States with similar populations are already doing so. An image campaign that precedes actual improvement would be counterproductive, Tapogna said. Subscribe to Beat Check on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Arson is down considerably this spring, as the protests have faded, but burglaries and vandalism remain elevated, according to crime statistics compiled by the Portland Police Bureau. A newly proposed law in Oregon would allow the homeless to sue municipalities for as much as $1,000 per violation as part of a new initiative to decriminalize homelessness. Lawyers behind the lawsuit say the governmentprovided many of the tentsthat have clogged the citys sidewalks. The project has been in the city pipeline since February 2019 when the council voted to extend the citys State of Housing Emergency, a declaration that eased zoning code restrictions for shelter providers. Portland These are things that cannot happen anymore.. Population: 662,941 Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 2) Violent Crimes Per 100k: 522 (Fourth most dangerous) Property Crimes Per 100k: 4,738 (Fifth most dangerous) More on Portland: | Cost Of Living | Crime Report Source: Wikipedia User Visitor7 | CC BY-SA 3.0 5. Although limited details have been provided to develop cost estimates, the resolution does direct the Council to prioritize investments associated with this resolution and related resolutions in the 2022 Fall Budget Monitoring Process. People A Democratic state As downtown workers retreated to work from home at the start of the pandemic last year, the citys core registered a sharp rise in outdoor camping -- especially in Old Town Chinatown, just across West Burnside Street from Portlands main office district. It certainly would be more pleasant to be in surroundings that look nice, instead of seeing a lot of boarded up buildings, graffiti, broken windows.. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Assaults were down 13% from 2019 and the rate of reported assaults has continued to decrease over the last four months. Invest in the damn services that were promised as part of 110," they added. What makes these findings even more devastating is that they are based on data from before COVID-19, and we know the pandemic has only made the homelessness crisis worse, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge said in a video that accompanied the reports release Thursday. While other states are heavily focused on digital channels promoting its regional hubs as business locations, Oregons business strategy is in the form of trade shows and relationship building. WebThe goal of this Emergency Declaration is to get more houseless Portlanders compassionately placed into safe shelter. A group of homeless people take shelter from the rain under an Interstate 5 freeway overpass on February 11, 2012, in Portland, Oregon. A group of homeless people take shelter from the rain under an Interstate 5 freeway overpass on February 11, 2012, in Portland, Oregon. The numbers themselves are not new theyre based on annual point-in-time estimates from January of 2020. For example, studies show that homelessness relates to increased psychiatric distress and lower perceived levels of recovery from serious mental illness[xiv]; and, WHEREAS, in 2020, Oregon jumped from having the ninth highest rate of meth use in the country to the highest, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health data[xv]; and, WHEREAS, the price of meth has decreased, while the potency has increased, allowing users to purchase three days' worth of meth for $5[xvi]; and, WHEREAS, [m]eth dependence gradually develops into not only meth psychosis but also persistent neurocognitive deficits which impair daily living and working[xvii]; and [m]ethamphetamine-induced psychosis is often times clinically indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia[xviii]; and meth use can cause obsessive, hoarding behavior[xix]; and, WHEREAS, Oregonians voted overwhelmingly for Measure 110 in 2020, with the understanding that decriminalizing the personal possession of illegal drugs would be coupled with revenue (from marijuana sales and funds reallocated away from drug enforcement) to fund a new drug addiction treatment and recovery grant program[xx]; and, WHEREAS, Measure 110 is a public health approach and when implemented alongside treatment and recovery investment, is a laudable and more humane policy, but in the two years since the decriminalization of the personal use of drugs in Oregon, funds for drug abuse treatment and recovery have yet to be fully implemented[xxi]; and, WHEREAS, only 4.6% of people ticketed for a Measure 110 violation have called Lines for Life to be connected to services[xxii]; and, WHEREAS, there is a 49% gap in substance use disorder services needed by Oregonians[xxiii]; and, WHEREAS, among Oregon Health Plan members, rates of substance use disorder diagnoses suggest that less than half of those with a use disorder have been diagnosed or treated[xxiv]; and, WHEREAS, Oregon ranks second in the nation for percent of population with past year substance use disorder[xxv]; and, WHEREAS, Oregon ranks 50th in nation for percent of population needing but not receiving treatment for substance use disorders[xxvi]; and, DEADLY CONSEQUENCES OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDER, WHEREAS, drug overdoses in Multnomah County increased 94% between 2019 and 2021 (from 215 in 2019 to 417 in 2021)[xxvii], and fentanyl overdoses increased by 588% between 2019 and 2021 (from 25 in 2019 to 172 in 2021)[xxviii]; and, WHEREAS, drug overdoses (417) killed more people in Multnomah County in 2021 than gun violence (71) and automobile crashes (84) combined[xxix]; and, CAMP REMOVALS WITHOUT CAMPING BAN NOT EFFECTIVE, WHEREAS, in Spring of 2021, with the lifting of COVID pandemic restrictions, Mayor Ted Wheeler, issued an Emergency