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Youth and Family Services warns FY26 emergency rent assistance cuts will reduce households served by hundreds
Summary
Youth and Family Services told the board that a $7.1 million rebalance reduction to emergency rent assistance and related state cuts will cut staffing and drop the number of households served substantially; several youth program grants were also not awarded and a weatherization award was cancelled.
The Multnomah County Youth and Family Services (YFS) division told commissioners that reductions to state funding and the FY26 rebalance will substantially shrink emergency rent assistance and related prevention services.
"The rebalance today and, just as a reminder, emergency rent assistance protects tenants who have an eviction notice and are at imminent risk of losing their housing," YFS Director Lori Stegman told the board. YFS said emergency rent assistance funding fell from roughly $20.3 million in FY25 to an adopted FY26 level of $12.3 million; the rebalance under discussion would remove $7.1 million from the program. The division said staffing associated with the program would drop from 20.5 FTE in FY25 to 6.0 FTE after the rebalance, and estimated the cuts would result in roughly 883 fewer households served.
Stegman told commissioners the state reductions were driven by a cut to the statewide diversion and prevention (BRIDaL/SHS) allocation; the governor’s adopted budget was substantially lower than the governor’s recommended level and the loss of held‑aside contingency funds further removed a safety net. She warned commissioners that eviction filings and family shelter wait lists are growing, and said fewer prevention dollars at a time of rising need risk increased homelessness.
YFS leaders also reported two competitive grants from the Oregon Department of Education were not awarded: a $110,000 award that had supported youth stabilization and homelessness prevention and a $100,000 award for a school‑based youth advocacy program. Stegman said the county served more youth than the prior projection in FY25, but the loss of these awards would reduce the number of youth served in FY26.
Stegman also described weatherization funding changes: a $919,000 grant award the county expected was canceled, but the county received a 30 percent increase ($728,000) from Oregon Housing & Community Services for an energy conservation program and an increased rebate from Northwest Natural of $1 million based on FY25 spending patterns. The county said it will continue to target about 250 households for weatherization but plans to provide deeper retrofits per household with additional rebate funding. Stegman noted some program eligibility limitations — for example, the Northwest Natural rebate requires gas heat in the home.
Commissioners asked for demographic detail on households served and the planned coordination with city and state programs; Stegman said the division will follow up with the board on those questions and noted family shelter wait lists exceed six months in some cases.
YFS staff said they will continue to assess partner impacts and return with follow‑up information requested by commissioners, and flagged ongoing work on interagency agreements related to the SUN community schools program.
