Agenda Packet 10-10-18 Joint Work Session

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2 The unsheltered population in Lane County is very visible and comparisons indicate it is significantly higher than many other similar communities: • Out of 399 Continuums of Care (CoC) across the country, Lane County ranks 42nd CoC with highest unsheltered people. • Of “Smaller, City, County and Regional CoCs” across the country, Lane County ranks 6th in chronically homeless number of single individual adults. • In Lane County, .27% of population are unsheltered, as compared to Portland with .20% and Seattle with .25%. Compared to the State of Oregon, City of Portland, City of Salem and Multnomah County, Lane County has a higher rate of poverty, a larger population of elders as well as those under 65 who have a disability and a higher unemployment rate. While the number of homeless veterans – sheltered and unsheltered – has generally trended downwards over the last ten years, the number of unsheltered chronically homeless single adults with disabling conditions has generally increased. 4. Lane County Homeless Service System for Single Adults TAC’s analysis included a review of all system components to determine overall capacity and gaps in housing and services to address homelessness with particular focus on single adults. The major components of Lane County’s homeless service system include Coordinated Entry, Emergency Shelter, Day Shelter, Outreach, Transitional Housing, Rapid-Rehousing, and Permanent Supportive Housing. TAC has developed a system map of Lane County’s Homeless Service System and the system flow throughout the system which is included as Appendix B. Further below in this summary, a number of challenges and recommendations are provided based on an assessment of the different components for single adults. 5. Challenges TAC’s interviews and data analysis indicate that the persistence of the County’s single adult homeless population is due to external factors – some of which the County may be able to impact and others it cannot – as well as factors the County and/or the Continuum of Care can impact. Demographic variables are among those factors the County can effect in only limited ways. As stated previously, Lane County has a higher percentage of citizens over 65 years of age, a higher poverty rate, a lower employment rate and a higher percentage of citizens between 18 and 65 who have disabilities than Salem, Portland, Multnomah County or the State of Oregon as a whole. It is not surprising then that there would be a relatively greater need for affordable housing and permanent supportive housing. At the same time, however, the County’s affordable housing stock is limited. Like many communities across the Country, pressure on the rental market has been increasing, resulting October 10, 2018, Joint City-County Work Session – Item 1