Agenda Packet 10-10-18 Joint Work Session

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3 in low vacancy rates; the Lane County rate is 2.9%. There is limited new production in the County; the U.S. Census indicates that there were only 842 building permits in 2017. Interviews indicated there is limited incentive, e.g. funding, as well as capacity for new development in the County. In addition to these factors, analysis of the homeless data provided by the County indicates that there is substantial, on-going in-flow into the homeless system. The factors that the County can most readily impact relate to the Continuum of Care (CoC). Research by HUD and other entities has identified “best” and “promising” practices that are most effective in helping to end homelessness. For example, a housing first approach, policies and practices have been shown to be very effective in helping a variety of homeless subpopulations including single adults to move from the streets and shelter to housing. Housing first is an approach to quickly and successfully connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry, such as sobriety, treatment or service participation requirements. To the extent CoC programs are not implementing best/promising practices such as Housing First, they are less effective in affecting homelessness. One of the CoC challenges is around the current emergency shelter system. Eugene Mission is the largest emergency shelter in Lane County serving multiple populations. Eugene Mission is well known to the community, providing year-round emergency shelter with facilities, access to meals, and some clinical and housing-related case management services. As the County’s primary permanent emergency shelter for single adults, the Eugene Mission plays a critical role in the crisis response system. The Mission, however, is not a low barrier, housing first oriented program. Eugene Mission has a sobriety requirement that limits the ability for many unsheltered people to be eligible for admission into the overnight setting. The case management services at Eugene Mission are focused more heavily on clinical support, and not as strongly on exiting the shelter and navigation to permanent housing. TAC’s interview with Eugene Mission staff indicated that it has these policies for a variety of reasons including staff capacity and building configuration. Since neither the County, City or Continuum of Care (CoC) fund or have a contract with the Mission, however, they have limited capacity to impact program policies. October 10, 2018, Joint City-County Work Session – Item 1