Thursday, November 17, 2016

Minutes 11/15/16


November 15, 2016
Minutes

p
Bruce Hoffman, Chair
P
Woody Dukes
p
Brock Campbell
p
Michael Livingston,
Vice Chair
p
Bob Hanna
P
Bill Holmstrom

p
Sarah Owens, Secretary-Treasurer
p
Neal Kern
a
Diana Dettwyler

p
Erma Hoffman
p
Rebekah Engle
a
David Dahle
p=present a=absent e=excused

Residents: Gordon Friedman
Organizations: Simon Sandusky, UGM
City and County Representatives: Councilor and Mayor-elect Bennett, Officer Shane Galusha
Guests: none

The regular meeting of the CanDo Board of Directors was called to order at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at the First Christian Church at 685 Marion Street NE, Salem.  The Chair and Secretary-Treasurer were present.

The minutes of the October meeting were approved by unanimous consent.

Officer Shane Galusha reported that preparations for the upcoming holiday season were under way and that volunteers were being trained to help with downtown patrols.  He also reported that he and other SPD officers had been called in to relieve PPD “riot team” members dealing with the post-election protests in Portland.  He confirmed that the number of men sleeping along Liberty Street under the Rite Aid awning had increased in recent weeks, and said that the Downtown Enforcement Team could do little about it, other than to ask them to move along.  He did not know why the numbers had increased.  

Councilor Bennett reported that the Mayor had opened Monday night’s City Council meeting with remarks intended to allay fears resulting from the recent U.S. presidential election.  

[The text of the Mayor’s Remarks:  “While the nation may have new leadership, we want to assure you that the City of Salem remains consistent with its values and its vision for our community. Our leadership remains committed to taking care of this community, and to listening to concerns, just as we’ve done in the past. This national election and the tone, I can assure you, will do nothing to change the way our City’s commitment to protecting the civil rights, the inclusiveness and the practices that this city has held dear. It is paramount that this city, this international city, shalom, a city of brotherly love, would continue to remember what we stand for, what we all work so hard for, and what we hope to continue embracing in our community.”]

Councilor Bennett also reported that Council had received a proposal from Home Base Shelters of Salem to help them lease a parcel of city-owned land for a “Rest-Stop” type of program, but that so far, a suitable parcel had not been identified, that plans to demolish the First National Bank Building at 280 Liberty Street NE, designed by Pietro Belluschi, were going forward, to be replaced, he believed, with housing, and that Pacific Office Automation had purchased and would be occupying the building next door at 260 Liberty Street NE.  

In public comment, Sarah Owens suggested that members of the board make a point to visit H.O.A.P. on Church Street NE, between 9a and 2p some Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday, to get acquainted with staff and and the facility, which Stephen Goins has been managing for Northwest Human Services for about a year now.  Simon Sandusky invited everyone to share a Thanksgiving meal at the Mission next week, emphasizing that all are welcome.  

In lieu of a presentation, the board bid a formal farewell to Chuck Bennett in his role as Councilor for Ward 1, and wished him success in his new role as Mayor, which he will be taking up in January.  In remarking on Chuck’s many years of service to CANDO, members of the board said they would remember him for his responsiveness to the needs and concerns of the neighbors, his regular presence at monthly meetings and overall approachability, his open mindedness on contentious issues, his dedication to downtown as livable, walkable, and bike-friendly, and his willingness to take on a revision to the “Tree Code.”  Chuck promised he would maintain his interest in downtown, including its most vulnerable residents, and return from time to time to meet with CANDO.    

There being no other business before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.

Note: the next meeting will be January 17th.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Sanctioned Camping

Revised: December 2018

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

 

[Originally posted under the title, "HBSS Takes Request to Council."]

Delana Beaton, Lorrie Walker, Verena Wessel at City Council
November 14, 2016.  Three members of the Home Base Shelters of Salem (HBSS) board of directors went before City Council last night during the period for public comment to ask the City to "identify a parcel of [city-owned] land most appropriate for a...supervised temporary camp" for people experiencing homelessness, and "in navigating the potentially complex zoning/ordinance/licensing issues" that would have to be resolved in order to move forward with such a project.

