# Portland City Council Work Session - Joint City/County Homelessness Response  10/28/26
# Meeting ID: 2026-10-28-ws-1  Duration: 149 min

[00:06:02] Jamie Dunphy: Good afternoon. I am calling to order this joint work session of the City of Portland and Multnomah County. Thank you all so much for being here today. Wow, I got everybody to be quiet pretty quick. That was fun. Uh, thank you to my— our county colleagues for joining us. Um, briefly to my county colleagues, I just emailed you a Zoom link. If you have a laptop, you're welcome to log in. You don't have to, but it's there. Um, today's an opportunity for city councilors and county commissioners to brief— to hear briefly from our staff and to spend most of our time talking with one another about our hopes for help from the 2027 state legislative session. Our focus today is housing, homelessness, and behavioral health, areas where our responsibilities intersect and where state decisions have significant consequences on the people we serve. Each jurisdiction is developing their own legislative agendas. Today's conversation can deepen the understanding of those priorities and show us where coordination would be useful. We're not asking either body to revise their agendas or to adopt any joint positions today. We know that state and local resources are constrained. That makes it especially important to explain clearly what state investments would accomplish and what is at risk if those investments fall short. I hope we can better understand what each jurisdiction needs and where our priorities overlap and how we can reinforce one another's advocacy in Salem. I also hope this helps shape future quarterly meetings with both bodies helping develop the topics and more time reserved for substantive conversation among elected officials. A quick note on how questions will work. After each presentation, I'll call on the members who've been selected in advance to ask questions or remarks. At the end, anyone who hasn't yet spoken will be first in the queue, and then the floor will be open for conversation. My goal in arranging it this way is to make sure that everyone gets a fair chance to speak. So with that, I'm going to invite Chair Vega Pederson to offer some opening remarks.
[00:07:55] Jessica Vega Pederson: Thank you so much, Council President Dunphy. Thank you thank you. Thank you, Mayor Wilson. Thank you to the city for hosting us today. It is a little bit crowded up here, but I assure you it would be much more crowded if we were trying to do this in the Multnomah County building. So just appreciate being here today. I really have 3 goals for us today. One, I want us to all walk away here with an understanding of what it's actually going to take to move the dial in decreasing homelessness in our community, what we need to invest, what those resources need to look like, because that is within our reach, but it is going to take decisions from each of our bodies thank you. To take us along that path. The second thing is really understanding what is at stake for the City of Portland, for Multnomah County in this upcoming legislative session. We are using the resources we have from the state to do so much good work, and yet a lot of these dollars that we're receiving from the state are considered one-time only and are not guaranteed to follow— to flow through to our communities unless we fight for them this legislative session. And the third thing is to really get information thank you. We're going to get some good information today that is going to inform the decisions that we will be making as a council, as a board, about the legislative agendas that we're going to be having going into the, the long legislative session. So we're going to get some good information today on what things are looking like in terms of housing, in terms of shelter, in terms of our healthcare system. We know that those are 3 systems where it is critical that they are all working together, even when funding and responsibilities sit in different systems. So understanding how our work connects can help us make a stronger case for state support and improve outcomes for the people we serve, particularly those with complex health and behavioral health needs. So I'm glad we're here. This is a chance, I think, for us to get into alignment about the work that's ahead of us. And I know we have a lot of great information that is going to be coming to us today from our staff.
[00:09:55] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you very much, Chair. So colleagues, we're going to start today's discussion with a brief overview of the legislative landscape and agenda process for the City of Portland. I'm going to welcome to the dais Jillian Schoene, who's Director of the Homelessness Response System at Multnomah County, as well as Stacy Cowan with the Multnomah County Government Relations Director, and Sam Chase, who is the Government Relations Director for the City of Portland. Welcome.
[00:10:17] Jillian Schoene: Thank you. Thank you, Chair, Council President. As mentioned, the main topic of today is homelessness, but you can't talk about homelessness without talking about affordable housing and behavioral health. As many have said before, homelessness exists and it is prolonged because of other broken systems. Deeply affordable housing and behavioral health are at the top of that list. So a conversation absent those other systems is inadequate because the solutions sit at the intersection of all 3. That is also why you see all 3 of those systems represented in the new KPIs that these 2 bodies adopted last December, which are very different and much more comprehensive from the original 4 adopted by previous city and county elected officials. Since that time, the SOC has adopted I'm not going to go over them today. You received a detailed memo on September 25th, a summary one-pager, and you have slides here before you for just for the record. But I do want them at top of mind today and every day that we talk about homelessness. You'll hear from my colleagues at a very, very high level the programs and/or resources that are associated with each, all of which I hope we fight like hell next year in the legislative session to see that they continue. In particular, if the Homelessness Response Team is not funded, we will not be able to system does not receive the same support it receives from Salem today, we will not be able to meet the goals announced just weeks ago that are up on the screen. Those financial investments are baked into our calculations of what we can achieve related to those goals. Next slide. So at the end of the day, what these KPIs and goals offer to you are an understanding of the big picture and the inflow we are up against, a shared focus on the leading outcome to decrease the number of people experiencing homelessness, and finally, that they should be used to drive the overall investment strategy in Salem, at Metro, and in our local budgets. With that, I will hand it off first to Stacy Cowan, Director of Government Relations for Multnomah County.
[00:12:15] Stacy Cowan: Thank you so much, Jillian. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Stacy Cowan. I use she/her pronouns. I'm the Director of Government Relations at Multnomah County. Sam and I are just going to give you a little bit of an overview of what we expect to work on in the legislative session, just to help kind of set the stage. So looking ahead to the next legislative session, we really expect it to be about filling the deficit created by the federal tax and spend bill, HR 1. We will know more exactly what that deficit is, but the budget gap that we're hearing right now is at least $421 million. I've had it said to me by budget leaders that there's almost no scenario where we don't show up to the state legislative session in a deficit. The other really important piece that budget leaders are really focused on is that that gap and that deficit is expected to grow to $868 million in the '29-'31 biennium. So as budget leaders are approaching this next biennium, they really are also then looking ahead to the following biennium and hoping to bend some of that cost curve. That's a little bit of the environment that we're currently in. Again, we'll know more on November 18th when the state legislature releases its next state revenue forecast. The role of my team this session, I believe, first and foremost is about preservation of existing state funding. It's about protecting core services and really holding the line on current services. Our goal for you here today, again, as been said, is about gaining a shared understanding of the 3 most important buckets of funding as it relates to homelessness response in our region, and to really understand what that current state of funding is for each of those buckets. I also want you to make sure and take away something that the chair mentioned, and that's that while the legislature has made really significant investments in different important areas, including housing production, homelessness prevention, shelter, and rehousing, a substantial portion of these investments are not included in the state's ongoing budget base. These are not ongoing current service level funds. So what that means is for folks like me and Sam and our team is that in order to just maintain current service level, it requires additional legislative action in 2027. Okay. Multnomah County Board is going to come together on December 3rd. We will provide a presentation where they'll approve the next state legislative agenda. That will be the work that— that document will be what guides me and my team during the state legislative session. I do want to extend a thanks to Sam Chase and his team for their continued partnership and alignment and working together as we prepare for the next state legislative session. And with that, I'll hand it over to Sam.
[00:14:57] Sam Chase: Thank you, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to share some comments, and I really want to thank both of these bodies for the collaboration and work that you have done in past sessions and worked with us together. One of the core principles that we have at the city for establishing and setting our agenda is to really do the hard work to try to seek consensus internally, to do the hard work of making sure that everyone is informed about decision-making and understanding those opportunities that also extend. Because when we do that, we go down with solutions to the legislature that land well. When we— that same principle applies here. And so we're really excited about the opportunity here and learn more about the shared values and objectives and the policy work that really helps inform the agenda setting. We're on a similar timeline with the county. December 2nd, we have another work session set up to work with our council, and during that time and beyond, we will be working to coordinate and collaborate with the county on shared priorities. Of course, we're expecting more than 3,000 bills in the legislature. We're expecting that there's going to be a lot of work to defend and protect the city's authority to deliver services in a whole host of areas, you know, transportation, water, parks, all of that work that has to be protected and our ability to do that. But today is really about those shared priority areas, those 3 buckets of homelessness, housing, behavioral health, and it's to learn from you and hear your perspective as we As we are working to develop this process and put the best possible packages forward and advocacy forward with legislators. And while there's uncertainty before every legislative session, I will just again add that we have far greater success when we're not asking legislators to pick or choose different proposals that are put before them, but when we come aligned and unified, it truly has proven over and over again that that is a strategy that increases our odds for success dramatically. And we look forward to hearing more from you today.
[00:17:29] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you very much. So colleagues, that moves us into our first— excuse me, colleagues— that moves us into our first substantive section focused on housing preservation and production. I'd like to welcome up Interim Portland Housing Bureau Director Quisha Light to speak on what the city needs from Salem to preserve and produce affordable housing and how that work is showing up locally. Welcome, Director Light.
[00:17:52] Quisha Light: Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair, councilors, commissioners. For the record, my name is Quisha Light. I'm the interim director of the Portland Housing Bureau, and I use she/her pronouns. I want to begin first with the connection to our homelessness response system. We need affordable homes people can move into from shelter. And we need to keep people stable in the homes they already have. That means paying attention not only to housing supply but to affordability, building conditions, and providers' ability to operate successfully. Production and preservation are complementary. New development creates more opportunities, and preservation protects residents and the significant public investments we've already made. From PHB's perspective, we have 3 priorities for Salem. First, sustained investment in preservation and stabilization. We need to sustain the 25-27 funding as it is. We need resources to rehabilitate buildings, protect affordability as restrictions expire, and to intervene when properties face financial distress. Importantly, a property can have decades left on its affordability restrictions and still struggle with failing systems or operating expenses that exceed revenues. Restrictions alone don't keep a building viable. We need the flexibility to address problems before they become crises. Second, we need continued LIHTC support for LIHTC rental housing and homeownership. Affordable developments depend on layers of local, state, federal, and private financing. Predictable state investment helps us close gaps, Keep projects moving and sustain a development pipeline. Homeownership investment also creates opportunities for households that are priced out of the market. Third, housing-related infrastructure funding. We have streets, water, sewer, and other improvements. These things can determine whether a site is ready to build, and those costs can be more than an individual affordable project can absorb. If these investments decline, repairs get deferred, distressed buildings become harder to stabilize, new production has to replace it before we make progress. Excuse me. And new— sorry, new projects get delayed, can be delayed, scaled back, or lost. And those pressures compound. When providers struggle to sustain existing buildings, they may also have less capacity to build more. And when we lose an affordable home, new production has to replace it before we make progress. For our homelessness response, this means fewer homes available for people exiting shelter and greater risk of displacement for people already housed. So what are we doing locally? Our unified housing strategy is bringing City Council and the mayor's administration together around shared priorities for production, preservation, innovation, and funding. With clearer goals and accountability. The Keep Portland Housed ordinance puts resources behind that strategy. The $55.9 million supplemental budget is supporting rent assistance, portfolio stabilization, including rent and debt buydowns, safety and security improvements, and repairs to significantly damaged units so they can be leased. It's all—. It also supports a revolving loan pilot connected to our social housing work. Thank you. Our social housing study examines cooperative and community ownership, tenant stability, financing, and strategic acquisition. Next, we'll test financing and acquisition approaches against actual properties and identify the staffing, partners, and resources needed to move viable options forward. And then the Mayor's Housing Strike Team, that brings providers, property managers, and city bureaus together to address vacancies, a vacant apartment becomes a real housing opportunity only when the unit is ready, the rent works for the household, and the household can navigate the move-in process. We're addressing those barriers alongside property safety, security, and resident experience, including the development of safety and security training. We're also evaluating landlord-tenant policies, inclusionary housing, and development incentives, and looking at pertinent policies and programs to support the development of affordable housing. Thank you. Permitting improvements so our rules and processes better support stability and production. So our message to Salem is about sustained partnership. We cannot build our way out while losing the homes we've already created, and we cannot preserve our way out without creating more. We need to do both and ensure those homes remain safe, stable, and occupied. Thank you.
[00:22:51] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Director Light. I'm going to call on councilors in this order: Councilor Avalos, Commissioner Singleton, Councilor Koyama Lane, and Councilor Novick. Councilor Avalos kicks off.
