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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2018)
Street Roots • Sept. 21-27, 2018 HUD, from page 4 of their homelessness, which typically takes a month or longer. A federal audit of Home Forward in April and recent audits of other area housing providers have resulted in an increased demand from HUD that local organizations provide more rigorous documentation of their clients’ chronic homelessness, compounding an already challenging requirement But before a mentally or physically disabled person with no home gets to this point in the housing process, they must score high enough on a vulnerability assessment to get placed on the list for housing. This HUD requirement also has its pitfalls. Finding a home for Cesii Flaws with the vulnerability assessment process are glaring in the case of a homeless senior citizen named Cesii George. For nearly two decades - maybe longer - George has spent most of his days in the park in front of the Multnomah County Courthouse in downtown Portland. He used to wear a skirt and, at times, flashy costume jewelry. Over the years, he became recognizable to many people working in the surrounding government buildings. These days, he wears more conventional clothing and carries all his belongings in canvas bags tied with rope to the end of a long stick, in the traditional bindle fashion. - - He sleeps in doorways along downtown sidewalks where he knows he won’t be hassled and spends his winters under bridges. He never seeks out cooling centers in hot weather, nor does he sleep in shelters when it’s cold. He doesn’t seek help from any social service provider or passerby but instead has survived off what little money the people who frequent his favorite park give him, unsolicited. The park where he lingers, Lownsdale Square and Chapman Square, bustles with law enforcement officers, attorneys and other county and city workers. For George, it’s a place that feels safer than Old Town, which he ardently avoids, even though it’s where many resources he could be accessing are located. He’s said he Won’t go there because he is afraid of other homeless people who have assaulted him in the past With his advanced age and easy-going demeanor, George is an easy target While he has a difficult time keeping his memories straight, there are a few details of his life that remain constant He was born in Salem, raised in Woodburn and lived all his life in Oregon. He was married at one time and held a janitorial position at the Pendleton shirt manufacturing facility in Milwaukie before it shuttered in 1997. He has also been a patient at the Oregon State Hospital, a residential facility for people with mental illness. Throughout the past 16 years, Tammie Jones has seen George hanging out in the park most mornings on her way to work at the Multnomah County Justice Center. When she heads home around 6-p.m., he’s usually still there, often sitting quietly Page 5 News He just stands there and kind of watches “He doesn’t use drugs or alcohol, so I the world go by.” always felt comfortable knowing he was Sparks, too, became concerned with using the money for food,” she said. “He also is humble. If he doesn’t need money, he George’s predicament. “He’s pretty unguarded. If he has a little won’t take it.” something to his name, he gets targeted,” Through the years, Jones noticed George he said. “I believe he’s just getting was getting older and “starting to go increasingly vulnerable, and I’m afraid he’s downhill.” going to be one of those people who falls He’ll be 70 in November. asleep during a snowstorm, and then they As the county court domestic violence find him the next morning.” coordinator, Jones is familiar with available It would seem someone like George, a resources and how to connect people to mentally disabled them. So, about 10 senior citizen who’s months ago, she been homeless for at decided to make it ome folks i least 16 years, would her mission to help are absolutely deservin be a slam dunk for George in her free who may uot have a chi permanent time. to get housing. We have supportive housing. She walked him a zero-sum system rlghl Jones wanted to through applying for get George run uow because of the lac food stamps and through the Social Security vulnerability benefits, and she assessment so he took him to Loaves could get placed on & Fishes, explaining the list. He wouldn’t to him that he could go into Old Town, so get free meals there she lured him to a in peace. ■■■■msmmaumM downtown café with George didn’t the promise of have identification or any other documents breakfast, where Roberto Rios ran him he needed, so Jones used her clout as a through the assessment. government employee to vouch for him, Rios, a Coordinated Access case manager which luckily worked when it mattered. at Transitions Projects, said George had Every step was a challenge. George didn’t difficulty answering the questions. He always remember to meet Jones in the park, couldn’t remember dates and things that and she would have to track him down. Appointm ents w e n t m issed and rescheduled» [hadjhappened in his life. It was difficult to get him to enter office buildings; he suspected at times that it was “The first thing he asked me was, ‘Are you going to