Five Principles To move the homeless from the street into productive lives
Theory of Change: We advocate a human-first approach, recognizing that all who are homeless experience trauma, but all have the capacity to change, including, in many cases, supporting themselves without subsidy. This requires a fundamental shift in budgets, policies, and programming.
The Five Principles outline a human‑first, outcomes‑driven approach to addressing homelessness in Multnomah County. They call for unified leadership, coordinated outreach, whole‑person care, evidence‑based prevention, and the protection of our shared public spaces. This framework represents a fundamental shift in how budgets, policies, and programs are structured replacing fragmented efforts with a single, accountable system that leads with compassion and measurable results.
1: Unified Leadership
A single governmental entity or coordinating body with professional leadership to manage all activities, utilizing an integrated and global budget.
2: Outreach
Consistent policies, procedures, and data input must be implemented across all outreach efforts. At first contact, outreach workers should introduce individuals to a Service Coordinator Specialist (SCS) to identify their needs, the services and programs available to them, and to chart a path to recovery.
3. Treat the Whole Person
Both treatment and housing in a comprehensive approach are necessary for success.
A list (by name) outlining each client’s needs and tracking their path towards recovery from first outreach through each later contact, available to and used by all service providers, as a key step toward development of an Individual Recovery Plan.
Build a seamless continuum of services to provide detox, mental illness stabilization, physical shelter, transitional shelter, permanent housing, and employment assistance, matching the individual with the level and type of service they need at each step of recovery without timing gaps between the end of one service and the beginning of the next.
Accountability: Governmental, church, or nonprofit organizations should utilize outcome-based contracts to award funding, including metrics that address quality of care, the number served, cost per person, and the path to move individuals to recovery, and they should review each contract annually based on the agreed outcomes to determine whether funding should continue.
4: Prevent Homelessness from Occurring:
Use evidence-based programs to prevent people from falling into homelessness and outcome-based evaluation of such programs.
5: Protect the Commons
Respectful enforcement of laws against unsanctioned camping, drug and alcohol use, emphasizing deflection, diversion, and mandatory referral to services.
Minimize the impact on the general public’s safety and quality of life.
Implement court-mandated drug withdrawal programs.
Modify civil commitment laws and guidelines to ensure that individuals who are unable to care for themselves are not left untreated on the street.
Failure to protect the Commons results in businesses closing and taxpayers moving away, leaving less money for homeless programs and other government services.
“Compassion and accountability are not opposites; they are partners.”