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Supportive Housing Services: FY 2024 Quarter 2 Report
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On February 15 the Joint Office’s Supportive Housing Services (SHS) team submitted our Q2 report to Metro, which highlights Multnomah County’s SHS work from October to December of this fiscal year.
 In Q2 Multnomah County saw an increase in placements in supportive housing and rapid rehousing, as well as an increase in people served with rent support to avoid homelessness. Taken together, we have housed more people so far this fiscal year than at the same point last year — a mid-year record — which is an encouraging sign as we enter the second half of the fiscal year.
The Joint Office also made significant progress toward SHS financial goals for this fiscal year, spending $43 million in SHS funds in the first two quarters of FY 2024. This exceeded our total SHS spending during the first three quarters of FY 2023, and allowed us to expand programming and provide supportive services and/or rent assistance to a total of 2,338 people.
Our collective efforts in Q2 give many reasons to celebrate as we gain momentum in implementing these historic funds, and work to prevent and reduce homelessness in Multnomah County.
You can read the full report on the JOHS website here.
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JOHS Podcast: Supportive Housing Services
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 On this month's podcast, we explore the impact of the Supportive Housing Services measure, passed by Metro area voters in 2020. The Ten-year regionwide program goals include connecting 5,000 chronically homeless households with supportive housing, building new outreach teams, stabilizing 10,000 households experiencing or at risk of homelessness in permanent housing and expanding the network of culturally specific service providers.
In 2023, Multnomah County met most of the annual goals set by Metro for implementation of the supportive housing services measure, and 99% of people housed in 2022 remained in housing a year later.
We speak with Cristal Otero of the Supportive Housing Services team at the Joint Office of Homeless Services to find out more.
We also hear from Jessica, who recently got into housing thanks to funding from the Supportive Housing Services measure. She was supported by provider Do Good Multnomah and volunteers with PDX Saints Love, an organization that provided her help and support on the street, and where she now works doing outreach and peer support.
More information about the Supportive Housing Services measure, including the 2023 annual report, can be found at johs.us/shs.
Listen the podcast here.
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Located at 9000 N. Lombard St, Portland, OR 97203, the day center will serve as a centralized daytime space for community members to get out of the weather and access a variety of services in a safe, trauma-informed environment.
Though overnight shelter will not be offered, staff will refer people to overnight shelter and housing services as needed. Case management, housing navigation assistance, hygiene services, limited meals, and mailing address services will be offered at this site.
St. Johns was chosen after local pastors expressed the need for a day center after the loss of a previous privately run space - a space for people experiencing homelessness to attend recovery meetings, receive services, or have coffee and conversations.
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A Severe Weather Event Avoided
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Severe weather shelters served 200 people in
Multnomah County the night of Wednesday, February 14th.
On the morning of February 15, 2024, Multnomah County closed five severe weather shelter locations that opened the night prior, reflecting current forecasts showing rising temperatures and no snow accumulation in the Portland area. More than 200 people stayed in the 480 additional severe beds Multnomah County and its contracted service provider partners opened that night.
The National Weather Service had forecast up to 3 inches of snow Wednesday night, albeit with significant uncertainty about how severe conditions might become, prompting Multnomah County to activate its shelter response out of an abundance of caution.
The County worked with its staff and four nonprofit providers — Cultivate Initiatives, Do Good Multnomah, Transition Projects and All Good Northwest — to stand up four temporary emergency shelters, add beds at an existing shelter, schedule and provide training for volunteer and staff shifts, and launch coordinated street outreach to bring cold weather gear to people living unsheltered.
The County applied lessons learned from the January 2024 storm and its associated emergency response. That storm brought cold temperatures, ice and snow to the region for more than a week, with icy conditions continuing much longer than initially forecast by the National Weather Service.
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Coordinated Access Redesign
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The Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS) is working towards implementing new processes and procedures for Coordinated Access (CA) for adults and families. This process is being led in partnership with our Oversight Committee, a committee of staff from the adult and family CA partner agencies, and the Housing Connections Collaborative, a lived experience advisory body.
Starting in January, we have been testing the tool with outreach providers and case managers. The data from the testing phase will help determine our scoring methodology as we move into the pilot. Starting in April, the pilot phase will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the new tool in better tackling areas not well addressed with the previous tool. This includes racial equity advancement, cultural responsiveness, and being trauma-informed. We will spend the spring and summer refining the tool, revising our policies and procedures, and will launch the new tool in late summer/early fall.
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Winter Weather: Donations and Volunteering
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 As temperatures remain cold and rain continues to fall, shelter & outreach providers in Multnomah County are requesting winter gear donations — for information on what to donate and where, visit the Volunteer/Donations page on 211info.org
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Capacity & Technical Support: Housing and Homeless Systems Request for Qualifications (RFQu)
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In collaboration with Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties, Metro is opening a request for qualifications (RFQu) for providers who can offer technical assistance and capacity building support.
Link to the application is available here
Opening - Friday, March 1, 2024. Closing - Thursday, April 29, 2024.
The RFQu is designed to expand the number and types of consultants available to partner with Metro and the Counties to provide technical assistance and capacity building support for them and their partnering service organizations in the housing and homeless systems. Save the date for a virtual optional pre-proposal conference, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. on March 7.
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Upcoming Events and Meetings
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Attend one of our advisory board and committee meetings below to learn more about the committees and bodies that help guide the work of the Joint Office.
Community Budget Advisory Committee
Monday, February 26th, 2024 ⋅ 4:00 – 6:00pm
Click here for Virtual Meeting
Continuum of Care Board
To be determined soon...
Supportive Housing Services (SHS) Advisory Committee
Thursday, March 14th, 2024 ⋅ 3:00 – 4:30pm
Click here for Virtual Meeting
For more info on our advisory boards and committees, including meeting links, agendas and other materials, please visit https://johs.us/johs-community-advisory-bodies/
Please email johscommunityadvisory@multco.us for any questions.
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Resources for People Experiencing Homelessness
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Racial Justice & Equity Resources
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Joint Office of Homeless Services Work Opportunities
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Partner Organizations | Employment Opportunities
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