send m e back to the state hospital?’” said Rios. , a coordinated effort to take him back to the Questions he couldn’t answer received no psychiatric hospital or to jail. points, and a person needs a high score to It took four visits to the Oregon Driver be considered for permanent supportive and Motor Vehicles office to get him state- housing. issued identification. The bulk of the questions rely on the “Getting him food stamps took an act of answers supplied by the person being God,” Jones said. assessed. Questions answered by the Six months after assessor, such as he received his food whether the person stamps card, a man is showing signs of BY THE NUMBERS who frequently poor hygiene or targets him stole i t living skills, are It took two subjective. and Multnomah County: months and several The way the attempts to get a housing list works, Adults without children who replacement card. those with higher have had the assessment When asked, scores will always be George said he had prioritized over fewer meals during those with lower scores. People can that time. % It was clear, languish on the list watching Jones without ever making escort George to it to the top, where referred appointments and housing becomes assist him with available. Source: W Office of Homeless Services George scored so paperwork and communications, low he didn’t make that even some of the cut for temporary housing assistance, the simplest tasks would have been let alone the permanent supportive housing insurmountable for George to complete on he needs. Rios said typically people he assesses are his own. About eight years ago, when he began able to answer the questions. When they biking past the park on his way to work, can’t, it’s usually due to mental illness, he Chuck Sparks, a deputy chief at the said. Multnomah County District Attorney’s While each jurisdiction is free to use the Office, also noticed George was an area assessment tool of its choice, the assessment used in Multnomah County, the fixture who might need help. Eventually, he began to greet George VI-SPDAT (Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool), is each morning. on a bench. “He’s a quiet guy,” Sparks said. “He’s not the nation’s most popular. However, cities Some days, Jones buys him a coffee from a homeless person that asks you for money. Starbucks or gives him some cash for lunch. 2,051 189 121 are learning it has shortfalls and are adjusting their practices. In Denver, an appeal process has been established, and in King County, three mechanisms have been created to flag assessments that are inaccurately scored. “I don’t think any community would say they’ve nailed it,” said Hedda McLendon, a housing manager at King County Department of Human Services in Seattle. Portland and Multnomah County’s coordinated, team of housing providers, Coordinated Access, adopted an appeal process similar to Denver’s earlier this year. Rios, upset when George received such a low score, filed for an appeal. George’s case was one of four appeals that have been reviewed by a panel of seven Coordinated Access members. The panelists applied additional points to George’s score based on information Rios provided. George’s new score was almost double his initial score, but it still wasn’t high enough to qualify him for permanent supportive housing. Those at the top of the list have scores of 18 to 20. He scored 15. The bump in score, however, qualified George for Rapid Rehousing, temporary housing assistance lasting two years that does not come with support services. “Although, there are fewer Rapid Rehousing resources,” said Stacy Borke, programs director at Transitions Projects. Borke said that ideally, George would get housing through Rapid Rehousing and th en the future with the hope that he would qualify for perm anent supportive housing with case m anagers using different strategies to better understand his needs. “There are some folks who are absolutely deserving, who may not have a chance to get housing. We have a zero-sum system right now because of the lack of federal investment that we see,” said Denis Theriault, communications coordinator for the Joint Office of Homeless Services, under which Coordinated Access is housed. “As vulnerable as someone who’s on the list is, who has a score that maybe isn’t as high as others,” he said, “that just means that there are that many more people who are even more vulnerable.” Jones and Sparks regularly discuss George’s situation with each other, and have become disillusioned with the difficulty in getting George indoors. “If we can’t find a home for Cesii George, whom are we going to find a home for?” asked Sparks. Baring the soul The vulnerability assessment, or VI-SPDAT, is a series of personal questions about medical and criminal history, drug and alcohol dependency, living situations, daily activities and risky behaviors such as sex work and sharing needles. In addition to its shortfalls in capturing the vulnerability of some people struggling with mental illness, those who use the VI-SPDAT say it’s inadequate in assessing people of color, who face unique challenges when it comes to self-reporting intimate details of their life to a stranger with a clipboard. “A lot of the questions on the VI-SPDAT S e e HUD, p a g e 7 I
