Homeless Program Coordinator's Year 1 Work Plan

Revised: December 2018

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

Homeless Initiative Program Coordinator Ali Treichel with Chart

In July 2018, Marion County issued a report on the implementation of the strategic plan adopted by the Mid-Willamette Hopeless Initiative Task Force back in February 2017, about sixteen months ago.  It looks an awful lot like the report issued last fall.

The report introduced MWHI Program Coordinator Ali Treichel, who began work at the end of January, and would quit in early November.

The report featured the ARCHES Project renovations, the 100-day Challenge to End Youth Homelessness, and Family Promise's new permanent supportive housing program, which (along with Mountain West's Cornerstone Apartments project, Marion County's LEAD program, and Westcare's transitional housing program for veterans) it characterizes as "significant progress on the strategic plan", even though all those projects were developed independently of the Task Force, and have progressed without the assistance of either Treichel, or her steering committee.

The steering committee approved a plan of work that consisted largely of talking to people and mapping/analyzing systems -- something one might have thought the Task Force would have accomplished in 2016.  Reports were due in October, according to the work plan, but not all were completed before Treichel's departure.  Marion County and the City of Salem both set aside funds to cover the coordinator position a second year, at a total cost of ~$100K. 

Full Plan Here

    
In July, Treichel said she was analyzing "issues, ideas, and potential solutions against best practice."  "Best practice" in the context of homelessness is distinguishable from "promising" and "emerging" practice and has been described as,

[A]n intervention, method or technique that has consistently been proven effective through the most rigorous scientific research (especially conducted by independent researchers) and which has been replicated across several cases or examples. To be a ‘best practice’, an intervention must be able to show that it produces better results than other approaches and that it is a practice that can potentially be adapted with success in other contexts and/or scaled up to a systems-wide approach. In other words, there is a sufficient body of evidence that allows us to confidently say that the described practice is a generalizable example of something that works. It should be noted that some interventions might demonstrate scientific rigor, but never be generalizable in other contexts.     

If the steering committee holds true to this standard, it will, presumably, have to forego prioritizing  things like financial literacy, curbing panhandling, and sobering, which are, at best, unproven (that is, neither best, nor promising, nor emerging) methods for addressing homelessness.

Fall 2017 Update

Summer 2018 Update

At left and right are bits of the last two reports  (same photos, different reports).


Marion County appears to have  stopped updating the MWHITF web page, so if you want to follow develop-ments, you'll need to look on the MWVCOG website for  meeting agendas, minutes,  work plan, and the revised strategic plan.

The steering committee is led by Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark, who, in April of this year, "noted progress being made", according to the minutes of the meeting.  Clark has said she believes increased awareness of homelessness in the community has led to "increased complaints, unfortunately."

The other elected official on the steering committee is Marion County Commissioner Janet Clark, also a conservative.  COG's Executive Director, Sean O'Day, is on the committee, along with two city managers (David Clyne of Independence and Scott McClure of Monmouth) and one urban development director (Kristin Retherford of Salem).

The one to watch is Kristin Retherford.  She's become the City's de facto point person on the City's response to its homelessness issues.  In addition to being the City's rep on the steering committee, a whole lot of federal money (Urban Renewal, HOME, CDBG) runs through her department.  In addition to those federal programs, she oversaw the Community Services and Housing Commission, until SRC Chapter 20G was repealed in January 2019, and she facilitated the Downtown Homeless Solutions Task Force.  Separate and apart from the Housing Authority, what Retherford thinks, believes and knows about homelessness and homeless services delivery influences the City far more than any set of maps, plans or reports likely to come out of the steering committee.