 |
| Janet Carlson et al, sharing the case for leaving ROCC and forming a local CoC |
By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston
About two dozen bigwigs from Salem-area housing and social services agencies met at the Kroc Center last week to hear about the movement initiated by the Mid Willamette Homeless Initiative (MWHI) Steering Committee to pull out of the 28-county Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC) and form a local CoC.
Invitations to the two-hour meeting came from Jimmy Jones, Executive Director of the Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (MWVCAA), who has been working closely on with the steering committee and Mid Willamette Valley Council of Governments (MWVCOG) staff, Sean O’Day, Janet Carlson, and Jan Calvin on community outreach. The MWHI Steering Committee is housed at MWVCOG.
To pull the sting of anticipated negative feedback during the main meeting, Carlson et al, met beforehand with reps of the three local agencies awarded CoC Program grants for 2019: Robin Winkle, Homeless Services Director for Shangri-La, Jayne Downing, Executive Director for Center for Hope and Safety, and TJ Putman, Executive Director for Salem Interfaith Housing Network. The strategey must have worked, because none of them raised any objections or concerns during the meeting.
Beside the community (including the homeless community), those most likely to be affected by the restructuring are homeless shelter and housing providers. Housing reps at the meeting: Candace Jamison, Executive Director for Marion County Housing Authority; Christian Edelblute, Executive Director for West Valley Housing Authority; Nicole Utz, Acting Administrator for Salem Housing Authority; Rita Grady, Executive Director for Polk Community Development Corporation; Kim Lyell, Polk CDC; Shelly Ehenger, Federal Programs Manager, City of Salem; Brent DeMoe, Director of Family and Community Outreach for Polk County; Dan Clem, Executive Director for the Union Gospel Mission; Kristin Keunz-Barber, Strategic Partnerships Manager for Northwest Human Services; Dan Williams, Administrator for the Salvation Army of Marion and Polk Counties' Kroc Center; Jason Ramos, Director of Social Services for TSA; Josh Graves, Deputy Executive Director for Catholic Community Services; Kim Lemman, Executive Director for St. Francis Shelter. (Notably missing: reps from the Oregon Departments of Human Services and Housing and Community Services, WestCare Veterans Home, Shelly's House, Sable House, Titus 3 House.)
But, supportive and preventative services reps were also present: Melissa Baurer, Community Liason and Service Integration Coordinator for Santiam Hospital; Cyndi Leinassar, Community Relations Liason for Salem Health; Ian Dixon-MacDonald, Vice President of Programs for Marion Polk Food Share; Heather Wright, Polk County Homeless Connect; Christina Korkow, Executive Director for Recovery Outreach Community Center; Cathy Todd, Director of Employment Services for Easter Seals; Patrice Altenhofen, Executive Director for Family Building Blocks; Lisa Harnisch, Executive Director for Early Learning Hub.
Also present were Caleb Green, Assistant Program Coordinator for Community Action Partners of Oregon, which houses ROCC staff, and Pegge McGuire, Deputy Director of Programs for Community Services Consortium of Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties.
 |
| Ehenger, Winkle, Jamison, Harnish, Downing, Lemman |
Below are our notes on the meeting, which we found impossible to summarize accurately.
Jones thanked everyone for coming. O'Day gave what has become his standard introduction, and Carlson started going through her slides. (See "CoC Issue at City Council" for links to slides and the video of the same presentation to the Salem City Council.)
At the slide about all the funding sources that a functional CoC might target strategically, Carlson told of her experience applying for a Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project grant along with other members of the ROCC, and how impossible it was for Marion County to show it was collaborating with distant counties like Harney.
Jones shared how he had tried to persuade Salem providers to support a local coordinated entry system, and how his work group "collapsed on its own weight" because it didn’t have the support of government. (See "Coordinated Entry After One Year.")
Carlson admitted that the continuum had gaps, that people had looked the other way on homelessness, that there was no hub, no overarching planing or oversight. She said the steering committee's Homeless Program Coordinator had counted 550 programs delivering some form services to the homeless in Marion and Polk Counties.
Jones talked about ROCC scoring a 17 out of 50 possible points for data quality in the 2019 competition due to "unforced errors", and came in well below the weighted mean of 166 (out of a possible 200 points). He said that CoCs scoring above the weighted mean "get all their Tier 1 [renewal] projects funded." (See "ROCC Fissures Continue to Grow.")
Carlson made her "usual disclaimer" that the move to form a local CoC is "not about the money, but it's always about the money." She spoke of the broken promises of support ROCC made in 2011 when the decision was made to merge with ROCC, and how ROCC was not receiving less HUD funding since that time, but Marion and Polk County programs were.
DeMoe asked how many of ROCC's 6,392 homeless are in Marion and Polk Counties, and Jones answered about a third. (Based on the point-in-time numbers, it's about a fifth.) Ehenger asked about Yamhill County's numbers. (Yamhill counted 657 individuals in the 2018.)
In response to a question about including Yamhill County, O'Day repeated what Carlson had said, that it's not about money, but about having measurable impact. He said Willamina and the Confederated Tribes span Polk and Yamhill, and that Marion, Polk and Yamhill have regional ties through other organizations like the Regional Solutions Task Force and United Way. He said the problem with ROCC was both performance and redistributing the region's dollars across ROCC. In response to a question from Jamison about what resources the CoC would plan for, Carlson said the CoC would ultimately need to plan around all dollars, setting community priorities in the context of national priorities.
