Benton County’s CHRO named regional coordinator; board hears plan for sheltering, PIT data and tenancy‑support pilot

The HOPE Advisory Board on Tuesday ratified new leadership and spent most of its quarterly meeting hearing a multi‑part update from the Coordinated Homeless Response Office (CHRO) on Benton County’s next steps in sheltering and rehousing.

The board voted to approve the January minutes and to ratify Jessica Andrade, Philomath City Councillor, as chair and Jim Moorefield, Corvallis City Councilor, as vice chair. CHRO staff then presented details of Benton County’s selection to serve as the regional coordinator for the statewide shelter program created under House Bill 3644 and outlined how that role will shape local planning and service delivery.

CHRO staff said the regional coordinator role requires a regional plan informed by local planning groups; staff are using past analyses and recent local assessments to update the plan. As part of that work CHRO completed a shelter‑bed survey of emergency providers (including Unity, Jackson Street Youth Services and Faith Hope and Charity) to document bed capacity and funding sources. Staff emphasized the importance of distinguishing operational shelter bed costs from the supportive services attached to those beds when reporting to the state.

Staff also summarized recent Point‑in‑Time (PIT) activities: CHRO coordinated volunteer training, assigned more than 40 volunteers across Benton County, and provided incentives to engage over 300 unsheltered individuals during the PIT window. CHRO said it will present PIT results to the Benton County Board of Commissioners on May 12 and expects more precise counts from the continuum‑of‑care data analysts.

On housing access, CHRO reported success with property‑manager outreach funded through an IHN DST grant, saying the team secured 58 lease‑ups across 16 property managers and credited having a single point of contact at CHRO for preventing evictions and improving lease outcomes. CHRO and the City of Corvallis are coordinating on two properties (Van Buren and Harrison) for transitional housing and plan to issue a request for information/qualifications (RFI/RFQ) that staff are aligning with city procurement language.

To streamline referrals, CHRO said it is developing a universal intake/referral form and assessment to support coordinated entry and prioritization of housing resources. The plan, co‑led in part by Corvallis Housing First, aims to be ready for summer trainings and to support enrollment into the county’s Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool (FHSP) by late summer.

CHRO described a separate effort funded through a Housing 360 grant to expand street outreach and coordinate encampment response with the Parks Department, Corvallis Police Department, the Corvallis Daytime Drop‑in Center and behavioral‑health partners. Staff proposed neighborhood focus areas and a multi‑agency meeting structure for planned encampment responses that would include parks and a designated police park‑ranger as an initial point person.

On supportive‑services funding, CHRO proposed piloting a per‑member‑per‑month tenancy‑support payment through the HRSN program for FHSP participants. Staff said Benton County intends to pilot the approach for the current cohort of 58 households, noting contracting and design complexities (avoiding dual enrollments, defining membership). A CHRO staffer reported contracting language was in internal review and may move to final review shortly.

CHRO also reported coordination successes with the Linn‑Benton Housing Authority (LBHA): more than half of a cohort nearing the end of 24 months of rental assistance secured Housing Choice Vouchers before their temporary assistance expired. Staff noted uncertainty about the future applicability of the Housing Choice Landlord Guarantee Program (HCLGP) for FHSP households.

CHRO closed by asking the HOPE Board for guidance on formalizing interagency referral pathways, memoranda of understanding, and staff commitments that link housing to programs such as forensic diversion and adult treatment court. Staff said they will return with updates in July and that there is a 60‑day window to submit the regional plan once the county’s allocation is known.

The board will receive a fuller PIT data briefing at the Board of Commissioners meeting on May 12. The HOPE meeting adjourned after the presentations and discussion.