Delana Beaton (HBSS President), Lorrie Walker and Verena Wessel  and others formed HBSS in the  summer of 2016 for the purpose of developing a sanctioned camping program modeled on Eugene's "Rest Stops."  We first reported on HBSS's project in "Mayor Rants re Failure to Plan for Homeless." (14 August 2016). 

The group's appearance at Council follows private meetings with Council members and others to share an initial draft proposal, which Delana said they've been revising as they go.  The women fielded questions from Councilors Andersen, Lewis and McCoid and said they'd be back in 2017 with a "formal" request.  A copy of HBSS's proposal can be found with the October minutes of the South Central Association of Neighbors. 

Dan Bryant giving the tour
Earlier on Monday, staff and officials from Polk County, among others, visited Opportunity Village in Eugene, and a couple of camps developed under Eugene's "Rest Stop" program, on which the HBSS project proposal is based.  All members of the Task Force were invited to go (transportation provided), but only Commissioner Wheeler, Sheriff Garton, and Heidi Mackay (all of Polk County) participated.

At the first stop, Opportunity Village CEO Dan Bryant told the group about the Village's history and evolution, the role that the Eugene City Council played in the process and the Village's gradual acceptance into the community.  The group also spoke briefly with the villager on gate-duty and, once inside the gate, one or two  of the other villagers.       

 A Eugene "Rest Stop"
The next visit was to a camp run by Community Supported Shelters (CSS) (they call their camps "Safe Spots").  Residents sleep in conestoga huts or tents on platforms.  The camp had recently acquired a metal hut and a wood stove to use as a common area.  Previously, residents gathered around a barrel fire in the center of the camp (under the chair in the photo at left).    Winter conditions at the camps are described in detail in this CSS blog.

There's plenty of information about Square One Villages and the Eugene Rest Stop program at the links, so we won't repeat it.  

On the ride back in Polk County's all-purpose bus, people shared impressions, questions and concerns, including the "potentially complex zoning/ordinance/licensing issues" that would arise if they wanted to do something similar in Polk County or West Salem (whether or not on publicly owned land).  Given HBSS was already working on a project, it was generally agreed that anyone interested in a West Salem project should pursue a partnership with HBSS.

Entrance to Opportunity Village
On November 21, Delana and HBSS board member Susan Smith told Ken Adams on  Willamette Wake Up that their goal was "not to become an uninvited project in a residential area."  The first camp would have a maximum of 20 tents with "matching tarps, so not unsightly at all" and serve a "totally unserved group" within the homeless population, of which there were "about 2,000 in Salem last January."  They said they anticipated expanding to four or five camps, eventually, and that they hadn't yet decided on the criteria for excluding an applicant based on criminal history.  They said "hopefully, the City is organizing itself around the Task Force" and that their camp was "the first step."  Delana as much as said that the program was consistent with the Housing First principles espoused by Tanya Tull.

"I think where we start having problems is where it starts being tents"
On December 1, 2016 the Mid Willamette Homeless Initiative Task Force considered a recommendation to "analyze the advisability of allowing, supporting or facilitating some form of temporary, support-coordinated camping", which Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark said would cause her to get "pushback" (even though the recommendation was merely to "analyze").  She said she needed to understand how such a program would be effective in moving people into stable housing, that she'd not seen it be effective in other "jurisdictions." She said, "I have a very difficult time saying yes -- this is something we should spend some time exploring at this point."

Sharon Heuer, Greg Hansen in the OV kitchen
Marion County Commissioner Janet Carlson observed that "there's camping and then there's camping" and said that "this item is probably as close as we're going to get" to addressing homelessness in the short term.

Marion County Sheriff Myers said "we should at least explore it", and Salem Police Chief Moore concurred, saying, however, "it's not an endorsement."  (It's no secret that Salem police foresee problems with sanctioned camping.)

Salem Mayor-elect Bennett said the City had been asked to find "unused land" of a certain type, and, so far, the City had not been able to find any, but that they would know "by January" for certain.

