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Bangor public health director asks council to sustain housing navigator and homeless-response roles as grants end
Summary
Public health director Jen outlined the department's $8 million annual budget, said roughly 20% is city general funds, and requested continued support for a housing stabilization navigator and homeless-response coordinator after a two-year $400,000 grant wound down; she also noted community paramedicine licensure and lactation-clinic billing plans.
The Bangor public health director told council on April 30 that the department relies heavily on grant funding and is seeking continued city support for two positions tied to homelessness prevention and response.
"No — the state would not pick up the work," Jen said when asked whether the state would absorb services if the city eliminated the health and welfare department. Jen told the council the department's annual budget is about $8,000,000 and estimated that roughly 20% of that total comes from city general funds.
Jen outlined two new program requests. The first was to continue the housing-stabilization navigator position created with Maine Housing funding. The navigator program began in December 2024, generated 168 referrals, and after excluding non-engaged referrals left about 107 clients served at closeout; staff said 91 of those remained housed at the time of the briefing. Jen said the two-year grant was $400,000 ($200,000 per year) and that per-client costs were roughly $1,869 at closeout and about $2,200 for those still housed.
"This was strictly about how do we help to keep somebody housed," Jen said, describing activities such as helping with basic furnishings, payment plans, landlord mediation and referrals to case managers.
The second request was to continue the homeless response coordinator role (Bruce Hughes), which Jen described as a system-level position that handles complex cases, coordinates with warming shelters and landlords, and builds cross-agency relationships. Jen said that when grant funding ends the city would be asked to continue support to sustain the role and its landlord relationships.
Jen also discussed other public-health priorities and operational changes: a lactation clinic that will be billable through insurance once electronic health-record billing is implemented, participation in statewide mosquito surveillance, and an application for community paramedicine licensure expected within weeks. She said the community paramedicine pilot could become cost-neutral if billing codes allow reimbursement similar to EMS.
Councilors asked about general assistance (GA) processes and caseloads; Jen said staff handled just over 1,000 GA applications and served about 800 applicants, noting that GA serves people in housing and that eligibility standards and staffing capacities vary by municipality.
Jen closed by urging the council to consider the long-term consequences of losing funded positions and to weigh the department’s pivot toward diversified revenue through billing and other revenue streams. The council did not vote on funding at the workshop; staff said the items will be included in upcoming budget deliberations.
