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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-2021 August 17 PHAB Minutes MINUTES Deschutes County Health Services Public Health Advisory Board (PHAB) August 17, 2021 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. via Zoom videoconferencing Facilitator Keith Winsor, Chair Staff Coordinator Tom Kuhn, Community Health Manager Scribe Lindsay Seibel Next Meeting October 5, 2021 Topic and Lead Introductions and Approval of June Meeting Minutes Tanya Nason motioned, Steven Strang seconded, and all board members voted to approve the June meeting minutes. Colleen Thomas introduced herself as the Homeless Services Coordinator at Deschutes County Health Services. Colleen also leads the Local Continuum of Care. Announcements and Unfinished Business Alison Perry shared that local cub scout troop worked on their ranch recently. She was excited to share education about their earth-friendly agricultural program. Keith Winsor asked if it would be a possibility to use Alison’s ranch as an in-person meeting spot for an upcoming PHAB meeting. Alison thought that would be a good idea; they have a lot of outdoor space that could make in-person meeting safe and feasible. Homelessness in Deschutes County update Colleen Thomas provided an update on homelessness in Deschutes County. Homelessness is a fluid and individual experience that looks different for every person. An individual experiencing homelessness could be someone walking down the highway or even the barista at your local coffee shop. Homelessness is also sometimes situational, like losing a job or having a medical emergency leaving you without enough money to pay rent. Many people are one paycheck away from homelessness. The variability in situations leading to homelessness mean solutions must be tailored to individuals instead of a “one size fits all” approach. Preliminary 2021 PIT (Point in Time) Number Key Takeaways - This voluntary survey takes place every year in January at camps, shelters, or meal sites. Collecting relevant and timely data is one of the biggest challenges Colleen faces. - 169 unaccompanied youth (252% increase from 2020) “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 3/3/22 - 891 adults (18+) (48% increase from 2020) - 89 veterans (50% increase from 2020) - 1098 total respondents (adults and children) (13% increase from 2020) - 2020 PIT by household type o 52% single adults o 5% youth o 43% households with children o 84% were last stably housed in Oregon - 776 people unsheltered and 216 people sheltered in Deschutes County - Causes of Homelessness could include natural disaster, personal, trafficking, fleeing domestic violence, legal, health, and economic reasons. The most common causes are economic, personal, legal, and health reasons (in that order). o Personal reasons included divorce, in home conflict, drug or alcohol abuse or a family member, etc. o Legal included criminal history, but also legal housing issues like property sold or no fault eviction. o Economic included inability to afford rent or loss of a job. o Participants were able to select multiple reasons. - Continuum of Care and Services o Prevention  Thrive Central Oregon  NI, Rapid-ReHousing  St. Vincent De Paul  Jericho Road  LINC-Madras  LINC-Redmond  Legal Aid  211 Info  HRS funds o Dignity Services  Bend Church  Family Kitchen, Craig’s Café, and other meal sites  Laundry Love  Community Shower Truck  Companion Animal Medical Project  Mutual Aid Groups o Street Outreach  COVO  Deschutes County Path  REACH  CYFC-SO  Mosaic Mobile Clinic  Shepherd’s House, SHARE  Jericho Road  Helpers  Mutual Aid Groups o Shelter  Bethlehem Inn  Redemption House “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 3/3/22  CYFC-The LOFT  NI Nancy’s Place  Saving Grace  Beulah’s Place  Seasonal Shelters  Project Turnkey-BI opens shelter in Redmond (new project) o Transitional Housing  Shepherd’s House  CYFC-Grandma’s House  Dawn’s House  Pfeiffer & Associates  Horizon House  St. Vincent de Paul – Bend (new project)  Veteran’s Village (new project) o Permanent Housing  COVO-welcome home  FUSE Project o There may be agencies missing from the list, but Colleen hopes to increase these services to empower our homeless population to be successful. - DCHS Response for Homeless Individual Services o DCHS added another position to the team. Katie DeVito is the Outreach Coordinator serving community members with severe, persistent mental illness. Katie also helps streamline referrals to services. o The CCBHC grant expansion allowed Colleen Thomas’ position to increase capacity of services for all individuals experiencing homelessness. o DCHS Homeless Services staff provide outreach to about 250 unique individual annually across Deschutes County. o Available services at DCHS include crisis and stabilization services, pre-treatment outreach and engagement, mental health and substance use treatment, case management and basic needs support, psychiatry and medication, and housing & unemployment services. o Specialized Homeless Services include PATH (Project in Assistance for Transition from Homelessness) that provides street outreach and case management. CCBHC funds provide coordination and development of services as well as tracking progress on housing for all clients. - Recent Extreme Heat Emergency o DCHS Outreach team:  distributed 645 gallons of water/liquid, 260 packets of electrolytes, 54 hats and 45 buffs  connected with approximately 135 individuals through the week across all Deschutes County o All made possible by partnerships with City of Bend, Deschutes County, First Presbyterian, Pandemic Partners, and numerous service providers and mutual aid groups. In addition, countless volunteers and community members lent support. - Housing and Homelessness Projects and Initiatives o Central Oregon Homeless Leadership Coalition, Continuum of Care serving Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson Counties including the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs o Housing for All, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 3/3/22 o Regional Housing Council, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council o Regional Health Improvement Plan workgroups, Central Oregon Health Council o Emergency Homeless Task Force, Deschutes County & City of Bend o Sounding Board on Citywide Shelter Solutions, City of Bend o Bend Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, City of Bend o Interagency Public Lands Working Group o Permanent Supportive Housing Learning Collaborative, National o Built for Zero Learning Collaborative, National - Questions o Keith asked what the County was doing to prepare for the inevitable increase in individuals experiencing homelessness due to the moratorium expiration.  