Opportunity Village cul de sac
Bennett indicated the City would next look at acquiring property suitable for "some kind of Opportunity Village" program, and that he did not object to the recommendation as long as it "doesn't say 'camping in tents', as long as it's 'camping' in something" short of "formalized housing."  He said, "I think where we start having problems is where it starts being tents, and in almost anybody's neighborhood."

In the end, the Task Force recommendation was amended to replace the word "camping" with the word "shelter."

On December 20, HBSS members met with the City Manager Steve Powers, who told them that the City did not have any property/parcels that would be suitable for their project.

Another Opportunity Village cul de sac
On December 31, the Statesman Journal reported on an interview with Bennett.  The section on "Tackling Homelessness", read:
By a Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency count in January 2016, there were more than 850 homeless people in Polk and Marion counties.
“We know what doesn’t work – all we have to do is look at Portland and Eugene and we can see examples of unsuccessful strategies,” Bennett said, citing “camp-where-you-want” spaces.
Outside the Rest Stop for Veterans
“I’m not sure tent camps work. My impression is they don’t,” he said. "I have yet to get a positive report on a tent camp."  * * * “This is a complicated issue. This is not something that’s gonna be fixed by something simple,” he said.
The County told HBSS much the same thing, according to Marion County Commissioner Janet Carlson's oral report at the February 15, 2017 meeting of the Marion County Board of Commissioners.

That same day, Mayor Bennett announced an aggressive new homeless initiative, one designed to house the chronically homeless -- in something other than tents.

HBSS adjusted its strategy.  According to a flyer advertising a talk by Delana in February 2017, HBSS was "rebranding" as "a group dedicated to developing micro-housing."

HBSS published a summary of its new plan the first week in March, 2017. [http://www.homebaseshelters.org/executive-summary].  The website was taken down shortly thereafter and was not put back up.  HBSS's new plan said they'd identified "a prospective village site in Marion County outside high-density urban residential neighborhoods and retail commercial areas" and expected to have the ARCHES Project staff "identify highly vulnerable persons from the unsheltered population using a standard vulnerability assessment tool."  Delana told us the new plan should not have been published and declined to answer questions about it.  We heard nothing about the HBSS plan for the next ~18 months.  

The UUC "Habitat and Hope Transitional Village" project

In September 2018, Bob and Cindy Francis presented a plan for a "Habitat & Hope Village" to the Mid Willamette Homeless Initiative Steering Committee (including Salem Urban Development Department Director Kristin Retherford, Marion County Commissioner Janet Carlson, and Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark).  

The plan called for 8x8 duplex construction of lumber/plywood (basically two wooden tents side by side), to be constructed as funds come available, up to a maximum of 20.  The proposal indicated HBSS was involved in the planning, but did not identify project leadership, members or partners, and no funding source was identified.  The steering committee seemed unimpressed.   

In December 2018, the "Habitat & Hope Village" project reappeared as an "Affiliated Ministry" of
the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, located at 5090 Center Street (intersection with Cordon Road).  

According to the blurb on the UUCS website, the units would now have electricity and heat, the ARCHES Project (Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency [MWVCAA]) would be responsible for screening and "case work", and UUCS would provide volunteers, financial support and land (1/2 acre across the street, currently a parking lot) (green dot on map at right).   

The project would take two years to complete.  MWVCAA, the congregation and the County would have to agree formally to support the proposal. 
From the January 2019 UUCS Newsletter

In a January 10, 2019 radio interview, four members of the Habitat & Hope Village board of directors (Delana Beaton, Bob Francis, Gregory Greg and Larry Nassett) told a credulous Melanie Zermer that The ARCHES Project "has pledged to provide case management for the residents", that they plan to acquire the land (which they would not identify) by May, then begin to fund raise and secure the necessary land use designations, even as they acknowledged that they lack government and community support.

MWVCAA's Executive Director, Jimmy Jones, would not confirm that the ARCHES Project was going to "provide case management."  "Referral only", he told us.

