It was a debacle when Deschutes County approved the purchase of an adult parole and probation home within 1,000 feet of a park, with barely any public notice.
It was a debacle when, after hearing more complaints from neighbors, the Board of Commissioners abruptly voted to move the parole and probation home without any consideration of what the financials would look like for selling the home, buying another one and moving the residents who were already living there.
And now, in part three of the debacle that is the Adult Parole and Probation home, county commissioners have voted to end the project all together. The board voted 2-1 during executive session this week to end the program at the home. Even some of the neighbors who complained about public notice were stunned to know that instead of moving the home to somewhere not within 1,000 feet of a park, there would be no home at all.
Now, rather than attempting to house the adult parolees, some of them sex offenders, in a house where they would avoid experiencing homelessness and gain tools that might help them avoid reoffending, those offenders may very well be roaming the streets.
This is the worst possible outcome.
The whole thing got started because county staff from the Adult Parole and Probation department came forward, advocating that such a home was sorely needed in Central Oregon. It makes sense: Offer support for those who just got out of jail, rather than forcing them to remain without homes and roaming the streets. County officials agreed that this was a needed resource, but that's where it began to fall apart. Oversight of the location appears lacking; how else do stipulations around the distances from schools and parks get ignored? What's more, when the county commissioners had this decision before them in the late fall, they asked very few questions about notices given to neighbors. No one had yet complained, they said at a meeting in the fall, so it looked like it was OK to approve the project. From there, a litany of poor decisions and shady dealings.
If it fell on county staff from Adult Parole and Probation to ensure the process was followed to a T, why didn't their supervisors — the county commission – check that it was?
There is a lot of blame to go around here. County staff, and the commissioners both need to do better. While the cost for poor management is not clear, it will be substantial. But more importantly, the home is still needed, and as a community we've failed one of our most vulnerable populations. And by the look of it, we're a long way out from fixing this.
