The following recommendations are open. We've listed them by the body or department responsible for implementation.
Recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Create specific criteria for determining what events or causes merit proclamations and/or bridge lightings. | Spring 2026 |
Department of Community Justice: Jail sanctions are worsening inequities and outcomes
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Ensure that there is adequate case management for housing needs of those discharged from supervision | Spring 2027 |
Based on data from DCJ about housing status of high-need people on supervision, the board should build capacity for housing by promoting:
i) Coordination of roles between departments at regular meetings
ii) Contracting with community-based providers for re-entry services | Spring 2027 |
| Increase capacity countywide for inpatient mental health treatment and coordinated case management for those with co-occurring disorders and housing instability who may also have a criminal record | Spring 2027 |
Recommendations to the County Chair
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| All department HR units should conduct 360 reviews for managers annually. | Spring 2026 |
| All 360 reviews should be saved in Workday. | Spring 2026 |
| All department HR units should give every employee leaving the county the opportunity to fill out an anonymous exit survey about their experience. | Spring 2026 |
| The equity analyst for each department should aggregate information from the 360 reviews and exit surveys annually to identify patterns. The department director, department HR, and the equity manager should develop and implement plans to address issues. | Spring 2026 |
| Central and department HR should ensure that prior to terminating an employee, HR managers consult with an equity manager or a representative from the ODE. | Spring 2026 |
| Central HR and department HR should enforce Personnel Rule 3-42 (Gender Identity and Gender Expression Harassment and Discrimination Free Workplace). | Spring 2026 |
| Central and department HR should create disability KSAs that require staff to have expertise in all of the following: the Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodations, disability justice, and the impacts of ableism. | Spring 2026 |
| Central HR should ensure that all staff working in the soon-to-be-created centralized accommodations unit should be required to have a disability KSA. | Spring 2026 |
| Expand the central pool of money available for the College to County internship program. | Spring 2026 |
| Give equity data analysts access to the Workday report “MCR Flex worker report for researchers” that has more detailed demographic data. | Spring 2026 |
| Modify personnel rule 3-65 to allow employees to telework internationally for a limited duration while caring for a family member. If the request is denied, the employee should be provided the rationale in writing. | Spring 2026 |
| Ensure that countywide contracting processes include equity, including: plain language procurement documents, technical assistance for vendors, diverse evaluation panels, and interviewing culturally specific providers who have not been selected for county contracts to determine the barriers that they faced. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the County District Attorney
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| All department HR units should conduct 360 reviews for managers annually. | Spring 2026 |
| All 360 reviews should be saved in Workday. | Spring 2026 |
| All department HR units should give every employee leaving the county the opportunity to fill out an anonymous exit survey about their experience. | Spring 2026 |
| The equity analyst for each department should aggregate information from the 360 reviews and exit surveys annually to identify patterns. The department director, department HR, and the equity manager should develop and implement plans to address issues. | Spring 2026 |
| Central and department HR should ensure that prior to terminating an employee, HR managers consult with an equity manager or a representative from the ODE. | Spring 2026 |
| Central HR and department HR should enforce Personnel Rule 3-42 (Gender Identity and Gender Expression Harassment and Discrimination Free Workplace). | Spring 2026 |
| Hire an equity analyst. | Spring 2026 |
| Establish a centralized system for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of all equity initiatives. This system should include clear metrics, standardized reporting procedures, and a mechanism for collecting feedback from both employees and the community. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the County Sheriff
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| All department HR units should conduct 360 reviews for managers annually. | Spring 2026 |
| All 360 reviews should be saved in Workday. | Spring 2026 |
| All department HR units should give every employee leaving the county the opportunity to fill out an anonymous exit survey about their experience. | Spring 2026 |
| The equity analyst for each department should aggregate information from the 360 reviews and exit surveys annually to identify patterns. The department director, department HR, and the equity manager should develop and implement plans to address issues. | Spring 2026 |
| Central and department HR should ensure that prior to terminating an employee, HR managers consult with an equity manager or a representative from the ODE. | Spring 2026 |
| Central HR and department HR should enforce Personnel Rule 3-42 (Gender Identity and Gender Expression Harassment and Discrimination Free Workplace). | Spring 2026 |
| Hire an equity manager. | Spring 2026 |
| Advocate to the Board for funding to build capacity for equity data collection and analysis to inform equity efforts. | Spring 2026 |
| Develop a comprehensive equity plan that outlines specific goals, strategies, and initiatives for advancing equity. | Spring 2026 |
| Develop clear criteria for mandatory equity training completion and implement a process to hold managers accountable for ensuring both their own participation and the participation of their team members. | Spring 2026 |
| Develop a comprehensive equity training plan. | Spring 2026 |
| Establish a centralized system for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of all equity initiatives. This system should include clear metrics, standardized reporting procedures, and a mechanism for collecting feedback from both employees and the community. | Spring 2026 |
| Implement a process for documenting, analyzing, and responding to employee feedback in a timely and transparent manner. | Spring 2026 |
