomeless people are expected to be housedover the five-year grant period.

There is a pipeline for permanentsupportive housing:As of September 30, 2004, we will have 350units of permanent supportive housing eithercommitted or under construction. Our goal is400 in two years, and 1,600 over 10 years.

Rent assistance works:Since its beginning in 2001, Transitions toHousing has provided 1,322 households(including 648 kids) with short-term rentassistance to prevent homelessness or helpthose who were homeless transition intopermanent housing. Of these households,43% included a person with a disability. At 6months, 77% of participants had retainedpermanent housing free of rent assistance. At12 months, the success rate was 71%.

Housing helps people increase incomes:The most recent data from Transitions toHousing shows that, on average, householdsincreased their monthly income by almost35% from entrance to exit of the program.

We are implementing a better tool for datacollection and analysis:Through the successful attainment of a$482,000 grant from HUD, the City, theCounty and the Housing Authority willimplement a Homeless ManagementInformation System with more than 20 non-profit agencies that serve homeless people.


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TASKS TO IMPLEMENTATION

TASKS RESPONSIBLEPERSON/ORG

DESIREDOUTCOME

Action Step 1. Move People into Housing First.Shift resources and services to use a “housing first”approach for homeless households.

BHCD, OSCP*

Using rent assistance and rent subsidies, implement a“Key not a Card” program that give outreach workersdirect access to permanent housing for people on thestreet.

BHCD lead withpartners

Provide training on housing first concepts andlinkages to mainstream resources for staff at agenciesthat serve homeless households.

BHCD – Housingand ServicesPartnerships

Secure adequate or reconfigure funding for housingspecialists dedicated to helping households find andretain housing.

BHCD, Mult. Co.

Implement or increase use of programs designed toimprove access into housing for those with screeningbarriers such as Fresh Start, Housing Connections,MOUs between services and housing providers, etc.

BHCD, Housingand ServicesPartnerships

Personsexperiencinghomelessness arequickly assistedand moved intopermanenthousing (avoidingshelter ortransitionalhousing).

Action Step 2. Stop discharging people into homelessness.Identify the most frequent users of emergencysystems and direct permanent housing andmainstream services resources to that population.

BHCD (Shelters),Mult. Co. (Shelters,Jails), and Hospitals

Formalize Discharge Planning Committee as anongoing subcommittee of the CoordinatingCommittee for ongoing systems improvements.

Multnomah County,City of Portland

Implement Forensics Support Program for Prisonand Jail releases (Intensive Case Management atarraignment through discharge and follow through formentally ill people).

Multnomah County

Implement discharge planning standards & ongoingtraining for providers.

Discharge PlanningCommittee

Set workgroup to operationalize discharge planningwith all hospitals.

Discharge PlanningComm., Mult. Co.Health Dept. anddischarge managersfrom hospitals.

Set workgroup to operationalize discharge policy injails.

Mult. Co DCJ* andMCSO*

Discharginginstitutions andsystems connectat-risk persons toservices that couldmove themdirectly intopermanenthousing.

*BHCD= Bureau of Housing and Community Development, OSCP= Office of School and CommunityPartnerships, DCJ= Department of Community Justice, MSCO= Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office


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DESIREDOUTCOME

Action Step 2. Stop discharging people into homelessness. (Continued)

Create and implement use of a Universal DischargeForm and link to HMIS.

Discharge PlanningCommittee andBHCD

Using HMIS, compile data on discharges frommainstream programs (i.e., mental health, corrections,substance abuse, TANF, and foster care).

BHCD withDischarge PlanningCommittee

Track and evaluate improvements in the dischargesystem through citizen oversight body.

Discharge PlanningCommittee

Explore options to develop additional respite care forpeople leaving hospitals.

BHCD, Mult. Co.

Homeless youth system and foster care will provideco-case management for identified at-risk adolescents.

Mult. Co., State Dept.of Human Services,Child Welfare

Discharginginstitutions andsystems connectat-risk persons toservices that couldmove themdirectly intopermanenthousing.

Action Step 3. Improve outreach to homeless people.

Establish regular meetings of outreach andengagement providers to discuss best practices, peerevaluation, and inclusion of stakeholders.

BHCD

Seek funding to create outreach services to work withfamilies, including those living in sub-standard motels,to help them transition quickly to permanent housing.

