Multnomah County, Ore. (Jan. 12, 2026) — A new report from Multnomah County’s Homeless Services Department is providing information to help balance investments in the homeless services system during a budget season when fewer resources will be available to support the work.
The Homeless Services Department conducted an in-depth review of 24/7 adult shelters funded by Multnomah County and the City of Portland, analyzing cost and performance between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Over the past five years, Multnomah County and the City of Portland have more than doubled the number of shelter beds in our community, with nearly 3,000 24/7 shelter beds currently open.
The report’s findings indicate that by decreasing the number of 24/7 adult shelter units and reallocating cost savings toward housing programs — specifically programs that provide rent assistance and services for people currently staying in shelters — the homeless services system could house, and possibly shelter, an equal or greater number of people as the current shelter system, all without increasing cost.
“No matter the level of resources available for homelessness services, our goal has to be a system that is successful in moving people out of homelessness and into housing. We are facing many difficult decisions about the future of homeless services, with funding shortfalls locally and cruel policy changes at the federal level that will likely send more people back to the streets,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “This report offers hope for a more effective, less expensive system: It suggests that by moving some of the dollars currently being used for shelter and putting that money toward housing assistance — specifically for people currently staying in shelter — we may shelter and house more people than we can today.”
“We’ve been able to rapidly expand the number of shelter beds in our community, but the availability of housing assistance hasn’t kept up,” said Anna Plumb, interim director of the Homeless Services Department. “Without that assistance, shelter becomes the end of the line, rather than a step to permanent housing. This must change in order for all our shelters to truly be effective at helping end people’s homelessness.”
The findings from the report will be used to help inform budget decisions in the coming months, for next fiscal year (July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027).
Creating the report was one of the action items in the City-County Homelessness Response Action Plan. Past investments by the Board of Commissioners — expanding the Homeless Services Department’s data and research team and building a more robust by-name list of people experiencing homelessness — helped to make this analysis possible.
The Board of County Commissioners will receive a briefing on the report tomorrow, Jan. 13. Agenda, slides and meeting information can be found at this link. The full report can be found here.