| Implement multiple avenues for employees to provide feedback, such as regular one-on-one meetings, anonymous surveys, and employee focus groups. | Spring 2026 |
| Provide training to supervisors on active listening, constructive feedback, and addressing employee concerns. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding belonging and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding workload distribution and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Department of Community Justice
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding belonging and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding responding to discriminatory behavior and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Department of Community Justice: Jail sanctions are worsening inequities and outcomes
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Reduce harmful impact of jail and revocation sanctions: PPOs should recommend jail and revocation for technical violations only for imminent and direct public safety threats. | Spring 2027 |
| Reduce harmful impact of jail and revocation sanctions: Create a policy that defines public safety threats with clear, measurable criteria and a procedure for PPOs with documentation requirements | Spring 2027 |
| Develop a strategy to prevent failures to report and absconding supervision: Develop a policy that defines minimum efforts that should be made to locate an individual by PPOs | Spring 2027 |
| Develop a strategy to prevent failures to report and absconding supervision: Provide and document resources and/or referrals to those at risk of absconding due to homelessness | Spring 2027 |
| Address disparities in sanctions and racial equity: Create public data dashboards updated quarterly with data about racial inequities related to sanctions and absconsions disaggregated by race, caseloads, and units. | Spring 2027 |
| Improve access to resources and referrals: Require staff to provide and document resources and referrals | Spring 2027 |
| Improve access to resources and referrals: Advocate to the Board for funding to expand low-barrier resource models like SARP for all high and very high-risk individuals on active supervision. | Spring 2027 |
| Improve access to resources and referrals: Advocate to the Board for funding to expand access to culturally responsive resources and referrals. | Spring 2027 |
| Improve access to resources and referrals: Consistently document needs like mental illness and homelessness and resources and/or referrals that address those needs | Spring 2027 |
| Improve access to resources for those with mental illness: Expand access to mental health treatment for all those in high-risk units through documented referrals and/or resources | Spring 2027 |
Create a more consistent grievance process: Provide print materials for all those on supervision about the grievance process during the initial PPO intake meeting. Printed materials should include:
i) how to submit a grievance complaint,
ii) expected response time,
iii) contact information for grievance complaint-related questions, and
iv) who to contact if the issue is not resolved. | Spring 2027 |
| Create a more consistent grievance process: Implement two-year retention of grievances and documentation of follow-up, as required by the county’s records retention schedule. Formal and informal grievances and follow up should be documented. | Spring 2027 |
| Create a more consistent grievance process: Establish an online grievance submission process with an option for anonymous grievances. Track trends for the nature and frequency of the complaints. | Spring 2027 |
| Create a more consistent grievance process: Assign responsibility for tracking and investigating grievances to a central staff member. | Spring 2027 |
| Create a more consistent grievance process: Publish an annual report on grievance trends and send to DCJ Director and Board of County Commissioners | Spring 2027 |
| Report the following data to the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council and Board of Commissioners, as part of the biannual Community Corrections Plan approval process: Report on jail and revocation use for technical violations that are not for public safety reasons, disaggregated by race. | Spring 2027 |
| Report the following data to the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council and Board of Commissioners, as part of the biannual Community Corrections Plan approval process: Gather, analyze and report on data to determine trends on the reasons individuals fail to report or abscond supervision. | Spring 2027 |
| Report the following data to the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council and Board of Commissioners, as part of the biannual Community Corrections Plan approval process: Report how many people on supervision at DCJ are experiencing homelessness | Spring 2027 |
| Report the following data to the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council and Board of Commissioners, as part of the biannual Community Corrections Plan approval process: Report on racial disparities in sanctioning | Spring 2027 |
| Report the following data to the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council and Board of Commissioners, as part of the biannual Community Corrections Plan approval process: Evaluate and report on Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS) use among all PPOs as a measure of relationship and rapport | Spring 2027 |
Recommendations to the Department of Community Services
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Advocate to the Board for funding to build capacity for equity data collection and analysis to inform equity efforts. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Department of County Assets
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Department of County Human Services
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Preschool for All: The program is largely achieving its equity goals, but needs to address risks to expansion
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Develop and implement a process to verify the accuracy of families’ application answers used for priority weighting. At a minimum, the process should verify income with documentation, since income is the highest weighted and is straightforward to document. | Spring 2026 |
| Adjust budgets and the forecast to better reflect actual spending. | Spring 2026 |
| Ensure communications to providers, the Board of County Commissioners, and the public reflect current practices and note in a timely manner when changes from the plan and county code have occurred. | Spring 2026 |
