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Council hears update on outreach, "Loved One" services and gaps in shelter and treatment
Summary
Milwaukie staff and partners updated council on a year of behavioral health outreach, the 'Loved One' mobile and drop-in services, partnerships with the district attorney’s deflection program, and ongoing gaps in shelter capacity, treatment beds and housing vouchers.
City staff and community partners updated the council on household services and behavioral-health outreach programs, describing coordination among the library, police outreach, community partners and county programs and identifying persistent gaps in housing supply, detox/treatment capacity and accessible shelter.
Don Holden, outreach staff, said the effort combines multiple partners and programs—laundry and hygiene services, food, housing navigation, embedded staff in the district attorney’s office for deflection court, mobile outreach and periodic "trash extravaganzas" that pair cleanup with outreach. Holden credited the DA deflection effort as "wildly successful," and said countywide demand now strains the two city staff embedded with the DA.
Glenn, the city behavioral-health specialist, gave counts covering the past year: he said he responded with police 89 times and on his own 27 times; he recorded roughly 50 phone contacts and 47 police-report follow-ups; and he reported a total of 519 interactions in the 12-month period. Those contacts included everything from short-term crisis intervention to sustained follow-up with families and service providers.
Library staff described the library’s role as a hub for outreach: Tuesday outreach sessions use library computers for Rentwell classes, provide water and hygiene items, and host partner agencies including community paramedics and treatment providers. The library’s incident-reporting workflow sends real-time picture reports to partners to coordinate responses and follow-up.
Council members and staff discussed recent and planned changes: staff said an equipment-based referral winter shelter will operate at St. John’s as a referral site, Fathers Heart day center capacity will be expanded (countywide overnight capacity cited by staff), and county staff are planning restroom renovations at a partnering site. Staff also said a pilot pairing outreach specialists with people with lived experience for downtown engagement began successfully in Oregon City and will be trialed in Milwaukie.
Gaps identified by staff include insufficient housing vouchers and scattered-site units, limited access to detox beds and treatment in Clackamas County, and insufficient low-barrier shelter capacity. Staff noted recent metro-funded vouchers filled quickly and that unrestricted flexible funds remain valuable for bridging short-term needs such as IDs, medication management, dentures or other items necessary to maintain housing.
Why it matters: staff and partners described recurring successes in connecting people with services and reducing failure-to-appear outcomes via deflection, but said county and regional capacity constraints—shelter beds, treatment/detox availability and a lack of immediate housing options—limit how many people can move from outreach to stable housing. Council members asked about funding stability and pledged to elevate the programs during forthcoming budget and Metro SHS discussions.
Staff asked council members for feedback and offered to provide additional details to the council’s Metro SHS representative ahead of a regional audit of the measure.