[00:23:01] Candace Avalos: All right, thank you. Thank you so much, Director Light, for all of your work over this year. So as the Housing and Permitting Chair, the biggest body of work that I've been leading has been the Unified Housing Strategy. Thank you for giving a preface to that. So the purpose of UHS is pretty simple. Portland has a lot of housing problems, as we know, and policies and funding tools and partners, but they haven't all operated thank you. And so we're trying to take that step back, understand the full housing continuum, identify where the gaps still are, and help us as a council make clearer choices about where public investment can have the greatest impact. So that means, uh, looking at everything from homelessness prevention and deeply affordable housing, as we all know, to also workforce and middle-income housing, homeownership preservation, and market-rate production. They all are a part of this. It also means that we need to ask if we have enough tools for Portlanders who fall in between these existing categories. That's something that we're hearing in the listening sessions as well. One of the gaps that has become especially important to me is permanently affordable housing outside of our traditional inclusionary housing and affordable housing models. So that is where the social housing study and our UHS work begin to connect. And when I talk about social housing, I'm not talking about replacing the affordable housing system that we already have. We already have really strong nonprofit developers and community land trusts, affordable housing partners that are doing the work. I'm talking about adding tools that allow us to grow a larger non-market housing sector So that can include things like strategic acquisition of land and existing buildings, cooperative and community ownership, limited profit or cost-based housing, shared equity models, and financing structures where public investment can be recycled and reinvested into future housing. The goal is to create housing where affordability lasts, where people are not punished for earning more money, and where the value created through public investment actually stays within the public in our housing system. And so that is why the partnership with the state matters so much. What we need is sustained resources to preserve the affordable housing that we have already invested in. We need the state to continue investing in affordable rental housing and homeownership production. We need infrastructure investment that can unlock development, and we need enough stability and flexibility in those resources to begin testing new models and filling gaps in the housing continuum. The UHS process is helping us identify those choices now, and we have been working with practitioners and housing experts, and we just finished our last thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank everyone who participated in the last community event. Great, great work from the entire SEDSA department to really put on those events and hear directly from Portlanders about what housing stability means to them and where they think the city should put their focus. So ultimately, my goal is that when this strategy comes back to council, it's not just a list of things that we all agree are good. It should give us a real roadmap for how we produce more housing, protect what we already have, and grow permanently affordable non-market housing and make the hard choices now thank you, Council President.
[00:26:10] Shannon Singleton: Thank you, Director. I've just been hearing nothing but praise for you and your work and your team, and just want to appreciate out loud your, your true authentic partnership with us on our eviction prevention work. I've heard just lots of praise from DCHS, so thank you.
[00:26:24] Quisha Light: Great, thank you.
[00:26:26] Shannon Singleton: You know, I'm really excited about the unified housing strategy, social housing, and I'm worried about what we do in the meantime. With a 2-year pipeline of just 720 apartments that are affordable for folks at the lowest income, I'm curious what, if anything, might be on your radar on how we increase production there. I know there's the idea of also potentially buying down rents at the 60% AMI. Thank you, Mayor Wilson. I'm curious, kind of updates from the data of the housing strike team, and are we actually seeing decreases in vacancy? What are our opportunities to activate some of those properties? I'm just very concerned. We have some goals, and the goals I think are set on what our budgets have been, but we had to take away a key performance indicator around housing production. And I just want to be really honest, the market has never solved for 0 to 30, right? We know that that's an ongoing challenge. LIHTC seems to be increasingly challenging to actually make a project fungible in the long term. So sorry, I know these are really big questions, but I'm just curious on your thoughts and how we can start to think about how we can work cross-jurisdictionally to address that lowest-income affordable need that we actually have.
[00:27:40] Quisha Light: Well, thank you for that question. And I think you first— the first thing you said, I think, is really important, right? It has to continue to be cross-jurisdictional, right? We have to continue all be coming to the table to solve these problems because we are not— they're too big to do alone. I think the other thing that we have learned, and it's one of the reasons why I really appreciate the strike team work that we're doing, it's given us an opportunity to see what it's really like to run these buildings, right? We keep wanting to build more and build more, but we're not understanding the challenges that the affordable housing providers are facing. And now we're digging in and we're understanding what it's taking for them to operate these buildings and the challenges that they, you know, it sounds great when we say we want to have all people, regardless of their circumstance or situation, in the same building, but there are challenges that come with that. And I think that knowledge we need to take into the next phase of how we do production. We can't just keep— we, you know, we can't just go and produce the units. I think we have some opportunities with a lot of one-bedrooms to potentially bring in, you know, to help with some of that, because a lot of the vacancies we are seeing, we see that an opportunity to, particularly for some of our seniors, to bring— get them into some of those one-bedroom units where we're— to get some of that vacancy down. I think the other thing, when you look at production, I go back to the social housing study, that opportunity for the city and the county to do that, to do the land banking, to actually make it affordable from the very beginning, to say, look, this isn't about profit, this isn't about us trying to compete with market. This is already, from the foundation, it's non-market. We are going to ensure that this is deeply affordable. And we just need to know that that's what we're doing. And we haven't necessarily— that hasn't been the plan. And we're restructuring that now. We're really coming into it, I think, with a much more intentional approach. One of the things that— I mean, all of this great— and all of this is great for us to talk about it because right now we don't even have the funding to even get there. And so we need funding to even start doing— to build more. Right. But I'm glad that we actually have this time before we have the money, because through the UHS work, through the housing strike team work, we're learning. We're—. All the mistakes, what we did well, what we need, and what we're learning from. And so that we can actually use that money to build and do it the right way. Um, so I don't have a set plan of how we're going to get more units to you. It is all across the Community Economic Development Service area. Thank you. We're all coming together from BPS to permitting, all of us trying to figure out how do we keep growing and making sure the system is set up so when we do have the funding, we build, we build faster, we build better, and we take care of people and we take care of the housing better because we're having to go and spend a lot of money now to preserve because we had— we've had to learn some hard lessons. Yeah.
[00:30:56] Shannon Singleton: Thank you. I really appreciate that. And I would say let's continue to partner because We have to be hyper-focused at 0 to 30, maybe up to 40. Our homeless families are not making 60%. That's why there's vacancies, right? We can't get them in those apartments. And so I think as much as we can help use the income data we have in homeless services to help inform production, the better we'll be able to align the housing to the homelessness to housing continuum. So thank you.
[00:31:23] Quisha Light: Thank you.
[00:31:24] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Commissioner Singleton. Councilor Koyama Lane.
[00:31:28] Tiffany Koyama Lane: Thank you. Thank you so much for being here, for everything you shared, and I echo that I continue to hear so much about your amazing leadership, Director. Thank you. This— in this conversation, there's a particularly really important connection to— from housing stability, you know, being so connected to homelessness prevention, and our responsibility— Our responsibility doesn't end when affordable housing is built. Our responsibility extends beyond and also includes helping people, you know, access housing, making sure they can remain safely and successfully housed, and making sure that also these units, these homes, remain safe and taken care of, occupied, and are financially sustainable. And I think having your leadership and support in this broader conversation around how is the city and county better coming together, coordinating resources and services to support residents, providers, affordable housing communities? I think that is really important. There's clearly more work to do around areas like occupancy rates and longer-term solutions to challenges that many of our affordable housing providers are facing. And I'm wondering if— I'm wondering if you can speak a bit to what is affecting occupancy rates around affordable housing. What are some real ideas and solutions that we are focusing on or we can be focusing on locally? What can we be asking from the state? And I think it also goes without saying is, you know, what are some ideas and solutions that aren't just evicting people, you know, and people ending up in homelessness or back in homelessness? Would love to hear some of your thoughts about what we can be doing around occupancy and, and making sure that, that those rates are, are going down, or the vacancy rates are going down and the occupancy rates are going up.
[00:33:30] Quisha Light: Yeah, well, this has been the heart of the work we've been doing with, uh, with the housing strike team. I mean, going from building to building, we've been visiting, and, um, I, I will say safety and security, I mean, it's a big one. And if residents don't feel secure in their homes, they leave. If they can leave, if they can afford to leave. And that is something that we're, we're giving dollars to, to help these properties be able to beef up their security. And we weren't giving those dollars in that way, you know, until recent— what, the last couple of years where we've actually been dedicating dollars for safety and security. We are— one of the other things that we hear, it just goes back to what Commissioner Singleton said. I mean, people can't afford to stay in the apartments. The rent is too high. And we have providers that are lowering rents and doing everything they can to offer concessions so that we can bring those vacancies down and help people stay housed. But the rent is too high. Um, we're hearing that, you know, they can't— some of the vacancy issues are because you had someone in the unit and they destroyed it, and it's going to cost that provider $20,000 to fix a unit to even get it back online. They can't. And you think, well, just pay the $20,000 and get it back online. Well, they don't have that much money when it's yes. It's 3 or 4 units that require that $20,000. They don't have enough. And if there's just one unit, they were also— one of the things that we've heard is just even finding vendors that will do this work for them is a challenge because they don't have faith that the vendor doesn't have faith that they're going to get paid. So I think there's some workforce opportunities here that we can actually help them. One of the things that we've been talking to them about is how we bring their resources together. And so we, when we heard about the unit turn problem, We put dollars on the table so that they could do the unit turns. So our recent notice of funding availability is allowing them to get up to $100,000 to help them with unit turns. Right? That is something that's significant because now they can go to a contractor and say, I have $100,000. Can you please come and fix these units? They didn't have that before. So those are just some of the things that we're doing to get that vacancy down and to address and get occupancy up. It is, but there are a lot of issues that are feeding into why those units are vacant. And then I want to say this too. Some of the units, they may be vacant as far as they're not physically vacant, they're economically vacant. So people are sitting in the units and not paying. So, you know, and we count that differently. So there are a lot of issues that feed into this.
[00:36:34] Tiffany Koyama Lane: Thank you. Have there been conversations around how the state can be supportive around this occupancy issue?
[00:36:43] Quisha Light: We've had some conversations, and I think some of this gets into the preservation dollars that we need. There is also conversation around, you know, specific funding that can help seniors and others specifically to get them housed and into some of these units.
[00:37:03] Anthony Jordan: Yes.
[00:37:04] Jillian Schoene: And also, if I may just layer in here, the other thing— the, the county sits around this table with Director Light as well, and one of the projects that is, uh, launching next month is the Home Forward Eviction Prevention In-Reach Program. That was an amendment by Commissioner Singel to actually go to families with a case manager, 2 case managers, and figure out what they need to stay housed and be successful, whether that's rent assistance or connection to services. So we're trying that out in Home Forward properties specifically, and we're going to start with 3.
[00:37:39] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Koyama Lane. Councilor Novick, finish us off for this section. Thank you, Mr. President.
[00:37:44] Steve Novick: Director Light, I really appreciate your focus on understanding the challenges that affordable housing providers face. Um, I've got a question about what if the legislature asks us about priorities? If our—. If Stacy and Sam and their folks are down in the legislature and they say, you know what, we've got this deficit, we know you want to continue investment in both preserving existing housing and adding more housing, but we're not going to do both, both of them at the same level, so you choose which would you prioritize.
[00:38:11] Quisha Light: What answer would you suggest that Stacy and Sam give to that question? So I just want to start quickly with— We were having this conversation at the— with the community in the UHS, and one of the community members said, why do you have this in this trade-off section? Why do you— why does it have to be an either/or? Because you know we need both. So why are you telling us we have to choose? And we said, because we're going to be forced to make a choice. But they were insistent that it needs to be both. But I will say this, if we have to prioritize, let's prioritize keeping people housed stably. Let's prioritize preserving what we have and keeping people housed stably. The reality is— and then if I can go to— and then if you get to go down from there, yes, we want to produce more. And you can prioritize even the producing more by leveraging other resources. Thank you. And, you know, so if there are other resources there that can be leveraged, then let's prioritize that, um, too.
[00:39:21] Sameer Kanal: I really appreciate that answer.
[00:39:22] Anthony Jordan: Thank you.
[00:39:23] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Novick. Thank you, Director Light. We're going to move to our next section focused on prevention, shelter, and housing placement. I'd like to introduce, uh, Nathaniel Virgau— Virgau?
[00:39:35] Jillian Schoene: Virgau.
[00:39:35] Jeston Black: Virgau.
[00:39:36] Jamie Dunphy: Apologies, sir. Uh, Director of the Homeless Services Department, who will take about 5 minutes to walk us through what the city and the county need from Salem on prevention, shelter, and housing placement, and what that support would mean to us locally. Take it away.
[00:39:49] Nathaniel VerGow: Good afternoon, Council President, Council members, commissioners. Deeply appreciate the opportunity to share with you all. This is an exceptionally important source of funding for our system and one that would be extremely detrimental for us to lose. So on the— on your screens, you've got the 3 primary sources of thank you, Mayor.
[00:40:14] Tiffany Koyama Lane: Thank you, Deputy City Administrator Millicent Williams.
[00:40:14] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Thank you, Mayor.
[00:40:14] Nathaniel VerGow: So I'll start with the first point, the existing state funding streams. These are the existing state funding streams that we receive for prevention, shelter, and rehousing that will expire in the next biennium if the state does not take action. They represent financial investments that are key to the analysis that the HRS team includes in setting its goals. So we will not likely achieve those goals if we do not have this funding next fiscal year. In addition, I don't expect that local budgets would be able to make up for this gap. So I want to share that in getting this message out, we are organizing a tour with our state legislators to understand what the investments and the importance of the impacts that those investments have. So in November, we will be touring a number of legislators around the county, focusing on shelters that they're funding and also working with them to understand the impacts of prevention and the long-term rental assistance and rapid rehousing programs that their investments allow us to do. In the end— pardon. So I'll end by reminding us all to keep a focus on all 3 program areas. I've heard a lot of focus on ensuring continued funding for shelter, which I absolutely agree with. And we need to ensure that we also push for the long-term rental assistance and thank you very much, Director.
[00:41:54] Jamie Dunphy: I'm going to call— just as a note, colleagues, if there are questions, we have folks from Portland Solutions here available to answer questions as well. I'm going to call on Deputy City Administrator Donnie Oliveira. Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner Jones-Dixon, followed by Councilor Ryan, followed by Commissioner Brim-Edwards, followed by Councilor Morillo. So, Commissioner.
