Homelessness Response Action Plan DRAFT, Multnomah County March 2024
Multnomah County Homelessness Response Action Plan website.
MEDIA
Editorial: Homelessness response strategy must be a plan of action not a wish list – Oregonian March 17, 2024
Multnomah County commissioners and Portland City Council met last week to discuss a draft Homelessness Response Action Plan.Multnomah County Communications
Even facing the high stakes of failure, local leaders’ approach to solving homelessness has long seemed aimless and accidental. A lack of coordination among agencies, feuding between Portland and Multnomah County officials and incomplete data have only made it more difficult to help the thousands of people living unsheltered.
So, last week’s unveiling of a homelessness response action plan by Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler marked a dramatic shift in tone. The 47-page draft document lists nine broad goals, each with specific objectives, aimed at stitching together a comprehensive system to respond to homelessness. It recognizes the critical roles that health care, behavioral health, affordable housing policy, funding streams and governance structures must play to effectively help those who are homeless now and prevent more from joining their ranks. And it seeks to spread the authority and ownership of our homelessness crisis across a broader set of players.
Multnomah County homelessness chief resigns amid allegations he mistreated women
Oregonian, April 16, 2024
Multnomah County’s head of homelessness policy, Chris Fick, resigned Monday at the request of Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, as Willamette Week reported Monday afternoon. In an email, Vega Pederson indicated that an unspecified internal investigation had not found wrongdoing by Fick.
“My 10 years at the county reflect my efforts to work professionally, to be respectful of everyone, and to comply with all policies,” Fick said in an email to staff. “I have not been apprised of the specific allegations and there has been no finding of any wrong-doing.”
Portland homeless service providers hopeful after city and Multnomah County roll out ambitious new plan – KGW.com March 2024
Multnomah County and Portland leaders unveiled the new plan last week, setting ambitious targets to get thousands into housing over the next two years.
“It’s certainly an ambitious plan, but I think it’s good to be ambitious,” said Scott Kerman, executive director of Blanchet House, adding that he has more faith in the new plan than previous efforts because of its “collaborative, holistic sphere.”
The plan includes getting 2,700 people off the streets by the end of 2025, adding hundreds more behavioral health beds and a sobering center, ending discharges from jail to the streets and opening 1,000 new shelter beds in two years.
Those beds are a key piece of support that workers at Rose Haven have been waiting for.
“Were seeing probably 150 people a day and probably half those people, we’re trying to figure out where they’re going to sleep on a regular basis,” said Executive Director Katie O’Brien.
Multnomah County, Portland present plan to halve unsheltered homelessness by 2026 – OPB.org March 2024
Multnomah County and the city of Portland unveiled details Monday of a long-promised plan to overhaul the region’s response to homelessness.
“Portlanders have rightly demanded action from their elected leaders, and the implementation of this plan will result in a more effective and unified strategy to address the homelessness crisis,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement.
The offices of Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson created the sweeping plan. It lays out a goal to halve the region’s unsheltered homeless population by 2026, add hundreds of new shelter beds, build more affordable housing, expand access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, improve data collection and create new committees to oversee this work.
“Today we unveil a comprehensive and ambitious plan because the people living on our streets need shelter, safety, support and a path to housing,” Vega Pederson said in her statement on the proposal.