XPost: or.politics, alt.society.homeless, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: j63840576@gmail.com   
      
   Jim Dutton wrote:   
   > Roughly 800 households in Multnomah County are at imminent risk of   
   > homelessness if a change in federal funding advances as expected.   
   >   
   > “This is a horrible thing to have to face as a community,” said Chair   
   > Jessica Vega Pederson at a Tuesday county board hearing. “We absolutely   
   > have a federal administration that is really trying to put forward   
   > policies that we know are gonna harm people.”   
   >   
   > The county says it faces losing more than $25 million meant to address   
   > the region’s homeless crisis in the coming year from the U.S. Department   
   > of Housing and Urban Development. The news comes after rates of   
   > homelessness across the county surge to record levels.   
   >   
   > But the federal cuts aren’t certain.   
   >   
   > In November, HUD announced it would overhaul the Continuum of Care   
   > program, the government system that issues grants to address   
   > homelessness. Multnomah County applies for funding through this program   
   > annually, and those dollars are distributed among about 15 nonprofits   
   > that operate housing and outreach programs.   
   >   
   > HUD cut the amount of funding available for permanent supportive housing   
   > programs — programs where the government subsidizes or fully pays rent   
   > for formerly homeless people who may be unable to live on their own due   
   > to a mental illness or disability. These programs also offer services to   
   > help people gain stability, such as on-site treatment programs or job   
   > training.   
   >   
   > The federal agency also introduced new requirements for housing   
   > programs; mandated participation in substance abuse treatment programs,   
   > restrictions on operating clean needle exchanges, and prohibitions on   
   > creating programs that benefit a certain race or gender.   
   >   
   > “These long-overdue reforms will promote independence and ensure we are   
   > supporting means-tested approaches to carry out the president’s mandate,   
   > connect Americans with the help they need, and make our cities and towns   
   > beautiful and safe,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner at the time.   
   >   
   > Many of these new requirements violate Multnomah County’s own policies,   
   > which reflect equity goals once mandated by HUD under previous   
   > presidential administrations.   
   >   
   > “It’s a complete 180,” said Anna Plumb, interim director of the   
   county’s   
   > Homeless Services Department.   
   >   
   > Shortly after HUD announced these changes, Oregon and 18 other states   
   > filed a legal challenge. On Dec. 8, a day before a hearing on that   
   > federal lawsuit, HUD withdrew its policy revisions to “assess the issues   
   > raised by plaintiffs” and make changes. But it did not say when those   
   > changes would be published.   
   >   
   > In a statement emailed to OPB Thursday morning, a spokesperson for HUD   
   > said that it “fully stands by the fundamental reforms” to the Continuum   
   > of Care grant requirements, and just intends on making “technical   
   > corrections” to the policy language.   
   >   
   > “The department remains fully committed to making long overdue reforms   
   > to its homelessness assistance programs,” they wrote.   
   >   
   > Multnomah County anticipates that HUD won’t change its previously   
   > announced changes, unless a court intervenes. County officials are   
   > preparing for the worst.   
   >   
   > THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:Become a Sponsor   
   > The county previously anticipated receiving around $38 million through   
   > the HUD program this year. At the Tuesday board meeting, Homeless   
   > Services Department Program Manager Erin Pidot said that if HUD upholds   
   > the Continuum of Care changes introduced in November, the county could   
   > lose $25.3 million of that money.   
   >   
   > Programs that pay to house 800 households — more than a thousand people   
   > — could shutter as soon as early next year.   
   >   
   > “Those are households that were chronically homeless, have significant   
   > disabling conditions and really have demonstrated that they need   
   > permanent supportive housing in order to end their homelessness,” Pidot   
   > said. “We’ll do everything possible to minimize impacts, but preventing   
   > returns to homelessness will require reprioritization of local   
   > resources.”   
   >   
   > Pidot said the county is evaluating ways to use other funding sources,   
   > like Metro’s Supportive Housing Services fund, to pay for the threatened   
   > permanent housing programs, and using what federal funding they do   
   > receive to fill in the remaining gaps. Multnomah County anticipates   
   > collecting about $137 million in revenues through the Metro housing fund   
   > next year.   
   >   
   > Under the HUD policy changes, the county may still be eligible for the   
   > full amount it anticipated, if it used the money on programs approved by   
   > the administration — such as street outreach programs and transitional   
   > housing, which is a type of short-term housing for people exiting   
   > homelessness.   
   >   
   > But the county is worried it will not receive any money from the federal   
   > government because of its public opposition to other policies rolled out   
   > by President Donald Trump.   
   >   
   > “Do we have concerns that locations that have resisted the Trump   
   > administration’s policies are less likely to get funding, regardless of   
   > the quality of their application?” asked Commissioner Meghan Moyer, who   
   > called the administration’s proposal “fascist.”   
   >   
   > Pidot said politics is “literally written” into the new federal homeless   
   > doctrine.   
   >   
   > “HUD reserves the right to discriminate based on misalignment with   
   > administration policy,” she said.   
   >   
   > Multnomah County’s deadline for applying to any funding under the   
   > Continuum of Care program is Friday. Plumb said the county won’t know   
   > what funding they receive until May. In the meantime, the county will be   
   > halting all plans to open 200 new permanent housing units, which were   
   > funded in this year’s budget.   
   >   
   > “We are pausing on moving that forward in the case that we need to use   
   > those units to backfill folks who might otherwise lose their housing,”   
   > Plumb said.   
   >   
   > Multnomah County is just the latest jurisdiction to learn of major   
   > changes to federal housing funding. Earlier this month, the county’s   
   > public housing authority, Home Forward, announced a $35 million budget   
   > shortfall due, in part, to HUD cuts. That includes a $14 million   
   > reduction in low-income rent subsidies through the Housing Choice   
   > Voucher program, meaning an already years-long waiting list for   
   > subsidized housing could be extended further.   
   >   
   > Portland City Councilors introduced a resolution last week that could   
   > help buffer that financial loss with around $9 million in unspent city   
   > dollars.   
   >   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)