Another polarizing 4/20/18 FB Post about what to do
The Habitat and Hope Village website, which came on line some time in April (?) 2018, drops the reference to case management.  According to the website, villagers must have a SPDAT score between 0-4 at entry, which is a basically a no-housing-intervention-indicated rating (don't really need case management -- the program will serve only those who could rehouse on their own).  "The city will not let us build", Greg Gregg, wrote recently, without further explanation.  The group subsequently changed their project design from a village to a group home for five women.  As of the end of 2019, the project remained in very early stages.  Details here.  

2019 Ends with Frantic Search for Camping Alternative


On December 2, 2019, the City Council delayed enactment of Ordinance Bill 10-19 (mainly a camping ban at that point) two weeks to allow staff time to identify City property that might be suitable for a camping program that had yet to be designed.  The policy shift appears to have been intended as an answer to constituent concerns about where the campers around The ARCHES Project would go once the camping ban took effect.  See News from the Continuum and Brynelson, T. "Salem bans open camping, and now seeks a place to host it." (December 3, 2019, Salem Reporter); Bach, J. "Salem may set aside City property for homeless."  (December 2, 2019, Statesman Journal.)

Councilor Chris Hoy subsequently notified colleagues he would be moving to direct staff to investigate and report on car-camping options at the next meeting on December 9.  See Bach, J. "Homeless car camping plan considered by Salem city councilor."  (December 5, 2019, Statesman Journal.)  Brynelston, T. "Salem official eyes organized camping for people who live in vehicles." (December 6, 2019, Salem Reporter.)

With just days to adjust to the sudden policy shift, staff scrambled to explore options.  At the request of MWVCAA's Jimmy Jones, code enforcement agreed not to declare the camp around ARCHES a public nuisance, although it qualified as such.  See "Will Code Enforcement Trump Council?" and Bach, J. "Downtown Salem Homeless Camp to get portable toilets, hand washing stations."  (December 5, 2019, Statesman Journal.)

Staff set up informational meetings with Councilors Nordyke, Kaser, Hoy, and Andersen.  Management staff, police, Salem Housing Authority and MWVCAA all tried to dissuade them from what they considered an ill-advised and impracticable course of action.  Nevertheless, by week's end, they were still determined that the City should allow camping somewhere, despite having no viable plans/programs, professional support or funding.  Monday, December 9, 2019, staff published a report and recommendations clearly intended to chill enthusiasm for the idea.  Estimated cost to operate one site 24/7: ~$1M/year.  At the meeting, a majority of Council seemed willing to pay for six months, but for the fact it would take 60-90 days to organize.  They opted instead to expand two of the warming centers (First Presbyterian and Church at the Park) to a duration model (open every night, regardless of temperature), at a cost of $213K.  Nordyke, Kaser and Andersen told Salem Reporter a campground could still be considered at a later date.  See Brynelston, T. "Salem leaders decide to shelter homeless instead of setting up public camping." December 9, 2019, Salem Reporter.)  Camping ban went into effect December 16.  See "Camping Ban for Christmas" (21 December 2019) (with updates describing how the plan to expand the warming centers fell apart); "'Things are getting much worse'"  (7 January 2020) (describing the situation downtown under the camping ban);  "Council Throws ARCHES Under the Bus" (14 January 2020) (Council's blame shifting for camping ban disaster);  "City Pleads with Pringle Hall Neighbors" (17 January 2020) (SCAN NIMBYs low-barrier shelter);  "Council Declares Unsheltered Emergency, Now What?"  (23 January 2020) (allowing car camping program); "Council Votes to Keep Camping Ban Intact, Bring Back Sit-Lie"  (10 February 2020) (rejecting Councilor Andersen's motion to lift the camping ban outside downtown, residential areas and parks);  "Has Councilor Flipped on Organized Camping?"  (8 March 2020) (Nordyke's inconstancy);  "COVID-19 Returns Campers to City Parks"  (21 March 2020); "Has Council 'moved the needle' on Homelessness?" (2 May 2020) (complaints about camping in the parks);  "News from the Continuum" (2 August 2020) (staff report on camping in the parks);  "Council & Park Camping Tensions" (28 October 2020) (Hoy suggests Council should reconsider organized camping, Mayor says no);  City to Extend Park Camping to June 2021"  (4 December 2020);  "Park Camping to Continue for Now" (7 Jan 2021).