[00:42:11] Vince Jones-Dixon: Great, thank you. Thank you, President. Thank you, Director, for being here this, um, this morning. As most of you know, I'm the only commissioner that has 3 other cities outside of Portland, so I'm just going to approach my— or just share with you just my concerns based off of that. I know we've been talking about just the system out in East County specifically and what's worked out there. It's been employment services and then direct services and residential services. It sounds like we're already— we started that process through under your leadership as far as the conversations. I have nothing to recommend at this point as it pertains to the state because that's been a priority as far as the county is concerned. So I don't have a question. I just wanted to put that on record. And again, just thank you for your efforts and the work that you've been doing as far as gathering the East County leaders and developing a program or a response that actually works for the district.
[00:42:56] Sameer Kanal: Thank you.
[00:42:57] Nathaniel VerGow: I appreciate that recognition. Thank you.
[00:43:00] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Commissioner. Councilor Ryan.
[00:43:01] Dan Ryan: Council President, hello Nathaniel, nice to meet you. Hello Jillian, good to see you. My questions will frame dialogue around the intersection of shelters and housing placement with behavioral health and workforce. To the opening comments, it's in the building of these intersections where local government struggled and frankly failed to build that system. So I'm looking for what that plan will be that will give us the results that our city and county deserve. The majority of those who are currently homeless are men between the ages of 25 and 44—or 54, sorry—who are experiencing untreated behavioral health, namely untreated for their addiction and mental health challenges. This demographic will benefit greatly from workforce opportunities as well. With that core audience in mind, how are we building a better system? And I'm struggling to find that in this and how we're prioritizing our work. I want us to think about how we create a more coordinated pathway. I'd like our partners in Salem to see the importance of a full continuum of care. To witness someone enter the shelter system who needs mental health or substance abuse treatment, then when they accept the services and take steps towards treatment, we need to make sure that they're placed in a safe, stable place to live while they're working towards recovery. When I listen to recovering addicts who are now in stable housing and workforce, they all say the same thing. Why are those doing this work not talking to us? We need transitional housing for those in recovery, which would, which would be the most to, to, which would do the most for those who are on the streets. When someone's in recovery, is moved into housing with residents who are using, or selling drugs in a unit down the hall, those conditions promote a relapse. So my questions to that end is, how can the city, county, and state create meaningful incentives that recognize and reward individuals who are actively taking steps towards stability, whether they're participating in behavioral health treatment, maintaining sobriety, engaging in case management, engaging in workforce, demonstrating positive behavior within this is behavior change work. Where's the rewards program for those who are improving their behavior?
[00:45:21] Nathaniel VerGow: There's a lot there. So let me, let me just start by saying, to give you some updates in terms of the work that we are already doing to do this cross-sector coordination and collaboration, because I wholeheartedly agree with you, that is where that's where local governments struggle and where we collectively have struggled, but we are making improvements. So over the last couple years, we've been working with Health Share Oregon. We have a data sharing agreement with them, so we're able to see within our homeless management information systems database the folks that we're serving through the homelessness system. We're able to see how they show up in the health data as well. So we're looking at specifically—. Thank you. What the outcomes are relative to their utilization and specific types of utilization within the healthcare system so that we can be designing programs specifically to be able to address those. And that includes substance use, mental health, as well as physical health challenges. So we are actively building the framework and the base that we will need to be able to expand programs and design appropriate programs. We've done some testing already. We're going to think about talking— talk about it later. But I'll just mention that there was a pilot that was done with the behavioral health system to work on getting folks who are coming out of psychiatric hospitalizations to make sure that they can stabilize in behavioral health shelter beds where they're getting the support they need from the behavioral health system and the shelter that they need to be able to receive and, uh, and take advantage of that care, uh, and that, that, um, uh, those services. Additionally, this year the county has, uh, invested money in, um, utilizing recovery housing, uh, so that there are specific opportunities to be able to provide shelter for folks exiting substance use treatment programs. Um, so that is, uh, it's a one-time-only funding this year, but it is really a test to see how that can So that we can explore that in future budget years. And then additionally, we are working with potential philanthropic funding to be able to expand access for substance use treatment, specifically for folks with stimulant use disorder, which is exceptionally prevalent here in Multnomah County. And we've seen in the data sharing with Health Share is a contributing factor to folks having challenges in retaining their places in shelter and permanent housing. So we're working to be able to develop a test pilot to be able to have treatment options specifically for those folks that we can use to stabilize them across our system. So the work is happening. It is not advanced— as advanced as I would like it to be and clearly is as you all would like it to be, but it is happening. So there's, there are foundations that we need to build on.
[00:48:28] Jillian Schoene: And I'll talk more about all of that in the behavioral health section, Councilor.
[00:48:31] Dan Ryan: Pardon me?
[00:48:32] Jillian Schoene: I'll talk more about some of the stuff that Nathaniel just mentioned in the behavioral health section.
[00:48:37] Dan Ryan: I realized I did a hybrid between this section and the next one because I was controlled to be in this one, but I wanted to be in the other one. That was a deserved laugh. I just want to apologize. This is becoming a priority. That's my point. And it— in my 6 years, it's obviously been a frustration that it hasn't been. You don't hear anyone in Salem say Multnomah County, Portland, Oregon is coming to us with this type of focus for transitional housing and to reward those that are improving their behavior, and then they can become part of the workforce. And then they can become independent. And so when we listened to a recovering addict come to the dais 2 weeks ago, she said, why isn't anyone talking to us? Like, we're the— we're somehow— we beat the odds. It's kind of like in education, we want to talk to the kids that somehow beat the odds to be ready to go on to college in spite of all their challenges. And those are the ones that you get the wisdom from. I think we continue to fail to really listen to that focus group and then promote them into a better life and then become a part of the workforce. They'll be great doing outreach work. God knows we need more outreach work. So anyway, just wanted to make sure that I could use my 2 minutes or more to really promote this idea.
[00:49:53] Vince Jones-Dixon: I would— can I jump in real quick? I would argue— I would say that we as Ward County, we are— we have recognized that that is a gap, and that's one of the reasons why we're saying that we need residential services for property for apartment complexes, especially affordable housing complexes, you have property managers that are acting as or trying to be resident— try to provide residential services and wraparound services, and that's not their job. And then you have like there's a Father's Heart in Clackamas County. Their retention rate is— I think their retention rate is like 90% because they have wraparound services and property managers are in their lane. So we just— we're building off that system now. That's why I'm extremely appreciative of the conversation. And the groups that are focusing on that, and we're focused on that at the county.
[00:50:33] Dan Ryan: Thank you, Commissioner Dixon, and thanks for lifting some best practices that aren't too far away from us. Yeah, appreciate it.
[00:50:38] Vince Jones-Dixon: Building America's favorite county.
[00:50:41] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, councilors— our councilor. Thank you, Commissioner, for jumping in on that. Commissioner, uh, Brim-Edwards.
[00:50:47] Julia Brim-Edwards: Well, since, uh, Councilor Ryan went out of his section, I'm gonna do the same thing. Um, and, um, I'm doing this because thank you. There was the first section we skipped over, which was the goals. But since this body— we haven't had a meeting of this body since those were adopted. The presentation outlined the goals to reduce overall homelessness by 10%, reduce unsheltered homelessness by 8%, and move approximately 12,350 people into permanent housing over the next 2 years. So Nathaniel, this is sort of an operational question for you. What are you doing or going to do to ensure that the goal is embedded at the contract level since so many of our services are offered or provided by contractors? And how are you going to ensure that contract managers keep a close eye on the use of these funds to ensure that we meet the goals?
[00:51:46] Nathaniel VerGow: I appreciate that question. So the specific goal of reducing by 10% in 2 years is not itself in the goals because that is the higher benchmark. Within all of our contracts, however, there are metrics specific to each program that contribute to our overall achievement of that 10%. So in the— you'll recall in the budget process, we were explicit in bringing to you information about how decisions that you would make around funding programs within my department would have an impact on our ability to achieve a goal like this or not. So our funding was designed specifically to be able to help us achieve this goal. We've ensured that within the contracts there are specific key performance indicators, outcomes, and outputs that we're expecting from our providers that are embedded in their contracts. We have— this year we've set up communities of practice yes. We have a biweekly process where our staff are meeting with program staff on a biweekly basis to review their progress towards those key performance indicators, to be looking at data together to see where there may be struggles, where one agency may be doing really well and can share that with other agencies that may be struggling, but to be able to identify where there are challenges and address them through training and technical assistance or looking at other resources that may need to be brought So we're doing that work on a regular basis with the providers. We also have dashboards that are available to our providers so that they can see their own data about how they are performing relative to their contracts. And my data team is just about to launch a new data dashboard specifically for shelter providers to be able to track, in addition to their progress on key performance indicators, metrics around utilization of beds and other factors that are specific to shelter that may not apply to some of the other programs. So we're continually working to improve how we work with our providers and that we are using data to do so.
[00:53:54] Julia Brim-Edwards: Yeah, and so it's understandable that you wouldn't have embedded in an individual contract the 10%, but if you took the collective body of contracts, you feel confident that if I have confidence that we would be able to do the placement and retention that would be necessary to reach the goal based on those metrics.
[00:54:27] Nathaniel VerGow: The reaching of those metrics are also dependent on a lot of external factors that are going to impact the entire community. I think that's a fair statement. The HR1 and the impact on Medicaid, just the affordability of everyday life that is crushing low-income households and their ability to retain their housing puts at risk our ability to achieve those goals because— and those are factors that we can't control. The pieces that we can control, I do think we have within our contracts the mechanisms that we need to be able to do our piece to achieve that 10%.
[00:54:58] Eric Zimmerman: Thank you.
[00:55:01] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Commissioner.
[00:55:02] Julia Brim-Edwards: Thank you.
[00:55:03] Nathaniel VerGow: Thank you.
[00:55:03] Jamie Dunphy: Councilor Morillo.
[00:55:05] Angelita Morillo: Thank you. Thank you so much for being here, and I will stick to my topic area because as a Virgo moon, it's making me anxious how everyone's going off topic area. So thanks for being here today. I'm not going to catch you off guard. I think, you know, something we've been thinking a lot about with this upcoming legislative session is the different buckets of funding that we are going to be asking the state legislature to fulfill for our local communities. And that usually has to do with prevention, you know, keeping people housed in the first place, placing people either into shelter or into long-term housing. And of course, as Councilor Ryan brought up as well, behavioral health. And I am sort of wondering what it means for us locally, if you know of any specific programs that are going to be jeopardized if we don't get funding for these specific areas, or if you know, like, what are the vulnerable spots that we should be considering?
[00:56:03] Nathaniel VerGow: So for each of these specific interventions, for the prevention, the funding this year is slated to keep housed 420 households. So that's 420 households that would end up on the doorsteps of our shelter system and in need for rehousing. So we would be looking at shelter beds that are in excess of essentially $30,000 per year. So for the, you know, $5,000 to $10,000 that we can use to prevent a family from experiencing homelessness, we would be looking at paying upwards of $30,000 for a shelter for them plus the cost of rehousing them. Tremendous ROI in terms of the prevention dollars. On the flip side, our— let me see if I— our shelter funding provides 526 shelter beds across the city and the county. So that is at risk there. And then across our permanent housing initiatives, the rapid rehousing and the long-term rental It's well over 200 households. The long-term rental assistance alone is 170 households that receives funding for long-term assistance. That's essentially permanent supportive housing. And this is funding that we've received from the state over multiple bienniums. And so we would have 170 households that would either be on the doors of our prevention system or shortly thereafter asking for shelter assistance and rehousing.
[00:57:38] Angelita Morillo: Thank you. Yeah, and if, if I recall correctly from the last presentation that we had jointly, it's around 400 people that are becoming unhoused every month that are not being, you know, funneled back into the shelter or housing system. Is that correct, Jillian?
[00:57:54] Jillian Schoene: Yeah, you're probably recalling the difference between inflow and outflow. We have on average about 400 more people coming into our system than we are able to help. Yeah. And then we are able to rehouse. So it's a net gain of that every month.
[00:58:10] Angelita Morillo: So that 400 prevention number is huge considering how many people are becoming unhoused. Thanks for adding that clarification. And I think obviously the legislature, the state legislature is facing the same difficult funding questions that we are. But I know at least in my office, our constituent liaison just yesterday was telling me that she exhausted literally every possible service to get a family to try to find a deposit for them because they're staying on vouchers in motels. But, and they have a job, they have everything else they need to become housed, but they literally don't have enough money to save up for the deposit. And all of these types of things, we keep hitting the wall as far as those services go. And so I guess my question to you is, given— I think you said it a little bit, but how would you prioritize those difficult buckets? Yeah, I think that's a great question.
[00:59:06] Nathaniel VerGow: Yeah, so I mean, I've been doing this work for over 30 years, and we have to focus on retention. So the rapid rehousing dollars, the long-term rental assistance, and prevention reduce our overall costs in the long run. So by keeping people housed, we are essentially saving money that we could be using elsewhere. Shelter is a day-to-day life-saving intervention, however. So I don't want to dismiss the importance of shelter, but if forced to prioritize between the two, I would prioritize keeping people housed.