Homeless FamiliesCoalition

Identify outreach workers to transition families offthe streets and into the shelter/housing system. Linkthem to emergency pool of rent assistance/ voucherfunds, that is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

County, City ofPortland, HAP

Create day/resource space that will provideimmediate access to social services, housingplacement assistance, lockers, showers, and otherbasic service needs. Include access to rent assistance,shelter reservations, and transportation.

BHCD (lead) andcommunity partners

Explore strategies to include domestic violenceadvocates in street outreach to unaccompaniedhomeless women and women with children toaddress safety concerns as well as advocate and helpthem to exit homelessness.

Mult. Co. DCHS*(DV) and OCSP

Significantlyreduce the numberof persons on thestreet

*DCHS= Department of County Human Services


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DESIREDOUTCOME

Action Step 4. Emphasize permanent solutions.

Focus facility-based transitional housing on specificpopulations (ex.: DV, substance abuse, youth,medical, special needs families) who need short-term,intensive support in a structured environment.

PTEHCC*Evaluation Sub-committeerecommends withprovidersimplementing

Ensure that facility-based transitional housingprograms include four key elements: casemanagement, housing/assessment services, on-sitepsychological and alcohol/drug services, and lifechange support.

BHCD*, OSCP*

Support transition in place strategies that graduallydecrease assistance (subsidy and services) over timeand allow household to remain in housing unit.

County, City ofPortland, HAP, andCity of Gresham

Determine which transitional housing facilities shouldbe reconfigured to Permanent Supportive Housing.

PTEHCCEvaluationSubcommitteerecommends;providers implement

Connect appropriate support services to residents intransitional housing (i.e., if it is alcohol and drug free,ensure that participants have direct access to A & Dtreatment).

PTEHCCEvaluationSubcommitteerecommends;providers implement

Make emergency hotel/motel vouchers accessible forpersons who need safety off the streets and requireassessment for longer-term assistance within twoworking days of referral.

OSCP

Adopt shelter term limits, but make room toeffectively allow for assessment and engagement,provide base of stability, and provide efficienttransition out of shelter into stable housing.

BHCD, OSCP

Minimize thelength of time ittakes to movepeople fromshelters ortransitionalhousing intopermanenthousing.

*PTEHCC= Plan to End Homelessness Coordinating Committee,


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DESIREDOUTCOME

Action Step 5. Increase supply of permanent supportive housing.

Coordinate sustained funding mechanisms andprocedures between housing and service systems tocreate permanent supportive housing.

BHCD, Mult. Co.,Housing Authorityof Portland (HAP)

Increase State and local commitments to resourcesthat will create additional units of permanentsupportive housing

BHCD, Mult. Co.,State

Provide capacity building resources to non-profithousing developers that build and manage permanentsupportive housing at 0-30% MFI.

BHCD

Provide capacity building resources to serviceagencies interested in working withdevelopers/managers of PSH.

BHCD

Establish “risk mitigation” pool of funds to reduceloss of project revenue that may arise due to changeof tenant populations.

BHCD

Establish "operational fund" of resources for CDCsto fill gaps in projects housing homeless people.

BHCD/City

Develop 850 newconstruction oracquisition/rehaband 225 operatingsubsidies of PSHdesignated forpersons who arechronicallyhomeless. Also,develop 350 newunits of permanentsupportivehousing forhomeless families.

Conduct two trainings for non-profit housingdevelopers and private sector landlords interested inbuilding affordable housing for homeless persons.

BHCD Housing andServicesPartnerships

Negotiate with non-profit housing developers to set-aside units in existing projects for homeless persons.

BHCD

Continue advocacy for additional resources andreduction of regulatory barriers

HCDC* SpecialNeeds Committee

Assist 525persons, who arechronicallyhomeless, moveinto permanenthousing withshort-term rentassistance andmove-in costs.

Action Step 6. Create innovative new partnerships to end homelessness.

Work across jurisdictions to pool resources forhomelessness prevention, services, and housingassistance.

BHCD, Mult. Co,City of Gresham,HAP

Tie program evaluation to funding of services andhousing delivery

BHCD, OSCP,PTEHCC

Convene annual panel of mainstream programs(Corrections, Human Services, etc.) to strategize onbetter coordination with homeless assistance

HCDC SpecialNeeds Committee

Increase inleveragedresources to endhomelessness.