Friday, November 11, 2016

Coordinated Assessment and Entry

Revised: January 2019
 

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston


The is the second of two posts about the tools needed to support a systematic approach to improving homeless services delivery.

The first post (here), introduced ServicePoint, a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) application in use in Oregon, and showed how it can be used to monitor Bed Usage Rates (BURs).

This post covers coordinated assessjment and entry system (CES) basics. 

Coordinated assessment and entry (or, "coordinated entry", for short) is the "no wrong door" idea that recognizes it's just too not realistic to expect most clients to navigate all the available services on their own, trying to find the one that is appropriate to their situation.  No one disputes that services are too spread out, there are too many restrictions, forms, rules, and regulations, and the programs are too siloed.  

A lot's been written about "no wrong door" in the context of the Affordable Care Act, where privacy requirements continue to be a challenge to full implementation.  If you want to read about coordinated entry in the homeless assistance context, the best place to start might be with HUD's Coordinated Entry Policy Brief, which identifies the qualities of an effective coordinated entry system:
  1. Prioritization
  2. Low barrier
  3. Housing First orientation
  4. Person-centered
  5. Fair and equal access
  6. Emergency services
  7. Standardized access and assessment
  8. Inclusive
  9. Referral to projects
  10. Referral protocols
  11. Outreach
  12. Ongoing planning and stakeholder consultation
  13. Informing local planning
  14. Leverage local attributes and capacity
  15. Safety planning
  16. Using HMIS and other systems for coordinated entry
  17. Full coverage
As noted elsewhere, ROCC does not have an effective coordinated entry system, and this has hurt its  ability to deliver homeless assistance, and to compete for HUD funding.  
       
ROCC's 2016 Consolidated Application
At left is ROCC's description to HUD of the coordinated entry elements ROCC does have or is working on.   Without question, the challenge of building a system inclusive of 28 counties (not all of them rural) continues in 2019 to be beyond ROCC's capabilities, despite all the hard work by Jimmy Jones, now Executive Director of the Mid Willamette Community Action Agency (MWVCAA), and his assessment teams, over the past two years.    