Colleen replied that DCHS is working with clients to ensure access to available resources like rent relief as well as investing ARPA funds to expand community projects in Redmond.  Commissioner Chang explained that the BOCC is focused on how to use the ARPA funds allocated to the County to best impact the effects of COVID. The County will receive about $38 million of which we hope to spend at least $5 million on homeless facilities like Bethlehem Inn and a homeless camp. The BOCC is also working with the City of Redmond on investments in shelters and safe parking. Commissioner Chang sees the County as central to providing homeless wrap around services, but it is the City’s job to find places for their residents to live. Colleen will present to the BOCC next week about the Cleveland Commons project, which is a permanent place for people to live who have long-term mental health challenges. This project would provide the stability to better provide wrap around services. o Tanya Nason asked why there is such an increase in the number of youth experiencing homelessness.  Colleen explained that we are still trying to determine the reason for this uptick. She offered two possibilities: 1) the data collection methods could include more sites where youth are more likely to congregate, and 2) losing in-person school could increase youth homelessness due to tension in the home and a lack of access to the normally available school services. o Alison Perry commented that there seem to be more tents and homeless encampments around the highway and city. What has been law enforcement’s and the community’s response?  Colleen is seeing an increase in encampments across the region mostly due to new CDC and OHA guidance about not removing encampments in order to mitigate spread of COVID. One outcome is increased awareness of homelessness resulting in more calls to law enforcement. Law enforcement focuses on illegal activities and strives to increase collaboration between law enforcement and service providers. They even have a specific officer assigned to homelessness calls who collaborates with Colleen and other service providers.  Steve Strang asked about the change in how cities interact with camps based off the court of appeals case.  Colleen explained that the Martin v. Boise case resulted in a law that does not allow for removal of individuals from public or private “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 3/3/22 places if there are not enough beds or services for those individuals to utilize in a city. Steve wondered if cities should build more beds, and College responded that this is definitely part of the issue. However, a shelter bed is not the right option for every individual. The City of Bend created a goal to increase by 500 beds over the next two years, but we also need a continuum of services available. Keith thanked Colleen for her presentation. If you have further questions, you can email Colleen at Colleen.Thomas@deschutes.org. New meeting schedule and Retreat Tom Kuhn’s survey results regarding a new meeting schedule showed that the first Tuesday of the month from 12:00-1:30 worked best for the group. Tom sent invitations for the remaining months of the year for this time. Please remember we do not have a September meeting. Last year, PHAB had a Zoom retreat. However, we would like to be able to meet in person for this year’s retreat. We are aiming for the first Tuesday in November if the COVID case numbers are more reasonable. PHAB Transitions and Officer Positions September 1 is Keith’s 10-year anniversary with PHAB, meaning his time will be maxed out. Keith will stay until the end of December. His highlights with PHAB include increased involvement with the Commissioners and joining the smoke and fire collaboration to impact forest management and policy. Keith encouraged PHAB members to be involved in community health issues outside of PHAB. Rebeckah Berry will also leave PHAB at the end of December. Rebeckah said it has been a joy to participate in the last five years, but her work with Central Oregon Health Council calls her to other areas to serve marginalized populations and rural communities. Rebeckah hopes to still be engaged in this group. Since both the Chair and Vice-Chair are leaving, we need to make an effort to recruit members in the next three to four months. Members should be individuals who are interested in serving the community. Tom mentioned it would be ideal to find members in outlying areas, persons of color, Spanish-speaking, etc. in order to diversify membership. Tom would like to prioritize filling the Chair position. The PHAB Chair is more work than being a regular member. Duties include working on agenda topics, meeting with Commissioners, and other duties. You can nominate someone (including yourself) by emailing Tom. Tom will send the group a description of the Chair’s roles and responsibilities. We could also post the position on a job board. Lindsay Seibel will be transitioning to a different role and will not be able to scribe for PHAB after this meeting. Tom expressed thanks to Keith and Rebeckah for their years of help and service. Adjourn  1:16 “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 3/3/22 Action Items:  Tom to email PHAB members a description of the Chair’s roles and responsibilities. Board Members Present: Rebeckah Berry, Peter Boehm, Commissioner Phil Chang, Sharity Ludwig, Tanya Nason, Alison Perry, Robert Ross, Steve Strang, and Keith Winsor Staff Members Present: Tom Kuhn, Lindsay Seibel, Colleen Thomas Guest Presenters: Colleen Thomas ARPA – American Rescue Plan Act BOCC – Board of County Commissioners CCBHC – Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 – Coronavirus Disease of 2019 DCHS – Deschutes County Health Services OHA – Oregon Health Authority PHAB – Public Health Advisory Board PIT – Point in Time REACH – Relationship Empowerment Action Compassion Heart “To promote and protect the health and safety of our community.” Updated 3/3/22