During a recent government meeting, officials expressed deep concerns regarding the county's approach to homelessness prevention and the rising number of encampments in Portland. A council member highlighted the Joint Office of Homeless Services' stance that preventing homelessness is not within their purview, which raised alarms about accountability and effective service delivery for both housed and unhoused individuals.

The council member pointed out that the county provides only an annual report on homelessness statistics, which is insufficient for addressing the ongoing crisis. In contrast, the city’s impact reduction team offers weekly updates on the number of reported encampments, revealing a troubling trend: the average number of unique camps has surged to approximately 700, a significant increase from previous years.

This upward trajectory in encampments underscores a failure to prioritize the reduction of tents on the streets, which the council member described as the \"north star\" of their efforts. The discussion emphasized that homelessness is not solely a concern for one department but affects multiple city bureaus, including transportation, water, and housing services.

The council member concluded that without a focused and collaborative approach to tackling homelessness, the city will struggle to make meaningful progress in addressing this pressing issue. The current intergovernmental agreement (IGA) was criticized for not adequately addressing the root causes of homelessness, highlighting a fundamental flaw in the strategy moving forward.