In 2016, Jimmy was just getting started.  He described his efforts as follows (edited somewhat for brevity and links added):
Basically we are moving toward a Coordinated Entry program that embraces (as close to best practices as resources allow) the principles embodied in the Coordinated Entry Policy Brief.  The first principle on that list is...prioritization of access, based on vulnerability.  We are determining vulnerability by means of the [Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool] VI-SPDAT. For clients that are chronic[ally homeless] and score into PSH, we also have been using the VAT, as a tool for better case management and potentially, one day, opening or partnering with a PSH-Housing First facility, which would serve the highest scoring clients in our area.
The SPDAT is a fairly simple tool. Easy to teach, train and use.  It gives a score that has demonstrated very high correlation, when it’s been tested against other decision assistance tools.  It is widely used across the United States. I have attached a map of current usage. This map is a little older and doesn’t include many places that use the SPDAT...My previous employer has been using the VI-SPDAT for two years, in a county that has a very well developed coordinated entry and assessment program.  I have personally given more than 200 VI-SPDATS in the last year and I believe in it.  It’s not only descriptive of someone’s current situation, but it is also highly predictive of the kinds of case management and the nature of placement (PSH/TH-RRH/Diversion) that they’ll need.  Essentially it operates on a triage approach.  The original SPDAT was developed for use in hospitals, and the VI-SPDAT follows the same model—trying to direct resources to the people who need it the most. 
So while the SPDAT is a breadth tool, the VAT is a depth tool.  It was developed by DESC up in Seattle, who use it even for shelter (in a slightly different method).  This tool is basically designed to get a good measure of the most vulnerable clients.  It’s sometimes hard to differentiate between different PSH clients, trying to figure out (in essence) who has the highest risk of dying outside, without intervention.  The VAT requires specialized training. And each written assessment is then reviewed by another qualified and trained VAT reviewer.  I have completed 50 VATS in the last year, which is a pretty large number.  In one comparison of similar assessment instruments, the VAT had the highest validity ratio of any tool in the country.* * *
When Jimmy arrived at MWVCAA, The ARCHES Project stopped accepting electronic applications, and changed its intake policy of "first come, first served."  Instead, they use the VI-SPDAT at intake, which takes about 15 minutes for experienced staff.  If the client scores very high on the VI-SPDAT, they also use the VAT, which takes about 45 minutes to do, and another hour to write up.  Using these tools allows The ARCHES Project to prioritize those most in need of services, determine whether the services provided were effective, and, over time, establish a truer picture of homelessness in the community than exists now.  This involves entering the assessment data into Servicepoint, Oregon' HMIS application.
Thanks to the good work of Rena [Croucher at OHCS] and Hunter [Belgard, Portland Housing Bureau(up in Portland), we’ll...have a new coordinated entry entry-exit assessment in HMIS that we will use here in Mid-Willamette [Community Action Agency].  This will allow us to generate our base assessment and SPDATs inside HMIS.  Our Process here will be:
1)    Client comes into contact with our agency.
2)    We open and complete our entry-exit for coordinated assessment.
3)    We place our clients on a master wait list, priority determined by SPDAT score.
4)    Once a housing program selects the client for placement, our coordinated entry-exit is then closed, with an exit destination set to the new housing program.
In casual conversation (back in 2016), Jimmy told us he thought the picture of homelessness here in Salem would not be as bad as it was in Clark Co., WA, where he last worked, but after several months doing assessments at The ARCHES Project and elsewhere in the area, he's concluded it's probably worse, owing in large part to the presence of the Oregon State Hospital and area corrections facilities. He guesses, based on what he's been told about how MWVCAA conducts the annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count and the assessments he's done, that Marion and Polk Counties have something like 5,000 people experiencing some type of homelessness, half of whom are extremely vulnerable (lots of issues), half of whom are homeless more due to misfortune combined with tight economic circumstances.  He said this community just doesn't have the resources to deal with that more vulnerable population, and hasn't had the data required to demonstrate the need in order to get the resources.

Asked in January 2019 what he thought of his 2016 estimates, Jimmy said they were "pretty dead on", based on what he and his team had learned over the past couple of years.  "One thing that shocks me still is the larger number of unsheltered homeless women living in camps.  Closer to half female.", he said.  "The other thing is the physical health conditions for the nearly 300 [highest needs] HRAP-VAT clients turned out a bit worse than expected: not just the normal stuff like diabetes and heart conditions, but head traumas and weird stuff like mobility issues."  And, he now refers to area resources -- financial and organizational -- as "grossly inadequate."  

Thursday, November 10, 2016

HMIS and Bed Usage Rates

Revised: January 2019
 

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston


Image: Kitwe Co, UK
In October, CANDO made a recommendation to the Mid Willamette Homeless Initiative Task Force (MWHITF) to advocate for a systematic approach to improving homeless services delivery, starting with wider use of ServicePoint, a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) application in use in Oregon, and the development of a coordinated assessjment and entry system (CES).

Those who don't live in the world of homeless services delivery, or haven't made a study of it, might be unfamiliar with these tools.  The purpose of this post, and the next one, is to give readers some idea what they can do.

HMIS is concerned primarily with housing.  HUD requires every continuum of care (CoC) to inventory the housing available in their community, and issue an annual Housing Inventory Count report.

When an Oregon provider enters bed-usage data in ServicePoint, HUD counts those beds as "HMIS-covered."  A high bed coverage rate means the data will be meaningful.  CoCs that have high coverage rates are better able to compete for HUD funding.  Here's what the HMIS-coverage situation looks like in Region 7, based on the last bed inventory count (shaded = not covered):

Region 7 2016 Housing Programs

Program
*
Fam Units
Fam Beds
Child Only Beds
Adult Only Beds
Total Beds
S
Salem IHN

4
14


14
S
Center for H&S
DV
3
13

2
15
S
UGM Simonka

5
18

78
96
S
UGM Men’s




114 (+94 overfl)
208
S
Sable House
DV



10
10
S
Polk County




3
3
S
NWHS SOS



15

15
S
Total Beds





361


Program
*
Fam Units
Fam Beds
Child Only Beds
Adult Only Beds
Total Beds
TH
St Francis

