Board adopts ordinance renaming Joint Office to Homeless Services Department; staff brief commissioners on housing, shelter and budget risks

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance to change the Joint Office of Homeless Services’ name to the Homeless Services Department and accepted a staff briefing on the department’s recent activities and budget outlook.

Commissioner comments and a presentation by department leadership framed the action as largely symbolic but administrative: the change, requested as part of an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Portland, will take effect July 1 and requires updates to contracts, assets and communications. The board approved the ordinance on a second reading with a unanimous roll‑call vote.

Dan Field, speaking for the department, summarized operational results from 2024 and early 2025 and highlighted three areas: housing placements, shelter capacity, and mounting fiscal pressure. Field said the department saw improved housing placements year over year — citing a quarter in which housing placements were substantially higher than the prior year — and described 17 county‑opened shelters (plus additional city shelters supported by the county) that together represent roughly 3,000 shelter beds in the community.

Field and other staff emphasized that these system expansions carry significant cost. The department reported that spending of Regional Supportive Housing Services (SHS) dollars is outpacing last year: as of November, SHS spending was running about 43% higher than the prior year, and Metro’s forecast for Multnomah County’s SHS revenue has dropped by $22 million for the current fiscal year, with a similar expected drop next year. Field told commissioners that year‑to‑date collections are trending below Metro’s official forecast and that the department is preparing for a challenging FY 2026 budget, including a possible reduction of more than $100 million compared with the current fiscal year once driver changes (loss of ARPA, county general fund reductions, state funding uncertainty, and the Metro forecast) are accounted for.

Several commissioners asked for more and sharper data. Commissioner Brim Edwards asked the department to provide “net” measures — inflow and outflow — to show whether system expansions have produced a measurable reduction in the population living unsheltered. Field said the department plans to launch a population dashboard in the coming months to track that information. Commissioners also requested disaggregated outcomes (by population subgroup and by district), bed counts for shelter openings, and metrics on shelter length of stay and throughput.

Commissioner Broom Edwards and others praised the recent expansion of shelter beds and the department’s progress on housing placements while noting that shelter remains an expensive but necessary component of the response. Field said the department will return with midyear financials, budget modification options, and further briefings to guide the board as it develops FY 2026 budget priorities.

The ordinance passed on a second reading. The name change is intended to reflect broader county and city participation in the homelessness response and does not change program responsibilities; it will be implemented administratively prior to taking effect July 1.