Latest news with #HouseBill3644
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Eugene gave its Safe Sleep sites an extension, but will funding last?
Eugene's 'Safe Sleep" sites will be allowed to continue operating through June 2028, but funding remains a question, city leaders said Monday. City councilors remained supportive of the program, which authorizes sites for people experiencing homelessness to camp in cars or tents. But some voiced concern over how long funding for those sites would last as the state Legislature debates the issue and the city considers its budget. Monday's 7-1 vote extended the authorization for these sites, a decision most councilors said they supported while leaving funding discussions for another time. "This ordinance does not commit funds to these sites or guarantee any individual site will continue, particularly if we don't find funding for those sites," Councilor Eliza Kashinsky said. "However, what it does do is create the sort of legal permitting infrastructure needed to continue those sites. ... These programs have been fairly successful. There's likely to continue to be a need for them." Councilor Mike Clark cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he would prefer to extend the authorization for as long as the city has secured funding — currently through June 2026. "I think that (extending authorization) extends the expectation of the continuation of the policy and the program in some cases, in a specific place," he said. "And we don't have funding and are relying on the state funding that we don't have certainly lined up. To an extent, I believe it obligates us." Since the Safe Sleep sites launched, the city has relied on a series of one-time funding allocations, with most of the money coming initially from the federal American Rescue Plan and then the state's All-In program. Eugene Homeless Services Manager Regan Watjus said funding that has already been awarded would keep the sites going through June 30, 2026, and that the city is encouraging the state to fund All-In supported programs on a longer-term basis. Gov. Tina Kotek's proposed budget and accompanying House Bill 3644 recommends such shelter funding for the 2025-27 biennium, which was the subject of a public hearing Monday. The city launched its first Safe Sleep sites in 2021 using ARPA money. Facing cost overruns, the city opened just 186 tent spots and 55 vehicle camping spots over five locations, instead of the original plan of 300 tent spots and 200 parking spots. Three of those sites now operate under the city's authority while two operate under the state's authority. This is the fourth time the City Council has extended the sunset to allow those three sites to continue operation. According to Lane County's Homeless by Name Count, 5,120 people were experiencing homelessness in the county this January, the highest month since the count began in 2021. Of that group, 28% had access to an emergency shelter or transitional housing, 67% were unsheltered, and 5% were using "alternative shelter," which includes the Safe Sleep sites. Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@ or on X @alanfrytorres. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene extends Safe Sleep sites, but funding uncertain
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Eugene gave its Safe Sleep sites an extension, but will funding last?
Eugene's 'Safe Sleep" sites will be allowed to continue operating through June 2028, but funding remains a question, city leaders said Monday. City councilors remained supportive of the program, which authorizes sites for people experiencing homelessness to camp in cars or tents. But some voiced concern over how long funding for those sites would last as the state Legislature debates the issue and the city considers its budget. Monday's 7-1 vote extended the authorization for these sites, a decision most councilors said they supported while leaving funding discussions for another time. "This ordinance does not commit funds to these sites or guarantee any individual site will continue, particularly if we don't find funding for those sites," Councilor Eliza Kashinsky said. "However, what it does do is create the sort of legal permitting infrastructure needed to continue those sites. ... These programs have been fairly successful. There's likely to continue to be a need for them." Councilor Mike Clark cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he would prefer to extend the authorization for as long as the city has secured funding — currently through June 2026. "I think that (extending authorization) extends the expectation of the continuation of the policy and the program in some cases, in a specific place," he said. "And we don't have funding and are relying on the state funding that we don't have certainly lined up. To an extent, I believe it obligates us." Since the Safe Sleep sites launched, the city has relied on a series of one-time funding allocations, with most of the money coming initially from the federal American Rescue Plan and then the state's All-In program. Eugene Homeless Services Manager Regan Watjus said funding that has already been awarded would keep the sites going through June 30, 2026, and that the city is encouraging the state to fund All-In supported programs on a longer-term basis. Gov. Tina Kotek's proposed budget and accompanying House Bill 3644 recommends such shelter funding for the 2025-27 biennium, which was the subject of a public hearing Monday. The city launched its first Safe Sleep sites in 2021 using ARPA money. Facing cost overruns, the city opened just 186 tent spots and 55 vehicle camping spots over five locations, instead of the original plan of 300 tent spots and 200 parking spots. Three of those sites now operate under the city's authority while two operate under the state's authority. This is the fourth time the City Council has extended the sunset to allow those three sites to continue operation. According to Lane County's Homeless by Name Count, 5,120 people were experiencing homelessness in the county this January, the highest month since the count began in 2021. Of that group, 28% had access to an emergency shelter or transitional housing, 67% were unsheltered, and 5% were using "alternative shelter," which includes the Safe Sleep sites. Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@ or on X @alanfrytorres. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene extends Safe Sleep sites, but funding uncertain
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oregon Gov. Kotek, lawmakers push for more regional collaboration for homeless shelters and services
