It's time for transformational change

Strategies for a better vision of Portland

Removing barriers to enforcing no-camping policies and expanding first responder budgets are key steps needed to solve the homeless crisis.

By Ken Thrasher

It's been interesting to watch the various parties point fingers at who is responsible for Portland’s and Multnomah County's growing unsheltered homelessness problem. There has been a lot of talk about what money has been spent and where it went, but there are no real plans to fix the city’s and county's problems, reduce unsheltered homelessness, report human outcomes and avoid again spending well over $1 billion with little to show for it.

To his credit, Mayor Keith Wilson is trying to provide short-term fixes through overnight shelters to meet his campaign promise, but it’s not good enough. The consequences of this decision are just being realized as this low-barrier approach doesn’t address key substance abuse, prostitution, mental health challenges or the impact on the communities where shelters are placed. By doing the county’s responsibility, we are just kicking the can down the road, engaging in another whack-a-mole activity like sweeping tents. It’s time for the county to take responsibility for its failures.

By misusing its emergency powers, the city is failing its citizens and businesses. No notices of proposed sites have been given to schools, child-serving organizations or other organizations. The city and county approved a Children’s Bill of Rights in 2006, creating safe schools, parks, drug-free communities, etc. Despite the importance of the issue, no background checks are being done for shelter guests to determine sex abuse or other crime issues, steps that a proposed detox center in Southeast Portland next to a school is doing. There are 1,100 children within seven blocks of the Blanchet House’s proposed site and the Northrup Shelter. When I helped site a halfway house in 2005, Mayor Vera Katz had four siting standards:

1) not within a mile of a school,

2) not within a mile of another human services provider’s site,

3) has public transportation access and

4) near job opportunities.

By putting too many human services providers so close together, which attracts drug dealing and prostitution, you end up with a disaster like Old Town. We can’t afford to do this again.

Author and educator Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind,” which requires having a clear vision, setting goals and having an actionable and accountable plan. For us, it starts with a clear vision that "there are no unsheltered people on the streets of Portland and Multnomah County.” It requires setting outcomes and measuring them based on human impact, effective governance and spending, and holding providers accountable for their work.

The University of Chicago has published research pieces that speak to the cost of unsheltered people being left on the streets. The annual cost per person is estimated to be $36,000 year. For the now 7,400 people in our area, that amounts to about $266 million per year. Emergency rooms, ambulance services, police, fire, 911, PBOT and many other services are tapped each day to address problems related to unsheltered homelessness. The study says effective strategies can save one-half of these costs, or $133 million in our case. And this doesn't count the impact of business failures, reduced tourism, harm to the city’s reputation, out-migration by residents and businesses, lower tax revenues and reduced public service quality.

Key strategies

It is time to address the vision for a better Portland through a transformational change around the following key strategies:

1. Remove the barriers to enforcing no-camping policies and support expanding first responder budgets. We can enforce our no-camping and drug re-criminalization laws without creating lawsuits or restricting our ability to get unsheltered individuals, many of whom are experiencing drug addiction and/or mental health issues, into shelters and services. The Oregon legislature recently had a chance but, unfortunately, failed to get a hearing on four bills to change Oregon’s laws to give municipalities more freedom to address unsheltered camping. Evidence suggests that more structured interventions are necessary for individuals who suffer from complex issues, such as drug addiction and mental health challenges. These individuals are generally not capable of making good personal decisions. They need treatment, not low-barrier shelter facilities. Also, reducing the number of providers by focusing on both the cost per client served and the effectiveness of human outcomes is critical here. High-barrier 24/7 programs like Bybee Lakes Hope Center are a good example of what can be accomplished.

2. Create an integrated high-touch intake system with outreach workers who are trained to assess individuals and direct them to appropriate care, whether it is shelter, recovery or treatment. This should include a centralized database to track individuals and monitor progress toward recovery and a centralized outreach worker program backed by a good data and accountability system. This system transitions pre-diagnosed unsheltered individuals into the appropriate high-barrier shelters, services or FEMA-like recovery centers if other shelters or services aren't available. People should not be allowed to stay on the streets. The intake process should have a unique identifier to create an individual recovery plan (IRP) for those staying in the system. Portland’s District 4 could pilot such an approach.

3. Use data to help transition unsheltered individuals who have jobs to an appropriate living situation. People with children, pets, etc. need appropriate shelters and services. Veterans would be transitioned to veteran support services and individuals suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues would be transitioned into treatment programs. Relocation services would be available for people coming to Portland from outside the county to transition them back to their communities, and to the care of family and friends locally, where feasible. Boise reduced the number of people needing city services by two-thirds using similar strategies.

4. Create an independent public/private partnership board comprised of independent experts to oversee and coordinate the work of the county, city, state, metro and providers. This board should provide regular reporting of progress on key overall outcomes and spending and be led by a seasoned executive who can oversee a well-thought-out strategic plan. Consistent with the number one goal of both the mayor and the community at large (ending unsheltered homelessness), conduct monthly counts of sheltered and especially unsheltered homeless individuals by district and report average quarterly figures to the community. At the same time, review provider bed availability and effectiveness in real time and report results to the community at least quarterly.

In conclusion, we all need to visualize our city with no unsheltered people living on the streets, no garbage or graffiti, reduced drug dealing, no people wandering aimlessly and screaming, reduced vandalism and crimes, and no-one dying on our streets. What would that do to increase the city’s feeling of safety and livability while helping bring back businesses and improve our region’s reputation as a place to be? Think about how effective the police and fire departments, health system providers, 911 system, Portland Bureau of Transportation and many other public services would be if they were not stretched to the limits by the futile attempts to fix the number one problem Portlanders identify: unsheltered homelessness.

This is what transformational change would look like.

I believe in Portland.

Let’s join together to make Portland a destination and a great place to live and work again!

Watch Ken Thrasher on KOIN 6’s “Eye on Northwest Politics.”

Ken Thrasher is chair of the Northwest Community Conservancy and is on the Steering Committee of the Homeless Solutions Coalition. He retired as chairman of the Board of Alternative Legal Solutions Inc. (dba Compli) in December 2018 and was its chairman and chief executive officer from 2002 through December 2009. Prior to joining Compli, Thrasher spent 19 years in executive positions with Fred Meyer Inc. He has and continues to serve on numerous boards throughout Portland and Oregon. Ken and his wife Marta also have focused on underserved children and families in their service to the community.