*HCDC= Housing and Community Development Commission


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DESIREDOUTCOME

Action Step 6. Create innovative new partnerships to end homelessness. (Continued)Coordinate access across entry points to providehousing placement and direct access into keyservices/programs, including housing and rentassistance (6 regional service centers, adult accesscenter & phone access systems

BHCD, OSCP

Research tools to maximize and leverage mainstreamresources.

HCDC SpecialNeeds Committee

Streamline ongoing Continuum of Care planningmeetings for all populations to partner withmainstream providers that also serve homelesspersons

PTEHCC

Work with services financing through Targeted CaseManagement and continue to explore viability ofFQHC status for services in housing.

Mult. County

Develop pilot project to enhance consumer feedbackto help homeless services work more effectively.

Crossroads

Increase inleveragedresources to endhomelessness.

Action Step 7. Make the rent assistance system more effective.

Work across jurisdictions to pool existing resources tocreate a unified short-term rental assistance system.


Increase flexibility and consistency acrossjurisdictions, adjusting programs to focus onhousehold need and not on funding requirements.


Investigate strategies to assist families who are livingin substandard hotels to be able to find safeapartments at no additional rent.

Homeless FamiliesCoalition

Implement shared outcomes across jurisdictions forhousing placement and retention for up to twelvemonths after move-in.


Conduct coordinated RFP across four jurisdictionsfor rent assistance to maximize outcomes.


Increase numberof householdswith housingstability.


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DESIREDOUTCOME

Action Step 8. Increase economic opportunity for homeless people.Address stigma of criminal background and spottyemployment history with employers. Engageemployers to open doors for chronically homelesspeople in exchange for service support.

wsi*, partners

Explore strategies to increase presumptive eligibilityfor people needing SSI or SSDI. Create new taskforce to work with SSA and Eligibility specialists.

Mult. County

Provide technical assistance and cross-trainingbetween employment service providers and homelessproviders.

wsi, partners

People who arehomeless are ableto secure jobswithin areasonable amountof time. Livablewages and benefitsare provided.

Increase access and utilization of workforce servicesat One-Stop Centers, Vocational Rehab., and otherlocal employment programs for homeless people.

wsi, partners

Connect housing resources, such as housingspecialists, with One-Stops and local employmentprograms.

BHCD, OSCP, wsi

Streamline the receipt of disability benefits byhomeless people who are eligible and in need, and notcurrently not receiving benefits.

Mult. County

Increase (successrate, numberserved)employmentservices forhomeless adults,youth and parents.

Action Step 9. Implement new data collection technology throughout the homeless system.Implement HMIS. BHCD, OSCP,

HAP and agenciesUse data to promote shared outcomes that are tied topermanent housing stability.

BHCD, OSCP

Use HMIS to provide an updated list of financialassistance for use among service providers.

BHCD, OSCP

Use HMIS to track the costs and usage rates of publicresources that chronically homeless persons consumebefore and after moving into PSH.

BHCD, Mult. Co.(multiple Depts.)

Use HMIS to document extent and costs of chronichomelessness for families with children.

BHCD, OSCP

Use HMIS to determine if a household is repeatedlyat-risk of eviction, and identify resources to providemore intensive case management.

BHCD, OSCP

Implement tool that documents qualitative success ofending chronic homelessness, through agencyperformance and neighborhood livability standards.

BHCD, City ONI*

Hard data to planand evaluateefforts to endhomelessness.

*wsi= worksystems, inc., ONI= Office of Neighborhood Involvement


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OVERSIGHT AND EVALUATION

Keeping jurisdictions accountable forending homelessness

Using the workplan and desired outcomesformat in the Action Plan, as well as thelarger outcomes, staff from the participatingjurisdictions will report quarterly on progressto the community.

These reports will be available on the City’swebsite. Staff will also post notices ofongoing coordination meetings and othercommunications to the public on theimplementation process.

Staff will present reports on the progress ofimplementing the 10-year plan to endhomelessness on a regular basis to theHousing and Community DevelopmentCommission (HCDC).

The Citizens Commission on Homelessnesswill meet every six months to review progressand make recommendations on planimplementation.

Finally, staff and members of the CitizensCommission will present an annual report onimplementation to the City Council andBoard of County Commissioners for theduration of the plan.

Keeping providers accountable forending homelessness

With the implementation of HMIS, staff willalso compile regular outcome data fromagencies that show success in housingplacement and retention goals. The HMISwill also allow for accurate information onutilization of services and facilities and beable to show where gaps are in the system.