Toys sit outside at the Columbia Inn, a Project Turnkey shelter in Astoria. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) After years of increased state funding to address homelessness and ever-growing numbers of homeless Oregonians, lawmakers and Gov. Tina Kotek are pushing for more state oversight and coordination for homeless shelters. Kotek's office and Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, have spent months working on plans for a statewide homeless shelter program. The result, House Bill 3644, would require regional coordination and a focus on getting homeless Oregonians into their own homes, formalizing the regional approach shelter providers and local governments scrambled to put into place after Kotek declared a homelessness state of emergency in 2023. 'It's trying to put into place what has been working well on the ground throughout the state,' Kotek told reporters during a media availability on Monday. The proposal — which accounts for almost $220 million of the $700 million Kotek wants lawmakers to spend to help shelter homeless Oregonians and prevent people living on the brink from falling into homelessness — comes as the state continues to grapple with a growing crisis. Nearly 23,000 of Oregon's roughly 4.2 million residents were homeless in January 2024, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. About 62% of those individuals lacked shelter. More Oregonians were homeless in 2024 than when Kotek took office in 2023, despite the state's record spending on shelter programs, eviction prevention and other homelessness prevention efforts. But Kotek and legislative allies say things are better than they would have been without her actions: By July, they estimate that 3,330 families will have moved off the streets and into permanent homes, 24,000 families will have received state aid to keep them from becoming homelessness and 4,800 new shelter beds will exist across the state as a direct result of her emergency order and state funding. Kotek told lawmakers on the House Housing and Homelessness Committee that the framework created by the bill would help make sure that when someone experiences homelessness anywhere in the state they'll know where to go for help finding shelter and get the services they need to move back into housing. 'Without this bill, we're going to keep churning and causing a lot of inconsistency in the system,' Kotek said. 'Let's be clear with Oregonians what we need to be doing. Let's fund it. Let's support the work of partners around the state who are doing this hard work.' Homeless shelters have historically been managed by local nonprofit organizations, sometimes with support from local government agencies. But over the past few years, as unsheltered homelessness skyrocketed in Oregon, the state has taken a larger role in providing funding for shelters. That started in 2020, when the state used federal COVID relief money to set up Project Turnkey, a program that turned unused hotels and other buildings into homeless shelters. It started as emergency housing for people who lost their homes to the 2020 wildfires that destroyed thousands of houses, then expanded to include more forms of shelter. In total, Project Turnkey turned $125 million in state funding into 32 shelters with nearly 1,400 beds across 18 counties. It marked a 30% increase to the number of shelter beds in Oregon. Kotek's first action as governor in 2023 was declaring a state of emergency around homelessness. That gave her office and the state Department of Emergency Management the authority to coordinate state agencies, employees and equipment to quickly address the crisis. The Legislature responded by quickly allocating hundreds of millions of dollars for homelessness and housing, with the goal of getting more people into shelters and permanent homes and preventing others from losing their homes. Kotek's emergency order resulted in setting up multi-agency coordinating groups, which bring together local governments, shelters and other service providers to collaborate on providing shelter and services. The bill would continue regional collaboration after the emergency order ends. Tammy Baney, executive director of the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, said the central Oregon region, which includes Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, works together to address homelessness. Additional funding from the state government over the past few years helped the region add 200 emergency shelter beds and get 300 people into housing, she said. But on any given night, nearly 1,800 people in central Oregon are homeless, and nearly 1,250 of those people lack shelter, most staying in tents, makeshift shelters and vehicles on public lands. Baney urged lawmakers to approve House Bill 3644, which she said would help regions continue working on providing shelter to Oregonians who need it. 'It builds on the assets across the state, rather than a one-size-fits-all plan,' Baney said. 'This will also save precious time, tax dollars and reduce duplication as regions would not need to reinvent their structures. Instead, they can stay focused on outcomes.' Rick Russell, lead pastor of Redmond's Mountain View Fellowship church, provides a vehicle-based shelter that helped about 140 people last year. Women, especially mothers with children, and assault survivors often feel safer staying in their own cars than they do in traditional congregate shelters, Russell said, and it's easier to convince residents skeptical of shelters in their neighborhoods to support a parking lot than a building. 'When people experience safety and stability, they move from 24-hour survival mode to long-term thinking and planning toward a better future, and that's what we're there to provide,' Russell said. The bill would allow, but not require, regions to use safe car camping as a form of shelter. Umatilla County Commissioner Cindy Timmons said her eastern Oregon neighbors won't allow car-based shelters, and it's important that each region has the flexibility it needs to address homelessness. Some eastern Oregon counties, including Morrow, Wheeler and Gilliam, have no shelter beds, Timmons said. That means her region needs to be able to use money for transportation to help get people who need services to the places they can access services. Lawmakers will take more public comments on the bill on Wednesday. Oregonians who want to comment can submit written comments or sign up to speak to the committee on the Legislature's website. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