[00:59:45] Angelita Morillo: Thank you for that honest, and it's not an easy question for any of us to answer, but during a time where all of our governments are having to make those difficult decisions, it's important to hear, I think. And the last question I have is around— You know, we're hearing from the state legislature that some folks don't necessarily want to continue funding shelter operations or rent assistance. How— and we're seeing the impacts of that. And I think that we're also getting pressured to do sort of what I would recall— what I would call the cleaning up after the mess is created of let's do sweeps because we haven't had adequate shelters or we haven't had adequate housing stabilization efforts. And so how can we help the legislature understand the importance of our shelter and rent assistance funding and that that's something that we desperately need at the local level? What's been effective in convincing them that this is the right step to take?
[01:00:42] Nathaniel VerGow: I think the key is helping them understand the implications that it's— again, we'd be looking at, you know, 600-plus households that would be experiencing homelessness immediately or relatively immediately if not for this assistance. That is already, that's a, you know, a month plus of inflow that we're experiencing now above what we can rehouse while also cutting our capacity to rehouse. So I think it's, I use an analogy and folks that know me are probably getting sick of this analogy, but the homelessness system is— I envision us as a canoe at the bottom of a waterfall, and the amount of funding that any funder gives us is the tool that we have to bail our canoe so it doesn't go under. Hmm. The water flowing over the falls is everything from failures from our healthcare system, our criminal justice system, our education systems, all of those other systems of care that have not been able to help our poorest and most vulnerable citizens remain in housing. That is the flow over the falls and what we are given in the homelessness response system in funding. It's either a Dixie cup or a bucket, but we are constantly bailing to try to keep us afloat. So it is work that needs to happen both at— within the boat. We have to have a big enough implement to be able to bail. And we have to be doing investments upstream to fix the broken systems that are causing people to experience dire poverty and the loss of housing.
[01:02:25] Jillian Schoene: And I just want to layer onto that, that especially when it comes to our Salem audience, we have to show the value of investments, that they actually work. So that will be what we do with the tour. That is what my team does when we meet with the governors office and hopefully many others to come in collaboration with government relations over some of the data work that we now have, that data we've never had access to that just gives us a much better window in who we're serving. So we are trying our best to make sure they understand what they're funding and the value of that funding.
[01:03:01] Angelita Morillo: Well, and I think rent assistance too is sort of that like invisible labor work where because it prevents something bad from happening, people don't see it. So I appreciate you answering that. And I know we're getting close on time, but I think the last thing I'll say, and maybe you can answer quickly, is my understanding is that the vast majority of unhoused people who have behavioral health or addiction issues, those— they either become addicted on the streets as they are trying to survive, or the mental health crises that they have increase based on the conditions that they have. It's not necessarily—.
[01:03:36] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Right.
[01:03:37] Nathaniel VerGow: And certainly for those who may have been experiencing challenges with substance use or mental health, those are dramatically exacerbated by the experience of homelessness.
[01:03:48] Angelita Morillo: Gotcha. Thank you so much.
[01:03:50] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Morillo. And colleagues, our final topic is around the area of behavioral health. Everyone was excited to jump ahead of there.
[01:03:57] Dan Ryan: I appreciate it.
[01:03:58] Jamie Dunphy: This area of focus touches on every conversation we've had so far and really highlights and the importance of addressing the also needs of our residents. Ultimately every conversation we've had in my 2 years of office. Um, Rachel Banks, Director of Multnomah County Health Department, is going to be here. Oh no, hey, oh, hello Anthony.
[01:04:14] Jillian Schoene: Director Banks is ill, so—.
[01:04:17] Sam Chase: Good.
[01:04:17] Jamie Dunphy: Well, excellent. Well, I'm going to turn it over to you all, uh, for a presentation on our homelessness response system and the behavioral health interventions. So take it away.
[01:04:27] Anthony Jordan: Hey, thank you. My name is Anthony Jordan. I use he/him. I'm the interim behavioral health director for Multnomah County. Thank you for having me. The health department and the housing— thank you. The health department and the housing service departments are working together on ways to effectively address our community members with the highest health and housing needs and break the cycle of homelessness for those who have substance use or mental health disorders. Through increased access and referrals, our mental health residential treatment bed capacity has increased. However, the Oregon Health Authority policies prioritize the aid and assist population to ease Oregon State Hospital legal backlog. This restricts access to those in inpatient units at local hospitals. Policies and funding must be developed to build residential capacity for non-justice-involved patients. The county has— the county also continues to build multiple front-door services to address individuals that are unhoused with behavioral health issues. I will briefly describe 3 of these front-door programs. One, our crisis service team program focuses on services that meet individuals where they are when crisis happens. For example, Project Respond supports unhoused individuals for those in low-income housing providing follow-up support and linkage to housing resources. Our Behavioral Health Division offers deflection and sobering services at the Coordinated Pathways Center. Well over 90% of those individuals referred to deflections are houseless. Everyone who enters the program are screened for housing needs, ensuring that individuals experiencing homelessness have those specific supports. Staff also check to see what engagement with housing services each individual may already have in place. If a housing need is identified, a referral is made to shelters and appropriate housing. Our care coordinators can continue to work with individuals at any time during their participation in the deflection program, even if they did not choose to immediately opt into shelter or housing. Thank you. The SOBER program follows a similar process during discharge planning. The program can refer to a broad array of housing-related services, including Housing Services Department supported shelters. Referrals are made to, to low-barrier transitional housing, recovery supportive housing, and even permanent supportive housing. And then our third, the Behavioral Health Resource Center is a the BHRC, as it's called, day program and outreach staff provides support and service linkage, including regularly assessing individuals and moving into shelters, detox, or substance use treatment. The 52-bed shelter and bridge housing program has integrated behavioral health supports that allows for the program to work with a higher acute— with higher acute individuals. Thank you. Including those referred by Aid and Assist, crisis services, or interacting with first responders. It also supports individuals who have not successfully been successful in traditional shelter environments. Now I'll turn it over to Jillian, who's going to speak to a number of projects that are underway that demonstrate we can take action locally to make a difference.
[01:08:00] Jillian Schoene: Thank you, Anthony. So for this final part, I'm simply going to list and briefly describe some of the current projects thank you. I'd like to share a few highlights from the work that we've done over the last year on a variety of projects tied to the Homelessness Response Action Plan that speak to the collective efforts to better integrate the healthcare system with the housing and shelter systems. First, know that all of this work is a clear demonstration of our willingness to try new things, and if we fail, or as we learn, we pivot as needed and try again. That's precisely what the public expects of us given the complex health issues of many served in homeless services. It also demonstrates our commitment to data-driven data-driven decisions, continuous quality improvement, and because new resources for new things are few to none, a commitment to tripling down on administrative coordination across systems. That is just a wonky way of saying that the health system and the shelter and housing systems must reorient themselves to talking and working together each and every day. Cost savings and efficiency, yes, but it's first and foremost about how we are wrapping ourselves collectively around the individual to put them on a path toward greater stability. Thank you. So here are just several projects I will attempt to highlight in brief. Medical respite bed capacity and payment. We need more. And this is a regional cross-sector workgroup problem-solving about how to increase the availability of medical respite beds in our region, and yes, how to sustainably pay for them through Medicaid. Psych hospital-to-housing pilot. The goal of this pilot is to carry forward the stabilization people gain when they are in an inpatient psychiatric facility, and for now continuing that stabilization in the county's behavioral health shelter, a different one than Anthony mentioned. Teams work to reconnect people to outpatient behavioral health and help them find the permanent supportive housing or residential treatment options that best meet their ongoing needs. The pilot will likely conclude in November, and then there will be an evaluation to see what we learn and what we're— how we're going to move forward. The third item that I would highlight is long-term care for people with severe mental illness. 1915 and are entitled Medicaid benefits for home and community-based services to people who need assistance with activities of daily living. For people with mental health-related disabilities, enrollment is challenging at best. County staff are making a concerted effort to get eligible individuals approved by the state. County staff from Homeless Services, Behavioral Health, and the Homeless Mobile Intake Team, which is housed in the Human Services Department at Multnomah County, are all working together and participating in a workgroup with the state of Oregon to expand enrollment. That work is ongoing, and we believe the county will be able to enroll people successfully come the end of this fiscal year. 4, Recovery Housing Pathways. It's been mentioned during the fiscal year '27 budget process, an amendment passed to show of $2 million in shelter rehousing monies to support placements into recovery housing. Program design is complete, and we expect county staff to be able to start making placements in the coming weeks so they can continue their recovery journey. And finally, the permanent supportive housing analysis. Nathaniel mentioned that in brief. We have completed a 2-year look back at permanent supportive housing using matched HMIS and Medicaid claims data. Thank you. Specifically, we looked at folks in the high acuity behavioral health cohort. While there is good news in that data, such as the 24-month retention rate being anywhere between 82% and 92%, and outpatient mental healthcare utilization increasing by 75% after placement in housing, there are improvements to make. We know it. Everybody knows it. HSD is taking the lead.
[01:11:47] Julia Brim-Edwards: Thank you.
[01:11:48] Candace Avalos: Thank you.
[01:11:48] Jillian Schoene: We will proceed to meet with all the providers and go over their data together, make meaning of it, and take action from there. Finally, I just want to refer back to something I said in my opening remarks. This is in service to this— all of this is in service to the solutions that exist at the intersection of the housing system, homeless services, and behavioral health. By working together, I am hopeful, and I believe that hope is shared, to see fewer people becoming homeless in the first place decreasing the length of time people are homeless, what Councilor Morillo mentioned, and fewer folks, of course, like cycling through our local jails, our emergency departments, and unnecessarily long stays in hospital settings. So thank you, and I will hand it back to you, Council President Dunphy.
[01:12:36] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you very much. I have 4 councilors or 4 elected officials for this section. I'm not I have Councilor Pirtle-Guiney first, but I think she may not be joining us online anymore, uh, followed by Commissioner Moyer, Councilor Kanal, and Councilor Zimmerman. I'm going to hold for a second.
[01:12:52] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Thank you.
[01:12:53] Meghan Moyer: Um, so I'm just going to start by zooming back a little bit. I think there are many people at the county who would like me to be less involved in this particular policy area, but it is my passion, um, and my professional background I think one thing that is really important to understand about the depth of the challenge of addressing the intersection of homelessness and behavioral health is that Oregon does not have a functional behavioral health system. Um, and I think there's a misunderstanding about what the county's role is, what we are funded to do, and sadly what we do not receive funding to do. Multnomah County is the safety net for behavioral health, but that is largely a very crisis-related process, and we do not get funding to provide these wraparound or long-term supports, nor are we the funder or placer in hospital or residential treatment or even long-term treatment. We are largely due to state policy focused on restoring people to a minimal degree of capacity to be prosecuted. That is what the state of Oregon has told us is our job, and we don't actually have any money to do much beyond that. That doesn't mean we don't have the expertise or the passion to do more. I have—. I'm constantly in awe of the very small behavioral health department we do have and how hard they work to try to fill all of these gaps. Yeah. But that is our starting place. And so we do have to engage with our state partners and our healthcare partners because they have been given the funds to do a lot of the work that frankly is not happening. That's for a lot of reasons. But the way I would really talk about the work that's being done at the county is how do you build a system when one does not exist and how do you create flow In a system that has never been connected to each other. And so some of the things that Anthony mentioned are really about— we are creating a front door so people can access service that is not the criminal justice system. That is our current front door. That is appalling. It does not lead to good outcomes. It often makes people's crisis worse. Our criminal justice system is not equipped to provide behavioral healthcare, and it does not. Thank you. Um, so we are actively working to create front doors. It's everything from the redesign of outreach that our homeless services is doing. It is everything from the, uh, Pathway Center that people can go to and get real access to treatment through to recovery and the housing voucher. It is our mobile intake team through Department of Human Services who will meet people at hospitals, at shelters, and they will assess them for access to long-term care, which is finally happening. That is going to bring tens of millions of dollars of service to this population that they have been not able to access. It's a huge change. We are looking at how to better support permanent supported housing so people with higher needs get that wraparound care and can stay stably housed. We are building the front door. We are finally see a light at the end of the tunnel on the permanent support. Where we need to talk and come together is the access to the middle, because we have crisis and we have keeping you stable. That's, that's on the verge. It hasn't happened yet, but we really have a pathway. But we don't have get you better, and that's what residential treatment and these post-acute settings are. And it was mentioned by Jillian and Anthony that the state had made a policy that they get first dibs on all of those beds. So I am proud of the state. Yes, we have grown residential capacity. Do you want to know how much capacity Multnomah County has to put somebody in? Zero. We have zero beds that we can place somebody in if they're coming— if they are not involved in the criminal justice system. We have to change that state policy. We have to have access to helping people move from crisis, which is hospital, into real recovery. That's residential treatment. That's substance use. There is a huge overlap between mental illness and substance use disorder, particularly if you experience homelessness. We've got to get access to that. And then we got to be able to move them at their highest level of capability into a permanently supportive environment, which could be lots of things, including out of the homeless system entirely. Into, um, independence or residential care. So I, I wanted to do the big picture because that was some very good, like, very targeted things we're doing, but it does fit into an overall system that we are trying to develop with partners and why, why we're gonna come again and talk about, like, what does our region really need? Yeah. From the behavioral health system. And I, I think we have to understand that the state is a major player in behavioral health and frankly has absolutely failed for over 50 years to ever have a functioning behavioral health system. And you cannot look at District 4 or my District 1 and not see the results every day on the street. Homelessness is complicated, but in District 4, you go to Old Town and you go to downtown, you cannot we can't ignore that that is the result of a totally broken behavioral health system for decade upon decade. And so we are doing as much as we can. We are pushing every day. We are clawing at improvements here. But, um, we have to talk to our legislative representatives because I am really tired of them coming to me asking me when we're going to fix Old Town and downtown. Thank you. And I want to show them a mirror and say, you created Old Town and downtown. You did it over 50 years, and you have to be part of the solution because frankly, you took all the money away from us to do this and you gave it to OHA and CCOs. And no, and CCOs are coming to the table, but they got to also talk about money because there are levels of care that they are not providing that they are legally required to. Thank you. So like, I bring this up because I know that people here are frustrated. We absolutely are trying to rebuild this. Everything Jillian talked about, I can't tell you the number of hours people have put into this, but we can't do it alone. We've got to ask together, and we've got to get very real with the state about their failures. I don't have a question.
