Portland and Multnomah County officials announced their intent Wednesday to continue the joint city-county office of homeless services for another three years, signaling improved alignment between the two local governments on addressing the area’s large unsheltered population.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler had threatened in May to pull city funding from the jointly funded homelessness services agency, which the two governments launched in 2016, if the county didn’t agree to help fund his large outdoor shelters. In June 2023, the city agreed to extend the joint operating agreement through June 2024 with the understanding that the county and city would overhaul the structure of the office.
On Wednesday, Wheeler called the two local governments’ rough agreement on a new operating plan “a new beginning” and a “reset of how the city and county work together.”
“None of this will be easy,” he said during a joint press conference. But “we are far more likely to succeed when working together.”
The new agreement will pick up on July 1 and run through June 2027, he and County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said. Many details still need to be ironed out, but the pair announced initial goals:
- A 50% reduction in unsheltered homelessness by December 2025.
- Prioritize Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander unsheltered Portlanders and also unsheltered seniors.
- Increase the number of people who move from shelter to housing by 15% by December 2025.
- Ensure 75% of people placed in permanent supportive housing are still housed 24 months after placement.
- More accurately count people experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County as of January 2024.
They also agreed the office will provide quarterly reports on progress toward those goals and create a public budget dashboard that shows budgeting and spending by program and revenue.
Prior to the city and county founding the joint office nearly eight years ago, the city took responsibility for addressing single adults and the county agreed to help unaccompanied youth, families, and domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.
Vega Pederson said the office was meant to break down silos and repetitive services but wasn’t able to achieve its goal since the office didn’t include affordable housing and behavioral health services.
“Without those partnerships, (the joint office) was left to solve problems it didn’t have tools for,” she said.
As is now the case, under the new agreement, the county will oversee health and human services and running the administrative aspects of the joint office. The city will continue to oversee managing public spaces, land use, the first response system and affordable housing development.
But the new agreement will create a Homelessness Response System that largely aims to improve how budget decisions related to homelessness are made, create shared goals and hold each party accountable for what they are tasked with delivering. The system will be overseen by an oversight committee, and that committee will be advised by a community advisory committee and an implementation committee. The county will maintain the administrative support for all committees.
Wheeler wanted the county to give the city veto power over the joint office’s budget. The county did not agree to that. Instead, the joint office will give each party more time than in the past – 60 days – to review its proposed budget and discuss policy decisions collaboratively before the City Council and the county commission each cast their vote.
Since the county receives substantial proceeds from Metro’s supportive housing services tax, its portion of the budget will always be greater than the city’s contribution. However, Wheeler and Vega Pederson both pledged to not let that dictate how much power each party has. Instead, they will strive for better collaboration.
“We want to have a homeless response strategy independent of who is putting dollars in,” Wheeler said.
The enhanced operating agreement will influence how the joint office operates in the future and what goals will be prioritized. But both Wheeler and Vega Pederson alluded to some possible work to be done in the coming years.
Vega Pederson spoke of growing addiction services. She largely talked not about what programs and services will be added but about the planning process for deciding that. She said behavioral health providers, nonprofits, healthcare leaders, criminal justice officials, crisis response workers and affordable housing experts will be at the planning table.
Wheeler said the county might take over operations of the city’s safe rest villages and large outdoor encampments, but that is still to be determined.
Most imminently, Vega Pederson vowed that the agency and its contractors will continue to hand out tents and tarps to unhoused people this winter. She said it is a “humanitarian response” intended to keep people alive.
Wheeler said the city plans to work with the county and not against it. Still, he said, the city plans to continue its efforts to create “clear and usable spaces,” which has meant forcing away people living in tents and offering them spots at the large outdoor encampment the city created at his behest.
Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com.