A subcommittee of the Plan to EndHomelessness Coordinating Committee willevaluate provider progress toward establishedgoals of ending people’s homelessness and makerecommendations for improvement and shiftingof resources as appropriate.

The City and the County will implement shifts infunding that are based in outcome evaluation andprogress of providers’ efforts to end people’shomelessness.

Keeping the homeless system accountablethrough consumer feedback

Consumers of services can help hold thehomeless system accountable by providingsystematic feedback on how they access servicesand how they are treated while receiving thoseservices. Social service organizations, funders,and policy makers’ willingness to listen stemsfrom the understanding that consumer feedbackenhances the system.

Through the Consumer Feedback Workgroup,coordinated by Crossroads, the Sisters of theRoad organizing project, consumers cangradually change processes and procedures byconnecting consumers, social service providers,funding agencies, and policy makers in mutualanalysis of root causes of barriers.

To create a feedback loop, the ConsumerFeedback Workgroup has proposed to form apanel of funding policy makers, social servicespolicy makers, and at least two homelessadvocates. The panel will review first handexperiences of consumers and related data tocreate documentation of barriers to accessing andmoving through the system. This informationcan then be used to adjust and enhance rules,policies, and processes to better addressproblems associated with homelessness.


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In addition, this workgroup will identify anombudsman to assist consumers tocommunicate effectively with an agencywhere he or she may have concerns. Theombudsman, along with the panel andrepresentatives from crossroads, willadvocate for changes in the processes andpolicies of homeless programs.

Ongoing planning

The Citizens Commission and members ofthe Plan to End Homelessness CoordinatingCommittee recommended that the 10-yearplan to end homelessness be a “living” plan.This plan allows for adjustments and changesto best address the community’s effort to endhomelessness.

Beginning in December 2004, theCoordinating Committee will become thelead entity for ongoing community planningfor the 10-year plan to end homelessness.This committee will provide broad-basedfeedback to implementation as well as keepthe document a viable tool, and a livingdocument that can adjust to changingenvironments.

This committee will also support theplanning processes for the Continuum ofCare application and function as a body toreview other options for future resources tohomeless programs.

This committee will be a subcommittee ofthe Housing and Community DevelopmentCommission to ensure coordination withhousing, services, and economicopportunities policy for Portland, Greshamand Multnomah County.


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CONCLUSION

The 10-year plan to end homelessness buildson previous community based efforts toaddress the issue of homelessness whilesetting the stage for addressing homelessnessdifferently. For the plan to be effective,ongoing community involvement is essential.Our work must remain flexible, innovativeand squarely focused on EndingHomelessness.

This plan lays the framework for ending theinstitution of homelessness and describinghow all stakeholders can come together toaddress this issue.

We know we will make a difference with thisplan as we aspire to end homelessness as weknow it.

Twelve months following implementation ofplan we will see the following:

• 175 chronically homeless people willmove directly from the streets andinstitutions to permanent housing

• 20 “hard to reach” homeless youth andyoung adults will be move into stablehousing

• A design will be in place for aday/resource center to engage homelesspeople

• The waitlist and number of people turnedaway from emergency shelters will bereduced by 5%

• A redesigned rent assistance model willbe fully implemented through a singleRFP that is outcome driven

• 250 number of families with children willbe permanently housed

• A pipeline of 300 units of permanentsupportive housing will be in place

• Funding for permanent housing withhomeless resources will increase from 12% to20%

• An enhanced partnerships to endhomelessness will be formalized by publicand private community partners

• 26 agencies will be using an integrated datasystem representing approximately 90% ofhomeless programs

As we continue to work together and talk aboutending homelessness as a community, we willcontinue to find solutions.

This plan lays the framework for mutualresponsibility and accountability. As acommunity, we must change the landscape andinvest in systems that end homelessness.

This plan presents enough detail to determinebarriers to ending homelessness. As weimplement these strategies and tasks, we mustalso commit to put enough resources on thetable to make a difference.

Finally, the process that brought the coreelements of this plan together initiated significantchange across homeless programs and othersystems that touch homelessness. The work ofindividuals and organizations pointing outbarriers to ending homelessness in itself beginsto break down the silos that prevent coordinatedand systemic change.

This plan provides guidance to continue thiswork. It also broadens the scope of homelessplanning to allow for new ideas and innovationsfrom all sectors; private and public, non-profitand for profit, providers and consumers, andmany others.

full action plan - portland, oregon

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