July 11, 2018 The Skanner Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
Today, the nonprofit or-
ganization has assisted
more than 20,000 home-
less youth in the Port-
land metro area with the
support of volunteers,
government grants, con-
tributions, and more.
The Skanner News sat
down with its executive
director Sean Suib to
discuss what makes his
organization’s
model
unique, as well as the big-
gest challenges they face
in a rapidly evolving city.
This interview has been
edited for space and clar-
ity.
The Skanner News:
Could you explain who
New Avenues for Youth
primarily serves and the
types of services the or-
ganization provides?
Sean Suib: The way I
The connecting point is that
upwards of 40 percent of
the youth who live on the
streets identify as LGBTQ
like to describe it is we
serve about four inter-
secting populations of
disconnected
youth.
One would be what folks
think of as “street kids”
or homeless youth. I of-
ten talk about them as
“street-dependent” kids,
so young people who are
getting their needs met
living out on the street.
Another key popula-
tion is LGBTQ youth, for
whom we have culturally
specific services.
The connecting point
is that upwards of 40
percent of the youth who
live on the streets identi-
fy as LGBTQ.
We also have kids com-
ing from various systems
of care, so we focus a lot
on foster care transition
– there’s also a strong
connection
between
someone aging out of
foster care and becoming
AMR
supports. We’re a cred-
ited alternative school
and we have a career
workforce development
center. We also have so-
cial enterprises, which
means we own two Ben &
Jerry’s ice cream carts at
the Oregon Zoo, and we
have a screen printing
business. And then we
have a whole spectrum
of housing programs,
including a 26-bed tran-
sitional housing facility
and two LGBTQ-specif-
ic housing programs.
We also partnered with
Bridge Meadows and
built an apartment build-
ing that’s connected to a
multi-generational com-
munity focused on kids
aging out of foster care.
TSK: How has your
organization adapted to
Portland’s shifting demo-
graphics?
Oregon Humane Society
Photo Contest Now Open
The Oregon Humane Society has announced that submissions
are open for its annual photo contest. Categories are top dog,
top cat and top other pet. A fourth category—OHS Choice—will be
selected by OHS staff from among all photos submitted. Pictured
here is 2017 staff pick Kai, photographed by Callie Attanasio. One
of the winning photos will be on the cover of the OHS magazine.
All winners and runners-ups will be featured in a magazine feature
story. The winning photographers in each category will receive a
professionally printed and framed photograph of their entry and a
$200 gift card from Frame Central. Plus each winner gets a special
gift basket of pet treats and toys donated by local businesses. The
grand prize winner, with the most overall votes, will receive a two-
night stay at the Hallmark Inns on the Oregon coast. Photos can be
submitted through Aug. 15 at https://www.gogophotocontest.com/
oregonhumanesociety. There is a $10 fee to enter and $5 fee for five
votes. All entry and voting fees go directly to help the animals at
OHS. Additional details can be found at Additional details can be
found here - https://www.oregonhumane.org/get-involved/events/
ohs-photo-contest/.
SS: We’ve put a lot of
focus on our racial eq-
uity work over the last
few years, particularly
trying to figure out, like
many organizations, how
to be more conscious and
more representative of
the community we serve.
We’ve had some success
in intentionally chang-
ing services to better
match the community
needs – and we’ve also
had some success in at-
tracting and engaging
people from many differ-
ent communities to come
work here. It’s so import-
ant that these folks who
are essentially re-par-
enting homeless youth
look like the kids they’re
serving.
This is a pretty inclu-
sive place and we’re
pushing ourselves to
think less like a dominate
culture organization and
more like a multi-cultur-
al organization.
Consequently,
that
would create a better
place for young people to
experience more cultur-
al responsiveness.
Read more at
TheSkanner.com
DOJ
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were being forwarded to the uniform
death statistics office.
Watchdog group Portland Cop-
watch first alerted the public to the
current errors in a letter to the DOJ in
May and published online.
The Skanner, in cooperation with
Portland Copwatch, has for the third
time created a Law Enforcement Use
of Force Map using data on the inci-
dents collected independently of the
Department of Justice, from 2010-
2017.
Meanwhile, the City of Portland’s
Independent Police Review division
has also published a database without
errors at www.portlandoregon.gov/
ipr/76848.
ficers without ever removing his seat
belt. He was never outside his vehicle.
DOJ spokesperson Kristina Ed-
munson said the database is built on
a self-uploading system and that DOJ
staff does not fact-check the informa-
tion.
