TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Steve Powers, City Manager
FROM: Kristin Retherford, Urban Development Director
SUBJECT:
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Creating a Development Council to Oversee and Manage Development of a Continuum of Care for the Mid-Willamette Region
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Strong and Diverse Economy; Welcoming and Livable Community.
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ISSUE:
Shall the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute the attached Memorandum of Agreement to create a Development Council to oversee and manage development of a Regional Continuum of Care for the Mid-Willamette Region?
RECOMMENDATION:
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Authorize the City Manager to execute the attached Memorandum of Agreement to create a Development Council to oversee and manage development of a Regional Continuum of Care for the Mid-Willamette Region.
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SUMMARY:
On June 10, 2019, the City Council approved Resolution No. 2019-17 to support withdrawal from the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care and the establishment of a regional Continuum of Care (CoC) for the Mid-Willamette Region.
A governance structure needs to be established to provide direction throughout the transition period as the new CoC is created. The attached Memorandum of Agreement (Attachment 1) describes the proposed governance structure, to be called the Development Council, outlines its purpose and responsibilities, and identifies expected financial contributions to be made by jurisdictions participating on the Development Council.
FACTS AND FINDINGS:
The Development Council will meet monthly to establish a CoC for Marion and Polk counties. The effort will be housed with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments and funded by participating jurisdictions. A table outlining expected financial contributions, subject to each participants’ budgetary approval, is attached (Attachment 2). The City of Salem contribution is $45,000 for FY19-20 and $40,000 for FY20-21.
The Development Council will consider and make recommendations on issues including:
• Nominations of individuals to serve on the initial board of directors and steering committee of the new Marion-Polk region CoC;
• Content of a charter and bylaws for the new CoC;
• A committee structure and organizations recommended to participate on committees;
• Identification of an organization to serve as the CoC’s Collaborative Applicant and Unified Funding Agency;
• A budget and funding strategy;
• Position descriptions for staff positions; and
• Any other tasks identified by the members required to effectively develop and manage a CoC organization.
BACKGROUND:
Continuum of Care organizations are a federal Housing and Urban Development Department requirement to receive federal homeless funds. The primary purpose of a CoC is to stimulate community-wide coordination of programs for individuals and families who are homeless and to submit a single, comprehensive application for federal financial support. CoCs are charged with developing long-term strategic plans and managing ongoing actions and planning efforts to address the needs of homeless individuals and households.
Until 2011, Marion and Polk counties comprised a regional CoC administered by the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency. In July 2011, members of the Mid-Valley Housing and Services Collaborative, the steering committee for the Salem/Marion/Polk CoC, voted unanimously to join the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC), now consisting of twenty-eight counties including Marion, Polk, and Yamhill. The ROCC is administered by Community Action Partners of Oregon and has two designated staff.
The rationale for joining the ROCC included concerns about increasing federal expectations for data collection and reporting, a hope that the Marion-Polk region would become more successful to compete for federal discretionary or bonus dollars, and assurances from the ROCC that the Marion-Polk region’s projects would be held harmless in the first year and would be supported to be successful in future years.
Since 2011, homelessness has become a more prominent community issue, with increasing numbers of visible homeless people and expectations from residents and businesses that cities and counties invest in strategies that to address the problem.
In 2016 the Mid-Willamette Homeless Initiative was established to identify and launch proven strategies to reduce homelessness in the region. This initiative produced a strategic plan that recommended the region assess participation in the ROCC. The resulting analysis concluded that the region could benefit from creating its own CoC, with enhanced service coordination, local autonomy, and alignment of goals to more effectively reduce homelessness in the region.
Kristin Retherford
Urban Development Director
Attachments:
1. Memorandum of Agreement
2. Financial Contributions Table