Multnomah County, Ore. (Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024) — Nearly 5,500 people moved into homes and left homelessness with the help of the Joint Office of Homeless Services and its contracted service providers in Fiscal Year 2023-24 — an increase of 1,211 people year-over-year (28%).
The annual increase in housing placements is the largest since the Joint Office launched in July 2016, driven by a surge in people newly served by the Supportive Housing Services Measure.
In addition, nearly 7,900 people entered shelter last fiscal year, an increase of more than 2,000 people year-over-year, or nearly 35%.
This clear demonstration of progress — validating a decision by the City of Portland and Multnomah County to continue their years-long partnership in addressing homelessness — is reflected in a pair of public reports posted late last week.
The Joint Office’s data and evaluation team published a year-end dashboard charting the department’s progress in helping people access housing and shelter, and other services for each quarter last fiscal year. The Joint Office also sent Metro its fourth-quarter narrative report focused specifically on Supportive Housing Services programming for the year.
The reports follow a review of Joint Office housing data by the independently elected County Auditor’s Office, which found accurate and “excellent results” after the Joint Office worked proactively to address challenges in data reporting in previous years.
The Joint Office also strengthened contract management and oversight, addressing previous concerns, developing protocols that were cited as a model for other County departments. A recent County audit found the Joint Office met or exceeded expectations on contract monitoring.
“These outcomes show what we all know to be true: When we work together, we can create some positive results. These outcomes would not be possible without the providers and front-line staff who have worked tirelessly every day, with deep commitment, to make this progress possible,” said Dan Field, director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services. “These results also strengthen my belief that we are making a difference in our community, right now. While we still have a ways to go before ending our homelessness crisis, thousands of people who were homeless are now in stable homes with the services they need to stay there.”
“I echo Director Field’s thank you to providers and front-line staff making this work happen every day. I also want to honor the experiences and commitment of the thousands of neighbors who’ve left the streets for a shelter bed — or finally unlocked the front door of a home of their own,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.
“This work takes partnership, and so many have shown up for it,” she added. “I’ve been committed to changing the trajectory of the Joint Office since Day 1, and these investments are paying off. We’re serving more people. We’ve added services. The Joint Office has effectively invested taxpayer dollars in ways that are changing lives. Anyone who sees these outcomes can see that these partnerships are working to change what’s happening in our County for the better.”
‘Better futures for our neighbors’: Supportive Housing Services outcomes increase as funds are invested
The Supportive Housing Services Measure continues to be a game-changer, allowing the Joint Office to serve thousands more people. More than 42% of those who left homelessness for housing last fiscal year — 2,322 — received support from the Supportive Housing Services Measure.
That number shows how the impact of the measure is increasing over time. It’s a 76% increase over Supportive Housing Services placements from the year before — or 1,004 additional people — and roughly double the number of people served two years ago when funding from the measure first became available. Nearly a third of those additional placements came through the Housing Multnomah Now pilot program, which exceeded its placement target for the fiscal year.
That increase in people newly rehoused through Supportive Housing Services funding tracks with a massive turnaround in spending last fiscal year.
Over the previous two years, the Joint Office did not meet its ambitious spend-down goals. This year, the Joint Office spent 100% of its share of Supportive Housing Services revenues collected by Metro during Fiscal Year 2024. That figure is close to 85% of the total amount budgeted for programs, which was larger than normal because it includes dollars carried over from previous years.
The Joint Office not only met — but also significantly exceeded — its Metro-approved target of spending at least 75% of its Supportive Housing Services program budget.
Remaining funds are already programmed for the current fiscal year’s budget, alongside required reserves and contingencies — ending the recent status quo when the Joint Office had significant amounts of unspent money still available.
“Building up the base needed to deliver on this measure required not only time but a series of strategic steps, from developing spending dashboards to improving our contracting and procurement practices,” Field said. “Now, at the end of our third year, those efforts have paid off with better futures for thousands of our neighbors. And we have proven we can prudently manage these resources.”
The impact of the measure is even bigger when looking at everyone served in housing funded by the Supportive Housing Services Measure — not just those who were rehoused last fiscal year. Through the end of FY 24, a total of 4,760 people were actively receiving support from SHS-funded housing programs through the Joint Office, including people newly placed in housing and people who remain housed and continue to receive services after they were re-housed in past years.
‘Leaning into these partnerships’: Rebuilding connections makes shelter and housing progress possible
In addition to the 35% increase in people newly entering shelter, the total number of people who accessed a shelter bed for at least one night in Multnomah County — including both people newly accessing shelter and people continuing shelter stays from previous fiscal years — also rose, climbing to 9,101 people, up from 6,905 — a 32% increase.
The increase in the number of people accessing shelter follows ongoing work to both open new shelter beds and to move more people through shelter and into housing. The work to develop new shelter capacity and develop additional shelter models has been ongoing, and saw significant progress this year due to new and deepening partnerships and investments.
Last year, the Joint Office stepped in to help fund the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, at the former Wapato jail, allowing the shelter to keep its doors open and continue serving 175-plus people each night.
The Joint Office also expanded day center capacity, paid for additional sleeping units at Safe Rest Villages, and supported the City of Portland’s Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites, including Clinton Triangle. Programs like Housing Multnomah Now helped people who moved from sidewalks into those shelters find permanent housing, opening those shelter beds for other people who needed them.
The County and the Joint Office are continuing to invest in partnerships that will expand the number of shelter options in our community. The County also provided more than $20 million in Supportive Housing Services funds to the City of Portland to pay for construction and operations at additional sites planned to follow Clinton Triangle.
Those funds join separate investments in east Multnomah County, including direct allocations to the City of Gresham for housing placement work and street outreach, as well as outreach and other housing services in the Thousand Acres area.
“The Joint Office of Homeless Services’ increased investment in funding Gresham’s Homeless Services team enables our staff to provide critical outreach services throughout Gresham and, more recently, rent assistance to get clients seeking help off the street and into permanent housing,” said Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall. We are very appreciative of Multnomah County leadership and the Joint Office for their continued support of this critical community resource”
“Our work this year would not have been possible without us leaning into partnership, both building new connections and strengthening old ones. None of us can do it alone,” Joint Office director Field said. “These outcomes show that we are on an upward trajectory. We are leaving the past in the past, taking the lessons with us into the future, and pushing forward together.”
