Tri‑County SHS oversight committee: region created thousands of units but demand outpaces exits

Metro and the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) oversight committee told the Washington County Board of Commissioners on April 15 that the region has built thousands of supportive housing units and compiled a multi‑million dollar revenue base, but that demand for homelessness services is growing faster than people are exiting the system.

The oversight committee presentation, led by co‑chairs Mike Savara and Felicita Montblanco and delivered by Metro staff including Jess Larson and Yesenia Delgado, summarized the fiscal year 2024 regional annual report and the committee’s recommendations for improving accountability and evaluation. “We really see this as a strong start,” Mike Savara said, noting that revenue collection and distribution for the year totaled “over $309,800,000.”

Why it matters: SHS was created to build a regional system of care across Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties. The oversight committee report is the first multi‑year assessment showing program scale, outcomes and gaps as the region moves from start‑up to sustained operations.

Key findings and numbers

- The committee said the region has created roughly 4,055 housing units over three years, including 1,220 permanent supportive housing units that contribute to a 10‑year goal of connecting 5,000 households experiencing prolonged homelessness with permanent supportive housing. - The report highlighted areas where the region met or exceeded year‑3 goals (rapid rehousing, homelessness prevention supports and newly created shelter beds) and noted retention metrics for households served. - Committee members flagged revenue dynamics: one‑time carryover and other revenues have bolstered the program, but collections for FY23–24 were slightly lower than the prior year, producing a leveling effect that will influence prioritization.

Committee recommendations

The oversight committee urged clearer regional priorities, stronger oversight and accountability, and improved data integrity and evaluation. Key recommendations included:

- Define shared regional priorities so jurisdictions and providers can align investments and avoid duplicative or conflicting efforts. - Strengthen monitoring and financial oversight of nonprofit providers and regionally pooled funds to ensure transparent stewardship of public dollars. - Finalize and operationalize consistent, regionwide data reporting so progress against goals can be tracked in nearer real time and so evaluation can guide investment decisions. - Expand support for small, emerging and culturally specific providers to stabilize the provider network.

Challenges highlighted

Oversight members emphasized that inflow to the homelessness system outpaced exits in year 3. Using Built for Zero data, the committee noted that for every 10 households that exited homelessness, 15 new households entered the system during the same period — a pattern the committee described as driven largely by regional economic conditions rather than service performance. Committee members also called for better evaluation work to determine which investments produce the greatest impact for specific populations.

Local context and Washington County performance

Presenters said Washington County met or exceeded more than half of the county‑level metrics in the SHS work plan and achieved most goals tied to racial equity and capacity building. Yesenia Delgado, SHS manager at Metro, said the regional annual report compiles county submissions and that the Metro Council approved the oversight committee’s recommendations prior to the committee’s county briefings.

Quotes from volunteers and officials

“Lives have been transformed,” Felicita Montblanco, a long‑time oversight committee member, said during the presentation. The committee closed the briefing with a client story from Washington County that committee members said illustrated the program’s impact: a resident identified as Nicole who moved into a stable apartment after shelter and rehousing services and described housing as a sanctuary.

What the board asked and next steps

Commissioners pressed staff and committee members on specific program details, including the scale of homelessness prevention funds and how year‑4 targets will be set given reduced one‑time resources. Jess Larson and other staff said prevention funding in prior years had been supplemented with one‑time resources that are now expended; the county will retool prevention programs and set partial year targets as program year 5 launches.

The oversight committee and Metro staff said they are finalizing a data‑sharing agreement to enable more frequent, timely analyses and to strengthen regional storytelling about outcomes. Committee members also called for greater engagement of people with lived experience in evaluation.

Ending

The board thanked the oversight committee volunteers and Metro staff for the report and discussion. Commissioners and committee members emphasized that progress has been made but said more work is required to align regional priorities, strengthen evaluation, and sustain nonprofit capacity as demand continues to grow.