| Make priority group language consistent across all communications, including contracts, applications, program instructions, and communications to the public. | Spring 2026 |
| Provide information about the availability of seats at each preschool on the website, to provide more information for families that are applying. | Spring 2026 |
| Create focused outreach strategies for each of the priority groups in the Preschool for All Plan. | Spring 2026 |
| Add more trainings on culturally responsive and accessible preschool. | Spring 2026 |
| Provide instructions to family navigator organizations encouraging them to visit and get to know at least some preschools. | Spring 2026 |
| Add the provider program guide to the website. | Spring 2026 |
| Create a system to improve data tracking of all preschools that have applied, the outcome, and the reason for the outcome. | Spring 2026 |
| Create and implement a process for engaging with preschools that have applied but did not participate. | Spring 2026 |
| Create and implement a formalized mechanism for preschools of various sizes (both participating and not participating) to provide input on the Preschool for All program. | Spring 2026 |
| Work with central purchasing and the county attorney to review contract requirements for opportunities to reduce burdens on preschools, while still protecting the county. Consult with the county equity contracting group as a resource. | Spring 2026 |
| Publicly report annually on the progress of the facilities fund. Include updated analysis on the estimated number and capacity of existing private and public preschools, as available data allows. | Spring 2026 |
| Specify and communicate facility fund guidelines to include requirements for creating Preschool for All seats specifically. | Spring 2026 |
| Adjust reporting requirements for academic navigators to better monitor if the investments are building new teacher capacity. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Department of County Management
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Advocate to the Board for funding to build capacity for equity data collection and analysis to inform equity efforts. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Health Department
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Hire an equity manager. | Spring 2026 |
| Advocate to the Board for funding to build capacity for equity data collection and analysis to inform equity efforts. | Spring 2026 |
| Develop a comprehensive equity plan that outlines specific goals, strategies, and initiatives for advancing equity. | Spring 2026 |
| Establish a centralized system for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of all equity initiatives. This system should include clear metrics, standardized reporting procedures, and a mechanism for collecting feedback from both employees and the community. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding responding to discriminatory behavior and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Homeless Services Department
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding workload distribution and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Joint Office of Homeless Services: Reporting on supportive housing and rapid rehousing was an accurate reflection of provider data most of the time, but providers would like a more user-friendly data system
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| To improve efficiency, usefulness of data, and reduce the potential for errors in HMIS, implement a database compatible with an application programming interface (API). An API is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. Using a database compatible with an API will allow homeless service providers to upload data from their internal systems. | Winter 2027 |
Recommendations to the Library
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Implement a process for documenting, analyzing, and responding to employee feedback in a timely and transparent manner. | Spring 2026 |
| Implement multiple avenues for employees to provide feedback, such as regular one-on-one meetings, anonymous surveys, and employee focus groups. | Spring 2026 |
| Provide training to supervisors on active listening, constructive feedback, and addressing employee concerns. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding belonging and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding responding to discriminatory behavior and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Investigate the concerns raised in the countywide employee survey regarding workload distribution and report to department staff on findings and steps for improvement. | Spring 2026 |
| Embed equity practices in all decision-making processes. | Spring 2026 |
Multnomah County Library Employees raise serious concerns with security, workforce equity, and staffing
| Recommendation | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Communicate the staffing plan to Library employees and present to Board of County Commissioners both before all buildings fully reopen and after reopening. Request budget changes as needed to support the staffing plan. Initial communication to staff and Board should occur by October 1, 2024. Follow up communication should occur by October 1, 2026. | Winter 2026 |
Recommendations to the Office of Diversity & Equity
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendations | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Ensure the Disability Equity Policy Analyst Senior position remains in their office, rather than moving it to the soon-to-be-created centralized accommodations unit in HR. This will allow the position to maintain independence from HR. | Spring 2026 |
| Regularly publicize the Disability Equity Policy Analyst Senior position so that staff know this resource is available. | Spring 2026 |
Recommendations to the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Renewal Process Executive Committee
Countywide Equity Audit: Multnomah County shows commitment to equity; more accountability is crucial for ensuring meaningful progress
| Recommendations | When we will assess it |
|---|
| Assign responsibility, in writing, to the COO for the outcomes of both the 2018 Workforce Strategic Equity Plan (WESP 1.0) and the 2024-2028 Workforce Strategic Equity Plan (WESP 2.0). When performance measures are not met, the COO or the responsible elected official should put a performance plan in place. | Spring 2026 |
Recent annual recommendation status reports
Recent recommendation status evaluation reports
2025 reports
2024 reports
2023 reports
2022 reports
2021 reports
