Council approves one-year peer-support specialist pilot; staff set reporting metrics and privacy limits

Wilsonville’s City Council on Monday approved a one-year pilot to contract with a peer-support provider to supply a peer-support specialist, with staff and the contractor required to deliver data reports to the council for evaluation.

The council adopted Resolution 3,202 as part of the consent agenda; the motion passed on a 5-0 vote.

The legal framework and reporting: Amanda Veil Hinman, the city attorney, told the council that the resolution approves a pilot-project procurement "pursuant to ORS 279B.075" and described an attached template report the peer provider would use to show service metrics and intake-derived data.

City staff emphasized two data priorities identified by councilors: the incidence of mental-health and substance-use challenges (including co-occurrence) and housing status among clients. The intake form can be used to graph clients who have mental-health challenges only, substance-use disorder only, or co-occurring conditions and to categorize housing status as stable, transitional, or unhoused (including distinctions such as vehicle-dwelling or couch-surfing for federal reporting purposes).

On privacy and scope, Veil Hinman said the provider cannot collect some questions the council asked about. When a councilor asked whether intake could include "do you have family members in Wilsonville?" Veil Hinman replied, "We absolutely cannot ask that." That clarification will shape the intake form and the data the city receives.

Operational questions: staff said the peer specialist will be housed, if the council continues the pilot, at Wilsonville Community Sharing’s site at the transit-oriented development (TOD) if that organization continues to offer space. Councilor Cunningham volunteered to participate in finalist interviews; staff explained a two-step hiring plan in which the provider conducts initial screening and the city participates in the final-round interviews.

Why it matters: peer support specialists — people with lived experience who help others navigate behavioral-health systems — are intended to increase engagement with treatment and improve outcomes such as housing stability and access to services. Members of the public spoke in favor of the pilot during community input; one speaker who has worked with peer specialists described them as helping people feel "cared about" and improving self-esteem and outcomes.

Next steps: staff will finalize the contract and intake/reporting templates, bring hiring details forward as the peer provider recruits, and return data to council for a decision on continuation or reimagining of the service.

Ending: The pilot was approved by unanimous consent as part of Monday’s meeting; councilors will receive regular reports and have the opportunity to direct changes based on the submitted metrics.