[01:19:48] Eric Zimmerman: We should cheer for that.
[01:19:51] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, thank you, Commissioner Moyer. Uh, and Councilor Pirtle-Guiney is joining us online.
[01:19:56] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Hi there, I'm sorry to be remote for this, but I am so glad that I'm going after Commissioner Moyer. Um, so as, um, some folks at the county know, but maybe not everybody, the city has done some significant work with providers over the last year plus to ask providers to come to the table and show us what a unified behavioral health ask of the state could look like to significantly, um, I'm gonna say advance the challenges we are having to make things noticeably better in our community around the provision of behavioral health services. And I want to be really clear that when we did this, We were very, very firm that what we wanted were proposals that we could ask the state for, for folks already providing services, and that the city does not want to open a new book of business. But we know that we can't address any of the other challenges we've been talking about today unless we have better on-the-ground services in our community. The county has been at the table. I really appreciate the partnership you all have had with us on this. Thank you. But I'd like to hear a little bit more about how homeless services and behavioral health services are working together, and specifically the connection that the county sees between your homeless services work that we partner on very closely and some of the behavioral health asks that we have. The agenda that the city is going to be moving forward— and we are yet to vote on our final agenda, but we have talked about making this a very high priority on our agenda includes the building out of psychiatric respite and subacute beds. It includes addressing the reimbursement rates so that providers of inpatient psychiatric care, that middle level there, are getting a break-even reimbursement rate, as well as a few other very specific tangible asks. So I'm wondering both whether the county is willing to jump on board with these very specific asks and also, if we are successful, probably not in year one, but over the course of a few legislative sessions in increasing funding for these services, how that might address our ability to better meet our goals around homeless services.
[01:22:22] Jillian Schoene: Thank you for the question. Let me, let me just say that all of that continues to be in progress because what y'all were presented during the city behavioral health work session and what county commissioners got one-on-one was simply what the city was proposing. The bed simulation tool tells us about the data. The data work was step one. That—. Those conversations are now in what, let's call it phase 2, because it isn't just about bed capacity. There are associated policy and financial questions to answer that also may need to be related asks to that. And that is, those conversations are happening now, and when we're ready to report out on that, we will I'm looking up here because that's where her face appears. Sorry.
[01:23:07] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you.
[01:23:11] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Thank you. Just off camera because I am juggling a few things right now.
[01:23:18] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor. And Councilor Pirtle-Guiney, uh, any further follow-up from that? Just making sure.
[01:23:27] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: I'm gonna leave it there. I, I I guess I will just say I hear you. This is step one, but we are talking in part about how we align our legislative agendas today, and I think it would be helpful for us to know what your asks will be in this space. We've been pretty clear about the direction we're going, and the more we can be aligned here, I think the more successful we will be.
[01:23:54] Jillian Schoene: Yeah, 100%. And I just, I love the alignment related to the timeline. Of each elected body developing their legislative agendas. All of that is happening with your respective government relations departments. And I believe the city goes on December 2nd and the county on December 3rd. So the timelines are connected. That alignment is there and the conversations are active. But yes to everything you said.
[01:24:24] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Pirtle-Guiney. Councilor Kanal, followed by Councilor Zimmerman.
[01:24:30] Sameer Kanal: Thanks, Council President. Always good to have everyone here, uh, together. Thanks for being here. Um, so I want to talk about the behavioral health piece that more directly relates to the city's work, and there's a portion of that that I think, um, on the back end that needs to be coordinated. I'm interested in prevention. I agree with Councilor Morillo's point that while homeless populations often have high prevalence of mental illness and other behavioral health concerns, that correlation is not causation for that houselessness, especially as we know that being houseless is detrimental to mental health. You mentioned both trying to see fewer people become homeless, and we know that both housed and unhoused people may need mental health support, and if untreated, that could cause those who are housed to become unhoused. You also mentioned having fewer folks cycling through local jails, and we have some programs like Portland Street Response where addressing the disruption to others that a person in behavioral crisis poses does not automatically link to justice system involvement. So we recently authorized Portland Street Response to shuttle clients to services, which I think was broadly supported at City Hall and around the community. One thing we hear from responders is that the ability to help move people is only as helpful as the places we have to take them. And so, you know, one of the ways we— the best ways we can reduce the burden on all of our first responders, but specifically PSR, is more funding for those behavioral health services and supports that are Sobering centers, stabilization, et cetera. Some of this was talked about, you know, in the last 2 comments, and just coming at it from a different angle here. In order for us to best be able to handle frontline first response, we need the state to support the infrastructure and services to get us the second step so we're off of sort of a hamster wheel. And I guess the question I'm asking is, what's our strategy at the state to reframe, to get away from sort of the problem statement that Commissioner Moyer described, but to build a menu of options, not to just have enough of one or two of the different places that we might need to take folks, but to have many of them. And that's sort of what's the, what's the state strategy to build that menu.
[01:26:31] Jillian Schoene: And I think that reflects back on what I just said, that the conversations that are following the data work, what are the other associated financial asks or policy to make that work, because it isn't just about adding beds. How we operationalize them and who has access to those beds ultimately will define whether or not that really expensive resource that we bring online works for people. So—.
[01:26:59] Sameer Kanal: And when you say beds, I mean, we have folks who that might not be the only thing that they're going to need. So I'm trying to understand, do you understand what I— like, am I, am I being clear?
[01:27:12] Jillian Schoene: Yeah, not everybody needs a residential treatment bed. There's outpatient.
[01:27:15] Sameer Kanal: And that's the kind of missing piece, and I, I haven't heard that piece from the perspective of sort of the first response side of it.
[01:27:22] Jillian Schoene: Oh, for first responders and outpatient to take folks to? Okay, well, uh, I'm gonna skip over deflection for a moment, and I'm gonna actually go to the urgent walk-in clinic over over on Southeast Division that the county is required to run per state statute. I will tell you, I did a tour of that over a year ago with first responders. They can be dropping off there right now. All that clinic asked for was a phone call in advance. So we can be doing more of that. But the vast majority that that clinic— the vast majority of folks that that clinic sees today are actually housed individuals, right? Which tells you something about our— the behavioral health crisis we're in, right? We're talking about housed and unhoused. Councilor Smith. And that is who they're serving, but they have the capacity to do more. And so in that tour over a year ago, I encouraged first responders to start using that resource, to use it as an example. And then of course there's the deflections and the Pathway Center that Commissioner Moyer mentioned, and also Anthony.
[01:28:22] Sameer Kanal: Yeah, so it sounds like— and this is something that I know that Councilor Ryan talks about a lot too— is, you know, our coordination in this area is A known need, but our coordination on the public safety side is an unknown need or a less known need. Mm-hmm. And so I'm curious, you know, as I'm looking over across the way, the assessment that you just gave, Jillian, about this being an underutilized sort of option by the city in terms of our first responders, I don't know if there's a— if that's a shared understanding by the folks our city administrator and the mayor. And I just, I'm not, I'm curious if they can, either of them can speak to that piece of it because that's surprising if that's still occurring at the same rate that it was a year ago in terms of underutilized capacity at the Southeast Center.
[01:29:15] Loretta Smith: Yeah.
[01:29:15] Jillian Schoene: And I can check in on that. And then I think deflection is a different conversation. I would—. Oh yeah.
[01:29:22] Keith Wilson: Yeah, thank you for the question. It's really about the gap. It's the transport. I'm glad you noted PSR Chat now can do transport. We're working with officers to do transport, but we also— and we're talking about the facility in Buckman, correct?
[01:29:37] Jillian Schoene: You know what I need? Jeston Black is in the audience. Do you have an update on that? Can you— I'm phoning a friend.
[01:29:52] Jeston Black: For the record, Jeston Black, he/him pronouns, Deputy COO, Multnomah County.
[01:29:56] Jamie Dunphy: I'm sorry, Mayor, can you repeat the question?
[01:29:57] Keith Wilson: Yeah, Jillian, I thought you said the facility was on Southeast Division, and I'm unaware of a facility on Southeast Division.
[01:30:05] Jillian Schoene: That's the urgent walk-in clinic that Cascadia Health—.
[01:30:08] Keith Wilson: I didn't even know that existed. So I think it's about sharing information. Councilor, was that what you were referring to, or were you talking about the deflection facility in Buckman?
[01:30:17] Sameer Kanal: Well, we, we were talking about both, but the, the specific one that came up first was the, was the walk-in center that was just discussed.
[01:30:24] Keith Wilson: Yeah, unaware. Looking forward to learning more about that. That's exciting, exciting information. But as far as transport goes, that's our weakness as a system, is, is we have so many people suffering and we're unable to utilize our laws appropriately, uh, open drug use, behavioral health holds and such. So we're really working on that with our public safety systems To fill that gap. And I know that there's a lot of people on this dais who are and share that focus. So yeah.
[01:30:50] Vince Jones-Dixon: And there's—.
[01:30:51] Sameer Kanal: I know there's an 80— just to kind of get back to the folks who might need different types of transportation. And I know there's a particular legal definition of transportation, so I'll note I'm using it colloquially, not legally right now, that in order to sort of figure out what the best way to get someone— Thank you, Mayor. I think the challenge with getting someone from point A to point B is that we have to acknowledge that there's sort of an 80/20 rule here in the sense that the folks who need those involuntary holds and things like that are a small percentage of the population but often require the most, uh, the highest amount of, of sort of, um, government employee hours to be spent on, on that type of need. And if we were to handle the other 80% of it very well, we would have the attention and resources more freed up to focus on that, that population. So I'm asking primarily about those folks for whom a PSR shuttle or a CHAT shuttle might be appropriate, and just trying to make sure that, that I'd ask, you know, um, that those on the executive side in the public safety space, that, that we're able to ensure that they're informed on what, what may be being underutilized in terms of those resources at the county level. Okay. Um, that's a little outside of my original question, but I'm really glad you brought it yeah, and then I'll say, do you want to speak more to—.
[01:32:08] Jeston Black: I mean, I think what I can talk more about is transportation because I think this has been a problem that's been identified on all sides of the equation. And I know that we've had a lot of conversations at the staff level between the city and the county on ways we can improve transportation to the Pathway Center, you know, whether that looks like, you know, expanding, you know, how PSR transports folks, You know, making the process as frictionless as possible for public safety to bring folks to the Pathway Center. And also, you know, engaging the current provider in a conversation of whether or not they would be able to provide transportation, you know, and actually go out and meet folks, you know, who are, you know, engaging with an officer on the street. You know, if we could send out a van quickly and safely out there to bring somebody back to the Pathway Center, because I think at the end of the day, our priority is to get as many folks access as possible into the center so that we can do the work of connecting them to other services and helping them along the way. And that's for both folks who are involved with law enforcement and folks who are not involved with law enforcement at that moment. But just to get people into the center as easily as possible.
[01:33:17] Sameer Kanal: Yeah, I would love to see that for not only— certainly for police, to enable them to go to the next call a little bit faster, but also I imagine there's also an impact with fire, in particular rescue units.
[01:33:31] Jillian Schoene: So yeah. And the next update on the Pathways Center is due in December. And your staff member actually attended a recent county behavioral health work session last week. So thank you for that. I love it when folks cross the river both directions. But we'll make sure that you're aware of that so you can tune in and sort of the latest updates around some of the this— the, the partnership with PSR will be reported out on.
[01:33:57] Sameer Kanal: Okay, thank you.
[01:33:58] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Kanal. Councilor Zimmerman.
[01:34:02] Eric Zimmerman: Um, just to end on that, is Pathways Center the rebranding of the Deflection Center? Is this like the joint office?
[01:34:10] Jamie Dunphy: Yes.
[01:34:11] Eric Zimmerman: Okay, got it.
[01:34:12] Jillian Schoene: We should all be calling it the Pathways Center.
[01:34:15] Eric Zimmerman: All right, I just like making sure I know what we're talking about here. Um, okay, we love a rebrand.
[01:34:20] Jillian Schoene: Pathways to Treatment.
