Multnomah County is stepping up its game in the fight against homelessness with a new resolution that sets clear expectations for its partnership with the City of Portland. As reported by Multnomah County's official news, the county's Board of Commissioners has approved a comprehensive resolution that outlines specific milestones to track progress, with a focus on the recently established Homelessness Response System.
This action follows close on the heels of the Board's July 11 approval of a renewed intergovernmental agreement with the City to jointly continue to address the thorny issue of homelessness. But they didn't just agree, they sought to further fine-tune the expectations, committing to a review of these milestones by October 15, as per Multnomah County. The milestones in the County's resolution reflect those in the City of Portland’s ordinance, albeit with additional expectations for the City and adjustments to some of the City's original milestones.
Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, the force behind the resolution and amendments, stressed the importance of transparency and accountability. "It’s good for us to outline what we expect, so we're really clear. They have been clear about what they expect of us. I always think being clear is kindness," Brim-Edwards told Multnomah County News. Noteworthy in the new resolution are goals such as public dashboards for monitoring progress, quarterly work sessions between city and county officials, a shelter availability application pilot, and detailed planning for additional adult shelter beds.
The resolution passed with a unanimous 3-0 vote by commissioners in attendance, underscoring a united front in addressing the region's homelessness crisis. However, despite the strong push for milestones and progress markers, officials acknowledge that the road to ending homelessness is a marathon, not a sprint. Dan Field, director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services cautioned, "For example, for the ones the Joint Office has around the outreach strategy, we have made significant progress already. We will continue to do that, but that's a longer-term quality improvement process that we're working on."