14
46


46
TH
St Joseph

17
51


51
TH
Salvation Army




84
84
TH
Shangri-La

2
4

14
18
TH
Grace House




9 (W)
9
TH
UGM Men’s




56 (M)
56
TH
Titus Hse
AD



6
6
TH
Shelly’s Hse
CH



17 (W)
17
TH
Rstration Hse
CH



48 (M)
48
TH
HOB
V



5 (M)
5
TH
NWHS



8

8
TH
Total Beds





351


Program
*
Fam Units
Fam Beds
Adult Only Beds
Total Beds
PSH
SHA-CHDV

3
15
6
21
PSH
SHA-VASH

6
20
48
68
PSH
NWHS-HOAP



9
9
PSH
Shangri-La 0

4
8
12
20
PSH
Shangri-La 2

3
5
4
9
PSH
Shangri-La B



5
5
RRH
CAA-SSVF

2
8
3
11
RRH
CAA-OHCS

3
10
7
17
RRH
CAA-ARCHES

10
23
20
43
RRH
CAA-ARCHES

2
4
3
7

Total Beds




210

S-Shelter  TH-Transitional Housing   PSH-Permanent Supportive Housing   RRH-Rapid Re-Housing   DV-domestic violence   AD-alcohol/drug addiction  CH-criminal history  V-veterans  SHA-Salem Housing Authority   
CH&S-Center for Hope and Safety  CAA-MWVCommunity Action Agency     HH-Household   NWHS-Northwest Human Services      HOB-Home of the Brave (closed summer 2016)  CHDV-Chronically Homeless Disabled Vet SSVF-Supportive Svces for Vet Families

Not included, Father Taafee Homes, Woodmansee Community, River of Life House, Safe Families, Polk CDC, Oxford Houses

Based on the above data, Region 7's bed coverage rates look like this:

Housing Type
Total Beds in HIC
Total DV Beds in HIC
Total HMIS Beds
HMIS Coverage Rate
Shelter
361
25
14
4%
TH
351
0
124
35%
PSH
132
0
34
26%
RRH
78
0
78
100%

These rates are so low (RRH excepted) as to limit the usefulness of the data as systems measures.  Region 7's rates also drag down ROCC's rates (see below) (though Region 7 isn't the only one doing this), and limits the usefulness of ROCC's data as systems measures.  For that reason,  they also harm ROCC's ability to compete on a national level for CoC Program funding.

ROCC's 2016 Consolidated Application

ROCC's 2016 Consolidated Application
For the past several years, HUD has steadily raised the bar as CoCs improve their data collection and fine-tune their tools and methods.  If a CoC's bed coverage rate is below a certain percentage, the CoC "loses points" and below-par data won't be accepted for HUD's statistical purposes.   Here to the left is what ROCC told HUD this year about its low bed coverage rates (BOS CoC is another name for ROCC).

Translated, ROCC is acknowledging that it has not been able to persuade non-grantee providers (i.e., providers who don't receive HUD funding) to use ServicePoint.  We would question whether ROCC is "diligently working" to obtain those providers support.  Barriers include 1) license fees ($350/yr), 2) staff time (a few hours/wk), 3) philosophical objections, 4) security objections, 5) culture of non-cooperation among providers.   

To get some idea what coverage rates could tell us, at right is a draft of the most recent report on ROCC's Bed Coverage Rate (BCR) and Bed Utilization Rate (BUR).  The BUR, if based on accurate inputs, indicates how efficiently  programs are operating, and whether they're meeting the needs of the homeless community.

However, the BUR here is not based on sufficient  inputs.  The BCRs for ESFAM, ESIND, THFAM and THIND are too low because too few providers participated in HMIS.   

Other ROCC measures (Average HH Size, Length of Stay), are similarly unreliable.

(When HUD has finished reviewing the data in this report, asterisks will appear by "ESFAM, ESIND, THFAM and THIND" to indicate those coverage rates are unacceptable.) 

Next:  HMIS and Coordinated Entry