[01:34:21] Eric Zimmerman: Um, that's a little bit more addictions-focused. I, I do want to speak a bit about— I mean, it was— I'm, I'm glad that this is our— we're ending here, right? Director Light, when she spoke earlier, she used the words only when the unit is ready, because we were talking about broken units. You can't put people in broken units. And the great learning over the last 2 and a half to 3 yes. The pushback that we've had over the last 3 years has been from the housing providers who are coming to us and saying only when the tenant is ready, because we have this terrible scar tissue in this community of forcing placement for folks who are not ready for placement, and that is directly related to the topic we're on. And so I just, I think the only when the unit is ready, but also only when the person is ready, is the healthy approach that all the providers are asking us to discuss and talk about in ways that 5, 6 years ago, I think you would've been canceled in this community if you'd said such a thing. So that's really important. And I'm glad that we are ending on this topic. I think it was almost 2 years ago at this very meeting, I think I was in Meghan's chair that day when I asked, I think the county and the city should take our legislative agenda on camera, rip it up and say we need a mental health hospital north campus if we're ever gonna have anything. Make a difference in this state. I still believe it. Now, we've gone through a year and a half worth of, I think, very good work to save perhaps not a mental health hospital north campus, but to the same extent, the number of beds that we're talking about is needed. And I want to keep that hyper-focused. This is the only time in my career where I think the number one legislative agenda of my government should be a thing that that helps and is more of the wheelhouse of another government, which is actually not just the county now, it's actually the state. So I appreciate the language and the discussion around the crisis focus at the county. I've spent 11 years, 4 different chairs at Multnomah County, and parts of the health department have definitely, I'd say, leaned in and stretched their charter a bit. And they work in areas in our community, in places that maybe you never would have thought that the health department would work in. But in this area, I've found our experts to be deeply silent on this topic, meaning the work of crisis work in the mental health only gets worse when there's no more of the work that Meghan— Commissioner Moyer talked about, the more of the stabilizing, the recovering. I think that that is is such an important connecting nugget now that we've really gotta focus on. Unity Behavioral Health making 500 referrals to the Oregon State Hospital in 2019 and 3 last year because the judicial system has essentially stopped the mental healthcare system in this state, to Commissioner Moyer's point, is the only thing that any candidate for governor should be talking about. I don't care about anything else. I really don't. I constantly have been asked, I think many of us are asked, what is it going to take to solve homelessness in Portland? It's always about Portland, right? But well, that we can't— I don't believe Portland can solve it if Multnomah County doesn't have the tools to handle the patients in our community whom they're responsible for, and that the state isn't doing their piece. So this mental health bed and capacity and what it looks like is the most important part of this entire homeless continuum as far as I'm concerned. I sit on the steering committee as the mayor's appointee, and I'm very proud when I look at our metrics for our poverty-based interventions. I don't think it gets enough attention in our community about how well, if a person, a family is facing just poverty-based issues, our homeless dollars work. That's rent assistance, right? Right. It's a medical bill, it's a car bill, it's losing a job, but it's staying housed. But we— and so we do well, but we use only this much money on it because we use a lot of other money in an area that we're not as effective, which is homeless dollars after medical care. And you can split that medical care into behavior health, mental health, or into addictions health. But we're using homeless service dollars, ones that the Portland metro area voters put into the SHS. So this is very important to me. I'm glad that we're I believe we can't do it alone, and that's why I think it is the most important thing for both, both governments to put on their legislative agenda. I'm a little concerned in the way that it's put forward, Jillian, in just the presentation, because I think to be clear-eyed down at the state, we're going to have to just be doggedly clear about we need money for this many beds. I don't need soft language about how it's going to flow and all this other garbage. It's like we got to get real. Councilor Dan Ryan. Real, real, because I'm worried they're going to hold the deflection money from a few years ago against us for not good outcomes and say, meh. And so this is different, and we've got to articulate how it's different. And lining up the CCOs, so CareOregon and Health Share, who have been a big part of this conversation over the last year and a half about this type of bed in this location, this many of them provided this way with reimbursement rates at this level, that's the the specificity, I think, is helpful. But I do think that it's also okay for Oregon to admit it's not this bad in other states. Yes, Ronald Reagan really screwed the pooch for the social services in this country, and we have continued down that for a long time. But many states have reversed course. But I believe to my core that Oregon's own compassion. Prevented us from actually being compassionate, and we've let a lot of stuff linger, fester, and die, and that's not okay. So this is— I don't know why they put us in the corner over here, Megan, but I just—.
[01:40:19] Meghan Moyer: I'll say no.
[01:40:20] Eric Zimmerman: I'm glad that if you haven't been into Commissioner Moyer's office in Multnomah County, it's the only one that doesn't have windows into the rest of the corridor. And I think that's good because when she and I get on this topic, we're pretty animated and quite loud about it. So it's probably for the safety of all all of us. But, um, we agree deeply on this, and it is the only thing I want to hear from any governor, any speaker, any president of the Senate, because Oregon's recovery— whether you care about mental health or economics, whether you care about schools or mental health, whether you care about clean streets or no tents or being in the shelter business or in the housing business— it all comes back down to this. We spend $100 million at the City of Portland on things that I think are really a state role here. And even regardless of who's cutting the check, it's the right thing because there are people who aren't getting the access they need. And I just want to kind of close with a few things. I just— Anthony, you and I have gone around a few times on different things over the years, but I just appreciate the crisis aspect that you were telling us about. And it makes me think back to when was this system set up?
[01:41:26] Anthony Jordan: 2006.
[01:41:28] Eric Zimmerman: And why do, why do most of the folks who go to Division to get dropped off, why are they housed? Because a lot of this was set up before. Right now in our collective society, we think of homelessness and mental health as the same thing, and they're not. They're just so intertwined. But it used to be that you could go to a crisis center, we could stabilize in crisis, and that system worked because generally there was a place in which they went which was home afterward, and that, that mattered. There were support systems around it. And We may have to break some of these systems. That's where I'm looking to the health department to help us know where to lean in and lean further than maybe our charter has generally been at, because we need help to say that system was built in 1980 and the system has crumbled since then. Maybe it has to adjust because this is such a big book of business now, because so many of these were set up with the idea that there was a stabilizing place after the crisis. And when we get this focused on it, and it's only in the homeless continuum, we also have a duty as a community to still have a system for those who are not on the brink of homelessness or not in addiction, because mental health hits every family. It hits every corner of society. And there is a lack of access, not just within the homeless continuum, but there's a lack of access that's across the economic sphere, which means you've got to be rich enough to send your family outside of the state of Oregon to get health, and that's not okay. So thanks, Jillian.
[01:42:57] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Zimmerman. So colleagues, we are now moving into the final section of our time here, which is, uh, time for all of us to keep talking. Uh, we got about 45 minutes left here. We've heard about the needs within each of the systems and how they connect, and for the for the remainder of the time we have today, I'm going to— we'd like us for— I would like for us to focus on what we better understand about one another's priorities and where coordination could strengthen our advocacy in 2027. I'll try to— I'm going to start by prioritizing folks who have not already had an opportunity to speak. You certainly don't have to if you don't want to, but I'm going to call Vice President Clark, Councilor Smith, Councilor Green, Mayor Wilson, and Chair Vega Pederson in that order. Vice President Clark.
[01:43:41] Olivia Clark: Well, thank you, Council President. Um, I want to thank you so much for the way you've structured this today, um, and, uh, thanks to, uh, Chair Vega Pederson for, um, working together on structuring something that gave everybody a chance to participate. We weren't just sit and get for 2 hours. I really appreciate that. Um, and I know we're at the end. I don't normally have a lot to say, and I— but I— what I do want to say is that I, I feel much more sensitized after this discussion, um, to some of the issues that the county wrestles with. But— and, and particularly about the budget issues, that we're going to have budget issues, you're going to have budget issues, the state's going to have budget issues. But my, um, my biggest concern about today, and I'm, I'm hoping that we walk out of here today hand in hand on a legislative agenda that focuses on what we've learned about behavioral health. And, um, kudos to the 2 people over there in the windowless offices who, uh, I work with, uh, my, my commissioner and my colleague, for really, um, laying it out. Um, you know, I was here, I was working on affordable housing issues when Ronald Reagan was the president, and I went through all those budget and I know that we're still suffering 50 years later from all that stuff. We have a long way to go. But Commissioner Moyer, your painting that big picture was so valuable to me. I just really, really appreciate that. But I do hope that we can come together, our 2 government affairs teams, to make this our number one issue. Because as my colleague Councilor Zimmerman said, thank you. This touches everything. The behavioral health issue, it touches everything. Economic development, our reputation, our sense of safety, the victimization of people on the street. This is, to me, the number one issue. So I really hope— that was my big takeaway today, or what I wanted to get out of this, was a shared legislative agenda on behavioral health. And I think that really came through loud and clear. I hope we can make that the number one, no matter what the budget issue is at the state level, We have to start working on this issue as a team together and get the state to take more responsibility. So thank you. I don't have any questions. I just want to leave it at that. But thank you so much for painting the big picture, Commissioner. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
[01:46:11] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Vice President Clark. Councilor Smith.
[01:46:14] Loretta Smith: Thank you. Thank you, Council President. I, I appreciate that. Thank you. Um, Councilor Clark, um, you're right on target, and I so appreciate you, um, Commissioner Meghan Moyer. Having been a county commissioner, I, I feel your pain and trying to paint a picture of what your book of business is. And I think that I feel like I'm a parliamentarian sometime about what the city's book of business is. And I'm glad you went down that road because it makes my talking points a little bit easier to, um, to explain. And I think like Councilor Clark said, getting back to basics, that is a mandate of our charter. And our charter explicit mandate, if we want to look at the core business of the City of Portland, we must look at our founding document. The Portland City Charter explicitly mandates under Article 4 that the executive branch must actively promote economic development to broaden and strengthen the commercial and employment base of the so when we start talking about affordability and homelessness, we always cross it with people need drug and alcohol, people need mental health services, and nobody, Councilor Ryan, is talking about workforce development. And workforce development has to be a leg of this— This stool, you all, it's, it's not always drug and alcohol and mental health. I'd have mental health problems too if I had to sleep out on the streets and didn't have a job to go to. So we need to actually talk about some other things. We need to include some other books of business of what we're trying to do, because if we treat the root cause, this— the city's true business is funding localized job training, union apprenticeships, and workforce development initiatives that lift Portlanders out of poverty. And if we focus on workforce development, we fulfill the charter obligations to broaden our employment base and to treat the root cause of the housing crisis. We're talking about wage stagnation rather than permanently managing poverty as a government landlord. That is not the answer for us to become a landlord. We got to start creating jobs so folks can pay, you know, market-rate housing, whatever it is, because they will have the skill set to go out and do that. We're just assuming that everybody has a mental health and drug and alcohol problem, and that's not the case. They just have a problem getting a good job. And so, you know, I'm going to go back to just earlier this year. Mayor Wilson explicitly warned that our regional affordable housing infrastructure is facing a near-immediate financial insolvency, threatening the closure of critical assets and taking on property management as a core business yes. Um, I think it will bind Portland's general fund to like a burning financial, uh, ledger, threatening our bond rating and fiscal stability. So we have to stay— I guess what I'm saying is the county's here, the city's here, everybody's here, the mayor— we all have to stay in our own lanes. And if we stay in our lanes and we create this other leg to the— If we don't take this stool and put workforce development in it, then we're going to still be running around in the same circle, and we're going to be talking about city services and, and, and social housing. And, you know, and then we're going to say, Multnomah County, you need to do all this mental health, and you can't do it because you don't have the funding because the state hasn't given it to you, they took it away. And we're going to just be sitting here saying the same thing while we have, um, Our housing director, who has the stats, it takes 185 days to house somebody in the city of Portland. 185 days. And so if it takes that long to house someone, how do you think we're going to deal with this crisis? We have to treat it like a crisis. And, and that's why I've been supporting the shelter system. Because it gives people who need a place to stay, like right now, today, someplace to go. So unless we're going to be talking about workforce development in addition to mental health when we go down to Salem, I don't think we're doing ourselves a, a big justice here. I think we're just talking about the same thing every time we talk. So I, I, I, for one, Mr. Mayor, I want to start talking about that. And if we don't, this is the same conversation, just a different day. Thank you.
[01:51:43] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Smith. Uh, Mr. Mayor, I have time for you also for final remarks, but for this section, do you want to ask any questions to staff or anything further?
[01:51:50] Keith Wilson: Not in particular.
[01:51:50] Jamie Dunphy: I can wait till the end. Thank you. Okay, sounds good. Uh, Chair Vega Pederson, anything further, uh, before final remarks also?
[01:51:56] Jessica Vega Pederson: Uh, yeah, no, these aren't my final remarks. I will just say, um, I think that what— I mean, we do have about a month before our Our respective legislative bodies are going to be voting on our agenda. I think that this is a really good kickoff conversation to like, this is what's on the table, this is what the need is, and, um, and then this is how we can really use this month to find the align— the spaces of alignment around, uh, behavioral health agenda, legislative agenda. I think also in our homelessness agenda, um, and specifically really asking the question, what what is the state investment? What is the state policy change we need that is really going to move the dial on the challenges that we're facing here in Multnomah County and the city of Portland? And I think that's where we should be having these conversations following this meeting between us. So just really have enjoyed the conversation today, really appreciated it, and I think we've got like the job in front of us for the next few weeks.
