8 Point Plan to provide a Safety Net

Although it is hard to get an exact number of those living on the streets in makeshift shelters, cars, or dilapidated campers and RVs, it is clear that the number is growing. Working with experts in the field, I plan to support the adoption of an 8-point plan to provide a safety net to the "Houseless" in our city. I have provided highlights of the plan.

1) Create a Command Center staff to coordinate federal, state, Metro, Multnomah County, and City of Portland efforts to reach a goal of making homelessness rare and temporary.

2) Creation of a private real-time database like our health system has, which is available only to direct service providers.

3) Hire and train a staff of 50 outreach workers and 100 case managers, whose primary job is to identify and gain the trust of houseless individuals and bring them into contact with a case manager.

4) Expand the Hooper Detoxification Center from its current 40 beds to 120 beds, ideally in the same building in which it is currently located.

5) Build and staff a new behavioral health residential recovery center to provide case management and counseling assistance for 30 to 60 days.

6) Expand in-patient care facilities for the significantly mentally ill at Providence, Cascadia Behavioral Health, and the Unity Center which is a joint operation of Adventist, Kaiser, OHSU, and Legacy Hospitals.

7) Find affordable housing apartment buildings that need supportive services for some tenants, including existing foster care homes in the region, or homes provided by the new Home Share operation.

8) Support private entrepreneurs in Portland who have purchased large private homes and made them into "clean and sober living homes", where those suffering from substance abuse, can find friends and companionship from others in the same boat.