HHS presents 2025 annual report; highlights homelessness work, winter‑warming tradeoffs

Maggie McLaughlin, director of Portland Health & Human Services, presented the department's 2025 annual report to the City Council Health, Human Services and Public Safety Committee, highlighting long‑term care operations, homelessness prevention and outreach efforts, public‑health clinical services, harm‑reduction outcomes and planning for winter‑warming services.

McLaughlin said the department's skilled nursing facility, the Behrend Center, has capacity for 209 beds and served about 193 people in the past year, including 23 short‑term rehabilitation patients, producing more than 40,000 bed nights. "We don't turn individuals away based off of if they are MaineCare holders," McLaughlin said, noting the center accepts roughly 81 percent MaineCare patients.

The Office of Elder Affairs supported individual and household needs through programs such as day space and senior outreach nursing, which McLaughlin said served about 455 patients, and a snow‑shoveling program that assisted 121 households. "Breaking down isolation and providing support to your community is one of the greater pathways in which we can build resilience," she said.

On homelessness, McLaughlin described a continuum of prevention, emergency shelter and housing‑placement work. The social services division and mobile outreach teams supported 1,641 individuals with emergency shelter over the year and helped 522 move into permanent housing; an additional 160 people were linked to housing without entering shelter. McLaughlin said wraparound supports and referrals are part of sustaining housing outcomes.

The department's public‑health programs reached nearly 3,000 adults and children with nutrition and SNAP budgeting information, provided no‑cost primary care to 215 patients, optometry to 101 patients, comprehensive sexual health services to 860 people (about 110 used DoxyPEP for STI prevention), and delivered roughly 2,800 vaccinations.

McLaughlin emphasized harm‑reduction efforts: Portland, as a tier‑1 Narcan distributor, supplied 31,916 naloxone doses through more than 20 partner organizations and recorded 857 community overdose reversals. "These are lives saved," she said, adding the department saw a 31 percent decrease in nonfatal overdoses countywide in 2025 and reported an 86 percent syringe return rate and more than 4,500 client referrals to medical care, case management and treatment.

The presentation also covered opioid settlement‑funded initiatives the council previously funded. McLaughlin said the syringe redemption project will continue through 2026; Project Hope (funded by the council in December) supports additional housing for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness; a seasonal half‑day space began in December; and the department plans "Project Lifeline" to expand treatment via mobile health and contingency management for stimulant use disorder.

McLaughlin described a food‑distribution pilot coordinated with Preble Street, Milestone, Hope Squad and First Parish Church, averaging about 83 people served daily and noting the count has increased toward 100; the pilot recorded more than 7,700 participant encounters and has enabled referrals to HOPE services. She said partners report some neighborhood security impacts in certain locations and limited occurrences elsewhere.

Committee members asked for more granular data. Councilor Sarah McNavich asked whether naloxone reversal data could be disaggregated for Portland; McLaughlin said the broader dataset could be broken down and she would look into it. McNavich also sought clarification on who performs reversals; McLaughlin said the community reversals dataset primarily reflects peers and people engaged in drug‑use networks rather than emergency responders.

On contingency‑based treatment, McLaughlin said legal teams are finalizing grant agreements and the program should begin soon. For winter‑warming services, she presented hypothetical cost models comparing a threshold model (overtime staffing for cold nights) versus a seasonal model (consistent nightly operations requiring seasonal hires). She cautioned the numbers are illustrative and staffing is the largest cost driver. The department reported the current grant season operated 39 nights (including an 18‑night cold snap), averaged about 43 people per night and logged more than 3,600 overtime hours; attendance fell to about 20 per night as weather warmed.

McLaughlin noted uncertainty in funding timing and scale: MaineHousing typically releases seasonal grants in the fall with a quick turnaround for awards, and previous ARPA funding will not be available going forward, so the department cannot guarantee future funding levels.

Councilors and staff discussed potential efficiencies such as using a multi‑use daytime facility that could serve as a warming shelter at night; McLaughlin said such conversions could reduce rent costs but would not eliminate staffing needs. The committee agreed to revisit winter‑warming planning next month as building lease developments become clearer.

The committee did not take final action on a model or budget at the meeting; the department said it will consolidate winter‑warming season data on its website after the grant period concludes. The committee's next meeting is scheduled for May 12.