[01:52:51] Jamie Dunphy: Brilliant. Thank you, Councilor— or thank you, Chair. Councilors, feel free to jump in the queue at this point, even if you have spoken in any regard. We have about 30 minutes for councilors to share their thoughts. We're going to go with Councilor Morillo, followed by Commissioner Singleton.
[01:53:06] Angelita Morillo: Thank you, Council President. I think I just have one more technical question, which I think might be for you, Jillian, or for you, Director. And bear with me as I sort of read this out. But in the spring, the county projected that thousands more people homeless that there are thousands more people homeless at current funding levels, and now you're projecting a 10% decline with the same funding. And as far as I'm aware, nothing has changed in those services. I see you shaking your head. Am I already wrong on that?
[01:53:36] Jillian Schoene: Actually, something fundamentally did change. Okay. So, and Nathaniel, weigh in here as you like. So we identified our key performance indicators last year, right, and used them thank you. I've been working with them during the budget processes, more so on the county side of the equation, to show that if you put the fiscal year '26 budget on the Xerox machine and copy and paste that and do it again in fiscal year '27, overall homelessness and unsheltered homelessness get worse. We were investing in shelter at the expense of housing placement, moving people out of the system. The county commission saw that and made different decisions for the fiscal year '27 budget process. We have rebalanced our system. We now have better balance between prevention, shelter, and moving people out of homelessness and rehousing them. So because of that investment shift, We are now on a much better trajectory in the context of fiscal year '27. And then to just round that out, in order to meet the goals that we've set for the 2-year period, we have to do fiscal year '27 exactly the same again. And that's why we're here today talking about what we need from Salem, what we'll need from your local budgets to rinse and repeat fiscal year '27 and fiscal year '28. Nathaniel, anything to add?
[01:55:10] Nathaniel VerGow: I think the only piece that I would add is that in these budget-constrained environments, we are tasked with doing more with less. And the homelessness system grew exponentially across the nation as a result of COVID funding. And so this is work that we were doing prior to that growth. And so we are— we're in a better position fiscally than we were 10 years ago. Still not even close to what we need in terms of investment, especially at the federal level. But we need to get back to the scrappiness that we as a system did prior to the funding that came through COVID. So a lot of the work that I'm doing in addition to the shifts in investments are really focused focused on what I shared earlier around the work that we're doing with our providers to make sure that the work every day is as impactful and effective as possible so that every dollar is being used to its maximum. So those are the keys to continued progress in a constrained environment.
[01:56:20] Angelita Morillo: Okay, so based on that, let me ask a follow-up on sort of the data that we're looking Um, you know, we have the by-name list that we're looking at, and last, um, you know, there— last month the inactivity window went from 90 days to 60 days, resetting to 30 with each contact instead of 90. So people fall off faster and the forecast drops with them. This list was built Built for Zero to count everyone experiencing homelessness, including people not engaging with services. The September memo now says that it measures people who are actively seeking help. So from my perspective, it sort of looks like this is a significant departure from the purpose of the by-name list as it was previously presented to us. We're no longer looking to count who are homeless generally or the chronically homeless in particular. Councilmember Herbold. We're basically saying that we're only counting those who seek help, and everyone else is not going to be seen in that data. And there are plenty of reasons someone doesn't touch the HMIS system for a period of time. They could be in treatment, in jail, or just getting help from one of the many organizations that provide good services but don't have the resources to deal with that system. So what values, incentives, and goals does this methodological change reflect? Councilor Smith.
[01:57:52] Jillian Schoene: Go for it.
[01:57:53] Nathaniel VerGow: So yes, we made refinements in our by-name list. And I would argue that it's not at all a departure from the intent of the by-name list. It is ongoing continuous quality improvement that we are doing with our data. So the decision to shorten that inactivity policy was based on our analysis of the data that we had collected over the last 2 years. The impacts of that, that we were seeing folks— it gets really technical, so I don't want to belabor too long, but there are challenges with programs that, including outreach, where folks may be engaged and remain enrolled in a program even though they haven't been touched and offered a service for extended periods. Doesn't mean they're not experiencing homelessness, but but if an outreach team is doing the work that they are expected to do, which we are tracking both in terms of the services they are providing and where they are providing those services, and they are not seeing that person, we need to make sure that they are off this list. And so it is looking at being really effective in the measurements. The inactivity policy was one of only a number of changes that we made in this data. Thank you. To be able to better reflect our reality. I'd like to call up our Director of Data to be able to talk through some of the nuances.
[01:59:18] Jillian Schoene: But I would just layer on that this was a plan that we had when HSD launched the inaugural by-name list in April of 2025. Part of the methodology behind that was that 90-day inactivity policy. That is based on national best practices that Community Solutions, the Built for Zero folks, that start with 90-day inactivity policy, revisit it a year later. So that's exactly what they did. Communities across the country make adjustments depending on how they're using their by-name list, whether it is sort of that comprehensive, most accurate you can get snapshot, or you're using it for coordinated entry. It just differs. So but this was all based on national best practices and this continuous quality improvement project.
[02:00:09] Angelita Morillo: Okay, I don't mind getting technical if you have an expert here, but I think I'm still sort of left wondering how much of that projected decline in homelessness is attributable to these changes to the by-name list as opposed to the service changes that you were speaking to, Jillian. Like, what is the way that we parse that out?
[02:00:32] Jillian Schoene: Can you ask that again?
[02:00:33] Angelita Morillo: Yeah, um, I'm wondering how much of that projected decline in homelessness is attributable to these changes to the by-name list as opposed to the service changes that you spoke to earlier.
[02:00:51] Nathaniel VerGow: I'm phoning a friend.
[02:00:52] Angelita Morillo: So I'm just gonna say, yeah, How are we going to know that the goals are being reached because of the investments, or is it because we changed how we're collecting by-name list data?
[02:01:03] Jillian Schoene: Well, 2 separate tracks. One on the 90, the revised activity policy, the data team in HSD is going to see what happens over time. That is also a policy that can be revisited based on what we see in the data. Right. So put that aside for a second. What we will be doing as Team HRS is, as the data comes in monthly on the HSD dashboard, we will look at it. When we see variances up or down, we will dig in as to why that is happening. And yeah, we can include, like, is it the effects of this shift in this 90-day inactivity policy, or did inflow get worse? Or are we rocking it on housing placements and that's why we had more people leave homelessness? And our first phone call after that honestly is to Nathaniel. Let's talk about what we're seeing in the data, the why behind it, and then we are committed to reporting out to y'all on a monthly basis when we see those variances and how we're doing in the context of our goals to tell you if we're on track, if we're off track, And I would just state that we're projecting the 10% based on the realignment of the data.
[02:02:29] Nathaniel VerGow: So it's not 10% change from the prior by-name list to the new by-name list. It is— we're comparing apples to apples as we're looking at that 10%.
[02:02:41] Angelita Morillo: Okay. Okay, that's helpful.
[02:02:43] Jillian Schoene: Yeah, sorry, we didn't do our final calculation until after the CQI process. That's why on that one slide it says post-CQI.
[02:02:51] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Sorry.
[02:02:52] Angelita Morillo: Okay, no worries. We'll have more of these meetings and I'll have more boring detailed data questions.
[02:02:58] Nathaniel VerGow: Glad to have a one-on-one to go deep with you as well.
[02:03:01] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Morillo. Commissioner Singleton.
[02:03:05] Shannon Singleton: Thank you, Council President. Um, I had just a couple of things. One, I think we have to do a lot of education with the legislature. Just looking briefly at the committees that we'll be touching around behavioral health and housing and homelessness, they're not all our delegation. So we have to figure out how to do some education and outreach more broadly. And I would really encourage us to see how we can link with the housing lobby table that comes together in Salem. It's— I feel like it's always a need. Councilor Smith. Every time I talk about Salem, Ryan, somebody behind you shaking your head because that's what I felt like what our job was when we were housing policy advisors. Like, all right, let's start the education again. The other— I'm concerned about the timeline on developing our legislative strategies. I want to make sure that we have built into the work plan. I want the city to be telling us what we need to be advocating for when it comes to preservation and production, and I want I want us to be telling the city what we need them to advocate for when it comes to behavioral health. I think the story that has been told so far is one part of that picture, and it comes a lot from what our CCOs need, but it misses some of the things that I think we may think we need as well locally in our services. And I hope that we're going to add to that, which is my understanding, but we need to have that conversation and share with the city before they're voting on their legislative agenda. So I would look for an update, whether that comes in a memo or whatever makes sense, of what the actual government relations plan is, work plan on each side of the river, and not just rely on the end dates when we're actually voting on these things. Um, I also will say, as somebody who worked on the front lines of, of this, uh, at the intersections of behavioral health and homelessness for so long, there are also things we can do right now. And I think, Anthony, I keep looking at you on this because you and I have had a lot of conversations around— we have to open up referrals into behavioral health shelter for homeless services. I remember being a homeless service provider before I got my clinical degree, and I couldn't get anybody into behavioral health services because I couldn't diagnose them. That's ludicrous. We have to be able to make those intersections so that when I know my client needs these services, I can actually get them in there. Thank you. And that's not the fault of anybody in this room, but it is stuff that we can fix before we fix the state problem. So I do want— I don't want us to rest only on there's a state funding issue. There's a both/and for me. And then just lastly, I would say I want to just appreciate Councilor Smith, the workforce conversation. That is something that I know you and I have talked a lot about. And as a county board, we saved our employment program. This year in our budget, but part of that was for them to look at how do they become a continuum so that we have low-barrier employment opportunities, but they also can increase— people can increase their income. And I think we have— you were on the workforce table with me. We didn't invest in a lot of what the trades and manufacturing told us are needed investments to be able to help people get out of poverty and into a better job. I'd rather pay somebody's rent for 2 years while they complete an apprenticeship program so they can pay their own rent forever. And we haven't figured that out yet. So I, I totally appreciate you bringing that up as well. Thank you. Those are all my comments.
[02:06:25] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Commissioner. Councilor Zimmerman. Commissioner—.
[02:06:32] Meghan Moyer: Sorry, I couldn't get online.
[02:06:34] Jamie Dunphy: Perfect.
[02:06:34] Meghan Moyer: I phoned a friend. Um, I really appreciate what Commissioner Singleton said, and I agree about um, the timeline of a joint legislative ask. And, and I'll be honest, I have pushed back on Health Share, um, on their legislative priorities. I spent a good chunk of my career, uh, lobbying in Salem, um, on healthcare-related issues, um, and behavioral health specifically. And the current recommendations are incredibly beneficial to hospitals and CCOs. Thank you. And leave some other major parts of the system a little bit less attention. I have had conversations with Health Share, and I encourage others to. I know they have made their rounds. I think there is definitely room for alignment. The thing that I, I really want us to be willing to do is think a little bolder.
[02:07:34] Olivia Clark: Yeah.
[02:07:34] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Thank you.
[02:07:34] Meghan Moyer: And I think it's going to be better than how the system currently functions because the system currently is a totally crisis-driven system. And because of that, people— I mean, you know, we talk about some of these pathways, and I think there are, um, some, some pathways for very specific situations. Substance use disorder, we have seen improvement in access. We're not there on treatment, but we've seen growth. There is no front door to behavioral health. There isn't. If you are experiencing psychosis, you can walk in. Most people lack the executive functioning to navigate that, but you could walk in. That is hours of care, not the, the type of care we're talking about that really allows you to regain competency and, and go back to your life. I think there's a real misunderstanding of hospitalization, um, particularly, uh, private inpatient hospitalization. It does not restore you. That is not what civil commitment is. That is not what hospital level of care is. You take somebody who is in active psychosis and it intervenes to end the psychosis, and then you are discharged. Thank you. It is not the treatment that lets you regain your ability to executive function and decision make. And that's residential treatment. And it's good that we are reserving hospitalization for that very intensive level. But I think people think if they were just hospitalized, it's going to turn this situation around. And that is not statistically correct. Thank you. Correct. Most people who only receive psychiatric hospitalization decompensate within 6 to 9 months, which means they are largely back to where they were. As an investment, hospitalization alone is a very poor long-term solution. It is a necessary intervention, it's safe, and it is incredibly expensive. I think somebody brought up, and it may have been, um, Councilor Clark in a conversation about like, why do we have the worst outcomes in the nation and yet our spending is on par with states who get significantly better outcomes? We spend the money wrong. That is just a fact. Where we spend the money is the most expensive, most crisis moment, and we do nothing to prevent it, both before somebody hits crisis or after that level of crisis. And again, you are not going to be involuntarily hospitalized unless you are very, very much in crisis. Some people are never a danger to themselves or others. That does not mean they are not in desperate need of, of psychiatric care. So we have to have front doors that don't start with you've threatened or have hurt another human being. But let's be very real, that's what Oregon does. And so, um, I bring this up because that is like, that is the challenge that we have with our state partners and our CCOs and our hospitals, is we can't just defend our piece and make sure we, we fund our piece, because fundamentally we have to re—.
[02:11:10] Vince Jones-Dixon: Yes.
[02:11:10] Olivia Clark: Thank you.