“Each local law enforcement agency
is responsible under statute for send-
ing information on an officer involved
shooting to Oregon DOJ. There’s a fill-
able form on our website. Once an
agency submits the form, we do a very
cursory review of the information,
but we do not review it for accuracy.
We then publish all of the reports we
receive to our website (cut and paste).”
Asked whether there was a plan to
correct it, Edmunson wrote only, “We
do a very cursory review, but we do
not confirm what people have submit-
ted.”
It remains unclear how the factual
errors will be fixed or if there is even
a process; Edmunson failed to answer
a list of questions on the database and
would not consent to an interview.
The first time The Skanner reported
on SB 111 (2007), Department of Justice
officials said they literally did not re-
alize the law existed .
Two years ago, when The Skanner
re-visited the law, officials admitted
they did not have the money to eval-
uate the use of force incidents and in-
stead of sending them to the DOJ, they
Copwatch’s detailed list of errors on
the site include:
• Two Taser-related deaths in Doug-
las County in 2013*-2 indicate the
suspects’ deaths were caused by “ex-
cited delirium,” which is not a medi-
cally accepted term. (Side note: Both
reports misspell the verb “tase” as
“taze.”)
• Eight incidents are listed on the
wrong dates, including four in
Portland: Nicholas Davis is list-
ed as being killed in January 2017
(when the entry was made) rather
than June 2014, Michael Johnson is
listed as being killed in November
See DOJ on page 7
cont’d from pg 1
the current system could be improved
by better practices included in this cur-
rent contract.
His view was contradicted by the tes-
timony of emergency workers who all
argued that if the old system works so
well, it should not be changed for a new
idea that came only from management.
Commissioners, over the objections
of the workers, voted to four to one to
approve the new contract anyway, and
revisit it in six months to see if it is or is
not an improvement.
Smith zeroed in on why the UHU was
removed from the contract, and the an-
swer to her question appeared to be:
Because experts hired by the County
suggested it without input from actual
emergency workers.
“I just want to remind folks that the
industry experts who were on our
panel reviewing the proposal actually
helped us craft the language around
workforce fatigue and stress manage-
ment and employee wellness,” said
Allison Goldstein, program supervi-
sor for Multnomah County EMS and
Tri-County 911. “So we’re actually tak-
ing feedback from people who are very
“
If we depended on
companies to do the
right thing, then we
wouldn’t need la-
bor unions, right?
well-versed in the industry across the
nation to move in this direction.”
“I appreciate that and I appreciate
you talking to experts, but on that par-
ticular task force did you have any folks
from the unions on the task force?”
Smith asked.
“Our rules have very specific expec-
tations about who our evaluation pan-
elists are and they can’t have any con-
flicts of interest,” Goldstein said simply.
“The UHU does allow you to more ac-
curately monitor, hour by hour, how
each individual car is doing,” said Jes-
sica Mills, a paramedic in Multnomah
County, who said she has also worked
in Clark County as well as Clackamas
County.
Mills said, without UHUs, “You have
15 minutes once you get to the hospi-
tal to offload your patient, get your
registration, register the patient with
the hospital and find out which room
you’re supposed to go to, load your pa-
tient onto the bed to wait for a nurse or
doctor to give a report, and then clean
all of your equipment and make sure
you’re finished up all your documenta-
tion -- in 15 minutes.”
“Generally speaking, it’s easier to
correct a contract change instead of
waiting 12 months,” Smith said.
“Again, I think this is being made too
hard.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF MULTNOMAH COUNTY
“
homeless within three
years. And lastly, we
have a suite of services
focused on young people
who wouldn’t meet the
definition of homeless,
but they’re really hous-
ing unstable. So a lot
of these kids are couch
surfing, they’re living in
drug- and gang-impact-
ed housing, as well as
sex-impacted housing.
The how we serve is a
whole spectrum, a kind
of internal continuum.
We have everything
from drop-in centers
where you get basic
needs like food, cloth-
ing and laundry. Then
as they’re using basic
needs, you invite them
into the next steps; for
example, drug and al-
cohol supports, peer
mentors, health mental
PHOTO BY CALLIE ATTANASIO COURTESY OF OREGON HUMANE SOCIETY
Youth
Allison Goldstein, program supervisor for
Multnomah County EMS and Tri-County 911, spoke
at the regular meeting of the Multnomah County
Commission June 28, where the commission
approved an exclusive emergency ambulance
services contract over the objections of workers.
Read more at TheSkanner.com