Jones called on McGuire to talk about about Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties' interest in forming a regional CoC. McGuire said that, in the past, the Community Services Consortium had discouraged any talk of separation from ROCC, but they were now interested. (For logistical and other reasons, the MWHI steering committee decided at the regular April meeting that they do not favor including LBL.)
O'Day said that MWVCOG was a member-based organization that waited for members to say what they would like to have happen, so whether MWVCOG would host the local CoC remained to be seen. He said that MWVCOG is experienced and knowledgeable in allocating federal resources effectively and in partnering with non-profits. He said MWVCOG was not, however, interested in "empire-building or stealing community resources."
Clem asked whether NGOs could participate in the CoC and whether MWVCOG could attract private dollars. O'Day talked about various MWVCOG committees that currently incorporate NGOs. He said MWVCOG had historically not worked with private dollars but some Councils of Government did, citing MPOs as an example. Carlson said she would discourage "the private course", and that "the focus and purpose was on government" involvement.
Jones shared how he had tried to persuade Salem providers to support a local coordinated entry system, and how his work group "collapsed on its own weight" because it didn’t have the support of government. (See "Coordinated Entry After One Year.")
Carlson admitted that the continuum had gaps, that people had looked the other way on homelessness, that there was no hub, no overarching planing or oversight. She said the steering committee's Homeless Program Coordinator had counted 550 programs delivering some form services to the homeless in Marion and Polk Counties.
Jones talked about ROCC scoring a 17 out of 50 possible points for data quality in the 2019 competition due to "unforced errors", and came in well below the weighted mean of 166 (out of a possible 200 points). He said that CoCs scoring above the weighted mean "get all their Tier 1 [renewal] projects funded." (See "ROCC Fissures Continue to Grow.")
Carlson made her "usual disclaimer" that the move to form a local CoC is "not about the money, but it's always about the money." She spoke of the broken promises of support ROCC made in 2011 when the decision was made to merge with ROCC, and how ROCC was not receiving less HUD funding since that time, but Marion and Polk County programs were.
In response to a question about including Yamhill County, O'Day repeated what Carlson had said, that it's not about money, but about having measurable impact. He said Willamina and the Confederated Tribes span Polk and Yamhill, and that Marion, Polk and Yamhill have regional ties through other organizations like the Regional Solutions Task Force and United Way. He said the problem with ROCC was both performance and redistributing the region's dollars across ROCC. In response to a question from Jamison about what resources the CoC would plan for, Carlson said the CoC would ultimately need to plan around all dollars, setting community priorities in the context of national priorities.
Jones called on McGuire to talk about about Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties' interest in forming a regional CoC. McGuire said that, in the past, the Community Services Consortium had discouraged any talk of separation from ROCC, but they were now interested. (For logistical and other reasons, the MWHI steering committee decided at the regular April meeting that they do not favor including LBL.)
O'Day said that MWVCOG was a member-based organization that waited for members to say what they would like to have happen, so whether MWVCOG would host the local CoC remained to be seen. He said that MWVCOG is experienced and knowledgeable in allocating federal resources effectively and in partnering with non-profits. He said MWVCOG was not, however, interested in "empire-building or stealing community resources."
Williams asked how ROCC viewed the leave effort. Carlson related a brief history of communications, and said HUD had assigned someone to offer the steering committee technical assistance.
Ehenger suggested following "the Atlanta model" instead of a government model, so that the region would be better able to work with private entities like the Ford Foundation. O'Day answered that MWVCOG had "no problem" working with the Ford Foundation and similar entities. DeMoe asked the group not lean too early one way or the other with respect to public versus private host entity.
Williams asked whether the staff positions were a HUD expectation. Carlson said no, but they were needed. She explained that HUD provided funds for planning and admin.
Jamison talked about her experience in the Multnomah County CoC, and its success in bringing a functional end to veteran homelessness. She spoke of the advantages of having a system in place, so that when funding does comes available, the community is ready to act. She said she had seen firsthand that this approach works.
Graves said he had been working more with affordable housing, and was frustrated with how hard regulations made it to "get people into housing." He said "parts of the system are missing", and asked if the restructuring would bring any additional restrictions that would make it more difficult to get people into housing. In response, Jones said "affordable housing in Marion County is a catastrophe." Utz commented that regulatory compliance was one of biggest hurdles in getting Housing First projects up and running, giving as an example that project-based vouchers require sobriety. She said all the subsidy layering needed to make a project viable adds years because of the competing compliance standards.
Michael reminded the group what Jon Reeves and others on the MWHI Task Force had said about how siloed Salem-area organizations are. He pointed out that, in reforming a local CoC, the region was not joining some new program, "so it's not going to make your work harder." Graves said he was hoping it would make his work easier. Carlson returned to the points she'd made about the ultimate purpose of the restructuring being collective impact on the problem. Sarah added that the reason organizations end up in silos is that silos are easier. Collaborating is a challenge, having to share resources and data is a challenge. Those things don't occur now, but they'll need to in a functioning CoC. Downing said with obvious irritation, "We already do those things." (Jayne often says this.)
Carlson asked the group for letters of support, and wanted to know how they wanted to participate in the process. Meetings? Updates? How often? O'Day said MWVCOG planned to use the remaining steering committee resources for planning if there was agreement to move forward. Leinassar said yes it should go forward, and that Salem Health wants to be a part of it. Maybe quarterly updates. Carlson said the most important question now was size, and that would need to be determined in the next 6 weeks. Williams offered the Kroc Center for meetings. Clem suggested the next update come after the size is determined, maybe one in June and again in the fall. By this time, several people had left, and the meeting was adjourned about a quarter to noon.
No comments:
Post a Comment