[02:11:10] Meghan Moyer: We have to redesign the system and redistribute the money. I don't believe we need more money. I believe we have to spend the money radically different, and that is going to be potentially poking some sacred cows, but we got to be willing to do that for the outcomes I think we all are talking about how necessary that is. So I just put that out because I got really nervous when, you know, and I have talked and very much appreciate my conversations with but I don't believe hospital rates will significantly move the dial at all. Might be helpful to preserve beds. It will not fix what's happening on our streets.
[02:11:56] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Commissioner Moyer. Councilor Ryan.
[02:11:58] Dan Ryan: Yeah, thank you, Council President. This is, um, probably the best joint session I've been in, um, for about how many years we've been doing this? Around 6 years. So I'll just name that, um, because for about 6 years I've been saying that it's really smart to meet people where they are, but it's not so smart to leave them where they are. And we do that a lot in recovery. We know it's always about a system. So those of us that are in recovery know that, and we know that whether it starts with a family, so whether it's your your spouse, your parents, they got to be all in. And then their training is usually, I think, the training that government needs, which is to move you from what you think is compassionate, where you enable them, as opposed to being compassionate because you truly care and you love them so much there's some consequences, some toughness, some accountability. The person has to be willing, and you have to try to create an environment where they will be willing. And I think that's what the public is getting impatient with, is that we've been so slow to move towards that. It's the hardest thing to do is to get sober. When I listen to Commissioner Moyer speak about the hospitals, it's no different than when someone goes into an inpatient treatment program. But if they don't have that's why I keep talking about the importance of transition housing. That's why the recovery community, I think, is our— one of our best investments to have that type of transition housing in sober living with those with lived experience. The peer-to-peer engagement is magical, and it's a lot cheaper than many other systems that are in place. Thank you. And I realize we're not lifting some of the PhDs and the folks with master's degrees in this regards. That's okay, because it's a lot of— it's really lived experience goes a long way with others that have that same shared experience. My point is, I'm really looking forward to seeing behavioral health finally be prioritized as one of the top issues, if not the top issue.
[02:14:17] Keith Wilson: Thank you.
[02:14:17] Elana Pirtle-Guiney: Thank you.
[02:14:18] Dan Ryan: Of the city and the county, and it's taken us a long time to get to this place. I hope you're experiencing the momentum from people who haven't always agreed with each other. And so I hope that we really ride with that momentum today. I wanted to ask just one quick thing before I forget, and that is please include the recovery community. I hope I've made that clear. I think that there's really good investments there. And Mayor, I think that we haven't heard anything about the unification plan program that you've been doing, and that's always been a top priority for cities that have made gains here, and that is to have a really sophisticated, smart, effective unification plan. I haven't heard anything about that today. Could you give us a couple minutes on that, please?
[02:15:07] Keith Wilson: Yeah, you bet. So reunification is It's not just a rapid exit mindset approach, whether it's from the street or from shelter, but it's providing connection with a loved one. So we have reconnected 728 souls now to 46 states. Last couple weeks, we provided connection into treatments for an individual in Nampa, Idaho, Boston, Massachusetts, Fort Myers, Florida. Anytime we can connect somebody into the treatment in their home communities with their family, It really helps us out. It takes the pressure off of our public safety system, takes pressure off of the shelters, takes pressure off of housing and our behavioral health systems so the whole thing can start getting unlocked and moving forward. But it's been successful, and every week it's about 15 to 17 souls per week right now.
[02:15:53] Dan Ryan: And can you make sure that you distinguish between this and some cities who just give a one-way ticket? Can you explain that when they get off that bus, Who receives them and how we're connected to caring about that family.
[02:16:06] Keith Wilson: Yeah, it's always a connection with a mother, a father, an uncle, a friend. Whatever the case, the connection has to be made before we do any sort of connection. And then it's a rapid exit. So it could be a plane in a matter of a few hours or a bus or a train, but that connection's always made. The good thing about that is, is like if someone's getting stabilized at Unity, the Behavioral Health Resource Centers, which has been a great partner, is we will help somebody transit, stabilize right into that, whether it's recovery or behavioral health system. So they're going right from our system to their system with their loved one connections and social network helping them out. So it's been very helpful. Takes the pressure and the financial burden off of our system as well, allowing our public safety system really to respond more and spend more time with individuals. So it's really It's been successful.
[02:16:58] Dan Ryan: Thank you for your leadership in launching this innovative program and the early success it's showing.
[02:17:05] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Ryan. Councilor Kanal and then Councilor Zimmerman.
[02:17:09] Sameer Kanal: Thank you, Council President. Um, quick hits here. I agree with Councilor Morillo on the counting methodologies points, everything that was raised there. I agree with Commissioner Singleton on, uh, the paying for rent for an apprentice example you gave, so we can get someone to where they can earn a living wage going forward. I wanted to flag that we need to collaborate with Portland Community College on this part as well. And, um, it's, I think, a resource that, um, is— that, that potential partnership has been underutilized, in my opinion, on the city end. I can't speak to county, um, relationships, so I won't. But, um, I think this is a really important place that, that, that comes, uh, up. Uh, I agree with most of what, what Councilor Smith said as well. The mayor thank you. Thank you, Mayor, for that. And I just want to echo the mayor's role in economic development, the importance of including wages and jobs and workforce development in this too. I did want to just add, you know, the part about as long as the rent is going up faster than the wages, it doesn't really matter what we do on the wages side. They're always going to be out of balance. And so in order to create the conditions for people to be able to afford, there's— it's the mismatch. You need to hit that from both sides between wages and rent. And so us being, um, in the social housing business is a critical part of that. Um, and I, I don't think that's just us being a landlord. That's bigger than that. It's, it's about creating the conditions to change how the market actually operates by being a player in it to a greater degree and making sure that there's an option for someone to be able to afford something no matter what. And it doesn't— you know, we're not looking at, um, making, making McMansions affordable. We're looking at making basic housing affordable for, for everyone, and doing so by taking the profit motive out in at least a section of the market is a really important part of that. So I wanted to make sure that that got on the record before we were done here today. Thank you.
[02:19:00] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Kanal. Councilor Zimmerman.
[02:19:03] Eric Zimmerman: I think my closing comment, since we kind of centered this on a legislative agenda, is to our government relations folks. That inevitably you're going to hit a wall, and that wall is going to be titled OHA. And I would just remind everybody around this dais, this focus on mental health did not come from mental health providers, OHA, or Multnomah County Health. It came from us. It came from community. The community and its elected representatives waved the red flag in ways that we've never seen and when OHA puts up the Bonneville Dam of progress, bring us in to blow it up. That is my ask, because inevitably they will. The revolving door between the health departments and OHA is nonstop, but I have little to no faith that they are going to approach this legislative session with as much progress and fire in the belly as I think that these that this dais and these governments and others, frankly, around LOC and AOC feel. So I don't even know who the director of OHA is anymore.
[02:20:16] Vince Jones-Dixon: I would say they have new leadership, they have a new focus with their new DEI manager, Dr. Nakano. We should invite them here to possibly present between now and the, the long session.
[02:20:28] Eric Zimmerman: I, I know, right? I think that person just left months ago and now we've got a new one. This is a constant So I'm always hopeful that a state agency will do their job, but I don't believe that they have. And I feel like that this is the wall we have to be prepared for. And if we hear later from legislators of OHA said we couldn't or wouldn't or whatever, I really hope that we're hearing in the moment that we are ready to go because many of us have expressed a desire to be in Salem more for this session. And and if that's what it's going to take to take our legislators aside and say, look, this agency is not the one to listen to right now, I think that's worth talking through. And I think we've got partners around the community who can help us do that. So that's my ask. Obviously it's controversial, but I'm ready to put a sacred cow on the table. So let's do it.
[02:21:22] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Councilor Zimmerman. All right, colleagues, we are in the home stretch here. I'm going to turn it over to Chair Vega Pederson, followed by Mayor Wilson, and I'll close this out. So Chair Vega Pederson.
[02:21:32] Jessica Vega Pederson: Yeah, well, thanks again for hosting us. Thank you so much, Council President. I will say, Councilor Ryan, I do think that you have said a couple meetings in a row now it's the best you've ever had. So I hope we're continuing to improve your experience in these meetings.
[02:21:45] Dan Ryan: It's continuous improvement.
[02:21:47] Jessica Vega Pederson: Yeah, that's great.
[02:21:48] Dan Ryan: That's what we love to see. We've both been here to watch it.
[02:21:50] Jessica Vega Pederson: I also, I mean, one of the things that just occurred to me as we were having this conversation that we haven't One thing that we haven't talked about yet is the impacts of HB 1 on the number of people in our state, in our county, that are going to be losing, potentially losing Medicaid access. I know that there's work actually happening right now to kind of get a better sense of what those numbers will look like. That's something that we're waiting to hear from OHA. But they're very— it's very likely that we ask for additional resources for folks who are uninsured because that is exactly the population that we um, serve in Multnomah County is the uninsured and underinsured might be a very smart ask in terms of the resources that we could get from the state that would make a very real difference on the populations that we're serving here. So I just put that out there. Um, I, I do want to take us back though to the present— at the beginning of this presentation. I think with the, with the goals that we have now for the homeless response system in the HRAP, both the city and the county have for the first time thank you. We have a real data-backed path to reducing overall homelessness and unsheltered homelessness in our community, and we have a measurable way of tracking our work and a system that is developing to address the complexity of the challenges that we face, especially those that are at the intersection of housing, shelter, and health. And it is also a system that holds both our governments and our providers accountable for the work that is happening and making sure that we are, we thank you. —We are reaching those goals. But our ability to actually do that is going to take commitment. It is going to take commitment when the Homeless Services Department, the Portland Housing Bureau, the other department and bureau budgets come before these bodies in the spring. But it is going to take that commitment to have alignment in our legislative asks to make sure that the dollars from the state that we are currently getting, that they— that are— that we have right now flowing through our systems continue to flow through our systems, including those one-time-only dollars that the state is considering one-time but we know are really vital for people keeping housed in our community and preventing people from becoming homeless in our community. And it also is going to mean looking at the investments that we need and having really strategic asks around the very limited amount of dollars that will be at the state budgets for what we need to prioritize. So I really am thank you, Chair.
[02:24:27] Jamie Dunphy: Mayor Wilson.
[02:24:30] Keith Wilson: Just want to thank the commission, thank the council. We've been focusing on the shelter-to-housing continuum, on the shelter and the public space, we've made a great deal of progress this last 2 years. On the housing side of it, I want to thank the council for their investment in our Portland Housing Bureau and that $55 million that was brought over that is being deployed right now. And Interim Director Light is doing a great job working with the county, working with our providers to really deploy that as fast as possible. Thank you. To get the most out of that. So I want to thank you for that. And then when it comes to behavioral health, I think the conversation we all just had right now, it just really says that there's not one jurisdiction that can handle this on our own. And this is the first time in my 2 years here that I've seen a collaboration across jurisdictions to say singular focus. While we're helping on the shelter, the public space, and the housing, what we're left with is humans that are suffering. And we need a collective effort, that collaboration to really care for those individuals. Thank you. So thank you all for this conversation. And I also want to thank Chair Vega Pederson for your effort in bringing us together, for your commitment to our community, to our shared interests in our city and our county, and just your commitment to Multnomah County. You've done a great job. I got a couple words I want to just read to thank you as I close it out. I want to express my appreciation for the partnership you've brought to the joint work. Especially here today and ongoing for this last 2 years that I've been a part of it, and certainly for your time as Chair. I believe together we've helped foster a more constructive relationship between the city, the county, and we've navigated difficult decisions together and challenges. And thank you for being here and on this dais with us. Mm-hmm. And as you attend your final session in this role, I wanna acknowledge the time, the care, and the commitment you've brought and we are very grateful for your willingness to show up, to engage in this dialogue, and to work towards solutions alongside us. And thank you for your service as you move forward in your next endeavor. So thank you. Thank you, Council President.
[02:26:46] Jamie Dunphy: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Colleagues, thank you all for a really thoughtful and substantive conversation today. I really appreciate the candor and the thoughtful questions and the time that you each put into understanding how our systems work and in some senses how they don't work. And it's really important for us to make sense of how these things work as we look to our state partners to ensure that limited resources are best utilized in our work and that we are spending dollars where they are going to be the most effective. I also want to thank all the staff and to our county colleagues for their presentations I would like to reiterate something that I said at the start. Today was not about adopting joint positions. Each jurisdiction will continue developing and adopting its own legislative agenda for 2027 through our own processes. The city will keep working towards our goal of having a work session on December 2nd and mid-December adoption of our legislative agenda, while the county will follow their own goals and timelines. But I— what we heard today can and should inform that work, as we all now have a clearer picture of where our priorities overlap and where coordinated advocacy could help us in Salem. I also want to affirm our goal of holding regular quarterly sessions like this one shaped by both bodies. I'd like to see them centered on conversations among elected officials with real time set aside for discussion of key milestones and decisions related to our homeless response. There will be a new chair and a new president organizing these next year, so I hope I hope that whoever is in these seats will improve on the work we've been doing here. Thank you again, all of you, for your partnership and the work that you do every day for the people that we serve. This work session is adjourned. Thank you.
[02:28:26] Dan Ryan: May I have the gavel?