Can Salem continue to pay for its 'housing first' program to get homeless off the streets?

Jonathan Bach
Statesman Journal

After more than five years living outdoors, Joan Tomlinson now has enough space in her one-bedroom, West Salem apartment for herself and her nearly 2-year-old cat, Sara.

Tomlinson, 61, signed the lease last February after enrolling in Salem's signature effort to provide comprehensive help to people like her: the homeless rental assistance program. The program, run by the Salem Housing Authority since 2017, promised to be Oregon's largest "housing first" program ever.

"This was a life-saver for me," said Tomlinson, who graduated from the program this year and has moved on to federal housing assistance. "I figured I was going to die out there."

Tomlinson is one of more than 100 people the program has helped get off the streets. But as its two-year anniversary approaches, city leaders face a big question: Can it last?

Joan Tomlinson, of West Salem, used to be homeless and now works with others in a homeless camp near Wallace Marine Park in West Salem on May 6, 2019.

The housing first technique is meant to shepherd people into housing and get them in front of case management services without, for example, requiring sobriety, according to records

But at least 15 homeless people have been evicted from their housing, newly released records show. And landlords willing to take a chance on the so-called "hardest to house" population — those who may suffer a combination of mental health, criminal and drug abuse issues — have been hard to come by.

Housing Authority staff expect they will be able to find housing for at least 50 additional homeless people in the upcoming budget year, with the possibility of housing as many as 70 if they can find more landlord support and affordable housing, according to records.

Salem has for years struggled with a seemingly intractable homeless crisis. Marion and Polk counties had an estimated 1,462 homeless people, up approximately 20% from the year before, based on preliminary numbers from a point-in-time count conducted in early 2019. This year's count was completed over several days instead of a single day.

Public records obtained by the Statesman Journal show city officials are weighing how to reduce the city's financial commitment to the program. An alternate plan to pay for the program using more federal dollars could handicap it further, records show.

Joan Tomlinson (right) pours homemade turkey and rice soup into a portable container while talking with her son in her apartment in Salem, Oregon, on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018.

An internal review of the program, dated May 24, shows the city asked the Housing Authority how it plans to phase out city payments that support the program and what sources are under consideration to replace the city's grants.

Earlier:Salem's homeless rental assistance program marks first year with setbacks, successes

Caring for the 'hardest to house'

The City of Salem has allocated $2.8 million to the assistance program over the past two budget years, and Housing Authority officials expect nearly $800,000 to remain unspent by the end of the program's second year, according to the internal review. 

Urban Development Director Kristin Retherford, who oversees the Housing Authority, said it was her understanding from the get-go the city wasn't supposed to contribute money to the program forever.

Instead, the city was meant to support the program as it got off the ground with the aim to seek other partners and resources, so it wouldn't rely on Salem's general fund, Retherford said.

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With the city facing an estimated $9.2 million budget shortfall, City Manager Steve Powers in April recommended city councilors halve Salem's allocation to the program from $1.4 million to $700,000 for the upcoming budget year, which should allow Salem to house 50 people.

The proposed allocation pays for the homeless rental assistance program "at a level that right sizes the program with available housing," Powers told the Statesman Journal on Wednesday.

Hard choices are ahead for the city in coming years, Powers said. "The choices will involve all general fund programs and expenditures."

Powers noted the City of Salem and the Housing Authority "are always conscious about being good stewards of the public resources entrusted to us."

In the review, Housing Authority staff wrote, "A budget of $700,000 would continue to support maintaining the number of participants we can actually house."

Funding Catch-22

To eventually replace city money, Housing Authority staff have sought to increase rental assistance staff through a federal program called Continuum of Care.

The Housing Authority noted, "Higher numbers of participants may require another case manager as these services are extremely time intensive."

However, federal rent restrictions could limit how many people the Housing Authority could get into housing. The reason is the bureaucratic maze such funds have to walk through before getting to the homeless.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development won't allow the Housing Authority's request unless the rental assistance program also uses Continuum of Care money for rent payments, according to the review.

The Housing Authority has avoided Continuum of Care — a HUD-funded program — because its rules conflict with Salem's housing first model, the review stated.

Using Continuum of Care or other HUD money would require the Housing Authority to strictly follow fair market rent limits determined by HUD. 

As it stands, the rental assistance program doesn't have to follow fair market rent restrictions, instead striving to keep rents under a lower payment standard for Section 8 housing.

Our homeless crisis:The Statesman Journal goes in-depth on homelessness in Marion, Polk counties

"Given the tremendous deficit in affordable housing units, it is reasonable to assume that HRAP’s housing placement rate would plummet dramatically due to that constraint," Housing Authority staff said in the review.

Officials are looking at additional funding sources, including Medicaid reimbursement and coordinated care organization billing for case management services. Coordinated care organizations coordinate Medicaid benefits in Oregon.

Mayor Chuck Bennett, speaking by phone from Arizona, agreed Salem wasn't supposed to have a "perpetual obligation."

Still, Bennett said he doesn't want to back away before the program is on solid ground, characterizing it as a mistake to leave the program before it has reached its capacity both with other funding sources and meeting the needs of the hardest-to-house population.

Bennett said the program is being funded at a rate commensurate with what it can spend.

"I think everything's moving along great right now," he said. 

Mayor Chuck Bennett, left, and Salem City Manager Steve Powers attend the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce monthly Forum Speaker Series at the Salem Convention Center on May 13, 2019.

The homeless rental assistance program was supposed to house 100 people in its first year. But it fell short of that goal, instead housing 71, as the Statesman Journal reported last year.

"First-year funding was calculated to fully support 100 clients with housing and barrier needs," Housing Authority staff acknowledged in the May review. "As a brand-new program, the idea that the individuals could be enrolled and placed into housing immediately was an overly optimistic goal."

Building the program from the ground up involved getting clients, connecting with vendors and establishing relationships with landlords who were willing to accept the homeless clients, according to the review.

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"During the first year, staff developed and began implementing a plan for expending budgeted funds on program goals to assist 100 clients," Housing Authority staff wrote. "SHA had a slow start building rapport with local landlords, which meant we weren’t able to reach the goal of housing 100 within the first year.

"A primary issue was the lack of affordable housing as well as finding landlords willing to take a chance on this population."

In addition, city and nonprofit officials who work on the program on Tuesday discussed shifting resources to slightly lower needs clients than the "hardest to house."

"It's important to regularly evaluate all programs to identify ways to maximize effectiveness, but there has been no decision to change the programmatic focus of HRAP," Retherford said. "We would not make a substantial change like this without having the discussion with City Council and affected partners."

Most high-needs clients won't be able to support themselves; they'll need a lifetime of rental assistance and case management, said Jimmy Jones, executive director of the  Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, the organization that helps coordinate entry into the rental assistance program.

Jones stressed the homeless rental assistance program has saved lives. At some point, however, the community must make a real commitment to permanent supportive housing, a model that provides case management and isn't focused on self-sufficiency, but rather harm reduction, he said.

Jonathan Bach has been a business and City Hall reporter with the Statesman Journal since 2016. To support his work, Subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Email him at jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow him on Twitter @jonathanmbach.