Deschutes County is adding three positions aimed at providing support for the unhoused population in Bend, La Pine, Redmond and Sisters. The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners approved the use of more than $1 million in funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act to fund three new behavioral health positions in the county. The new staff members will offer outreach to the growing population of people in the county without homes, helping them access resources and services offered by public and private entities in the region. The funds will also be used for supplies and a new outreach truck that staffers can use for on-street support. Sometimes, it’s not possible for unhoused people to leave the location they’re at for various reasons, and some fear leaving their belongings behind in order to go access services. With the use of the truck, outreach workers can provide support services on site that may have otherwise required them to transport people elsewhere, the county stated.
“These new staff will provide behavioral health outreach, engagement and case management support to individuals in a variety of settings such as shelters, supported housing and managed camps,” Commissioner Phil Chang stated in a Dec. 7 press release.
While not yet built, the City of Bend is currently reviewing requests for proposals to build and operate a managed camp for unhoused people on city-owned property. The location has not yet been announced.
The City of Bend and Deschutes County are also considering forming a joint office on homelessness, allowing local governments, nonprofits and other entities to come together to work on solutions. Currently, much of that collaboration happens by way of the Homeless Leadership Coalition, a group that includes nonprofits, service providers and local governments. Formalizing into a joint office would allow groups to pool not just resources, but funding sources, too, City Councilor Megan Perkins told the Source in September.
Advocates for the joint office are pushing the county to take action to support that coordinated effort, encouraging community members to write to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners, asking them to submit a formal letter of interest to the Association of Oregon Counties and the League of Oregon Cities, asking to be part of any upcoming City/County joint office homelessness office pilot programs.
Meanwhile, this week, members of the Homeless Leadership Coalition announced that they had signed on to be part of Built for Zero, a national effort involving more than 90 cities and counties, with an aim to reduce homelessness to “functional zero” in communities.
“The local Built for Zero team will represent a community-wide effort to collaborate and develop systems to measurably end homelessness,” a press release from Built for Zero stated. According to the organization, 14 communities within its network have achieved the goal of functional-zero homelessness.
This article appears in Dec 8-15, 2021.
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With winter coming on there is also an effort at the grassroots level to see, possibly, the Oregon National Guard in Bend provide short-term safe lodging at its armory.
Such lodging efforts have been undertaken in other states by other National Guard organizations as the Guard can provide trained and experienced behavioral health counselors, family counselors, shelter security (Military / Air Police) and First Aid / emergency medical assistance (Combat medics) if these are activated under Title 32.
https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/in…
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/coro…
https://www.army.mil/article/234829/maryla…
So the taxpayers should expect that the three positions that are being created with tax dollars will have a success placement outcome in their annual review process so that when the federal funding is done from this funding source, we should not see a requirement for local or state taxes to backfill the positions? For if we are not going to hold these personnel accountable for successful outcomes of their clients, then might be very important to have that as the number one factor in the job announcement.
You can create all the positions you want and it still wont address the real problem. Adding more band aid services to the multiple services in existence is not the solution. Let’s talk about the real reason this man was unable to be helped. First of all, using his picture after he passed this year in October is disrespectful, knowing Hawk he would give you an earful about how you are using his picture to validate a false narrative. He was a proud Veteran who lived in BLM land for more than a decade. He loved his dogs, and needed his freedom away from people. He was an Aquarius. Many times he had been offered help only to be told that he could not take all of his dogs with him into housing. What kind of Veteran would leave his family behind. You will find that 20% of the unhoused population will not leave their animals, and I have the text messages to prove that. Many have drug related issues, and you would too after so much oppression. Give me some land to help their animals and I will show you how to really help people like Hawk.