Declaration that created the Street Services Coordination Center (SSCC) that coordinates homelessness outreach efforts by the City of Portland and Multnomah County with the purpose of providing streamlined services to those experiencing unsheltered homelessness[xxx]; and. I dont think its going to improve on its own, said Brown, 59. Among all poll respondents, 86% said they felt safe in their own neighborhoods. WHEREAS, the unsheltered homeless population grew by 50% from 2,037 people in 2019 to 3,057 people in 2022[i]; and, 700 OFTEN-MOVING CAMPS SCATTERED ACROSS PORTLANDS 146 SQ MILES, WHEREAS, the Impact Reduction Program of the City of Portland has observed over 700 self-sited unsanctioned encampments across the Citys 146 square miles[ii]; and, WHEREAS, sprawl of self-sited unsanctioned encampments makes outreach and charitable/service distribution difficult, uneven, and inequitable; and, WHEREAS, in early 2022, 95% of homeless individuals surveyed said they were not offered temporary shelter, transitional or permanent housing or other services to meet their immediate needs prior to the removal of their self-sited encampment (Feb. 2, 2022)[iii]; and, WHEREAS, those camping in self-sited unsanctioned encampments often lack access to reliable sources of food, water, and hygiene services; and, WHEREAS, Street Roots found that homeless individuals were more likely to be victims of violent crime than perpetrators[iv]; and, WHEREAS, homeless people with mental illness are highly vulnerable to violence, with a reported lifetime incidence of 74% to 87% of violence being perpetrated against them[v]; and, WHEREAS, Dr. Solotaroff, the former President and CEO of Central City Concern, explained the essential root causes of homelessness as stemming from both individual factors (early childhood adverse experiences, serious mental illness, substance use disorder, personal history of violence, etc.) Nationwide, the report found a 2% increase in the size of the homeless population. The following is a list of general statistics taken from the 2015 point-in-time count, conducted by Multnomah County. It is thus essential that we prioritize access to healthcare and an adequate supply of permanent supportive housing if we are to succeed in ending homelessness. Tri-counties release 1st count of Portland area's A Democratic state lawmaker has proposed a "Right to Rest" bill that will decriminalize homeless encampments in public spaces. WHEREAS, the SSCC improved its assistance to unsheltered individuals, including: WHEREAS, unsanctioned encampment removals increased by 2844% from September 2020 to September 2022 (from 9 to 265) (from IRP)[xxxii]; and, WHEREAS, despite the substantial increase in removals, the number of encampments has risen to over 700[xxxiii]; and, WHEREAS, approximately 20% of those camping in self-sited unsanctioned encampments accept an offer for congregate shelter[xxxiv]; and, WHEREAS, even with the improved shelter referral process, of the thousands of people offered a shelter bed, only a total of 405 have accepted[xxxv]; and, WHEREAS, providers engaged in daily outreach around the city estimate that upwards of 60% of those living in self-sited unsanctioned encampments would accept an offer for a designated camping site[xxxvi]; and, WHERAS, qualitative evidence suggests that the majority of campers prefer to remain outdoors, rather than go into congregate shelter, and simply move to another unsanctioned camp location, putting them at risk of removal and continued lack of access to services; and, WHEREAS, Portlands City Council extended the duration of a housing emergency and continued the current housing emergency for three additional years in Ordinance 190756 on March 30, 2022[xxxvii]; and, WHEREAS, stabilization of those living unsheltered in managed communities with peer support is trauma-informed and compassionate; and, WHEREAS, the campus model and phased approach is more effective for connecting individuals with services such as charitable, government, and healthcare, for example, Vancouvers meal train for its Safe Stay program[xxxviii], Medfords Urban Campground for up to 125 people, and Talent Gateway Transitional Housing Project for 159 people in 53 RVs[xxxix]; and, WHEREAS, the City of Portland will soon open all six Safe Rest Villages; and, WHEREAS the City is committed to serving the needs of unhoused individuals with disabilities and connecting them with appropriate services in City shelters and campsites [xli]; and. The situation is so dire in Portland that disabilities activists sued the city last year, claiming that the tents on sidewalks have become so pervasive that wheelchair users are unable to maneuver around the city. In the heart of the city, though, virtually every block has boarded-up storefronts and windows. Motion to remove under the NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED subsection 1.A.l., a maximum of 500 people per campus when divided into quadrants and replace with, up to six campuses with a maximum of 250 each when divided up and under subsection 1.B., remove three and replace with six: Moved by Rubio and seconded by Hardesty. UN agency suspends food aid to Ethiopia's Tigray amid theft, The Coronation whisky accidentally created in the Cotswolds, Quadruplets graduate together from Michigan college where their mother teaches at. In addition to the likely costs resulting from this plan, the SSCC is funded with one-time resources in the current fiscal year. Support Opening of the Behavioral Health Emergency Coordination Network (BHECN) and Opening of a Polysubstance/Meth Stabilization Center. Oregon Nine of the residents have since moved into permanent housing. Portland is not the only city that has a high population of homeless, but there are some attributes that draw many to areas like downtown and surrounding areas:
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