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Advocates and officials clash over classification and outcomes at Roadway Inn after Old Tent City closure
Summary
At the Homelessness Planning Council meeting in June, a public commenter and council members pressed Office of Homeless Services staff about whether people moved from Old Tent City to the Roadway Inn should be described as "housed," how the site is classified in HMIS, and what on-site services and timelines look like.
Shanley Degnan, chair of the HMIS Oversight and Data Committee, told the Homelessness Planning Council that she was "uncomfortable using the phrase housing in this way" when the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) reported 107 people were connected after the Old Tent City encampment and that 81 of those people were staying at the Roadway Inn.
Degnan said the Roadway Inn has no kitchens in rooms, rules such as bag checks and curfews, and — crucially for federal reporting — the project type in HMIS is set up as an emergency shelter. She asked the council to update public-facing language and to break out outcomes by shelter type so funders and planners know how many people moved into permanent housing versus temporary shelter.
The issue matters because how the community describes and reports placements drives resource requests and performance measures. Degnan said the public report that lists 107 housed could be misread as permanent housing placements; she urged the council to distinguish emergency shelter…
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