Shelter Programs

When we choose homeless services facility locations, we look at many factors to make sure they work well for the people who will live there and for the surrounding neighborhood. Washington County applies Board-approved Siting Guidelines when determining location of homeless facilities.

We looked at the location in relation to existing services in Washington County, the potential community impact and consider how close it is to public transportation, grocery stores, and job opportunities, things that will help program participants be successful. Other considerations include property size and location, geographic distribution of homeless services facilities, and the condition of the building. Washington County moved forward with this location because of the immediate need for recovery-focused transitional housing, paired with the rare opportunity to purchase a well-maintained hotel with accessible public transportation, healthcare, and recovery services including the Beaverton Recovery Center.

Here is a map of existing and planned homeless services facilities.

Washington County prioritizes low barrier shelters, which means background checks are not used to screen out guests.

Low barrier policies allow homeless individuals and households to access shelter, housing and services without preconditions such as sobriety, no pets, or agreement to participate in specific programs, activities or classes. This is a best practice to remove barriers to entering shelter, and in turn, reduces the number of homeless individuals in our community.

Shelter residents are required to follow a Code of Conduct. Violations of that code will lead to their removal from the program for a period of time. Below is a sample code of conduct:

House Bill 2006, Section 3. (1) states that “A local government shall approve an application for the development or use of land for an emergency shelter, as defined in section 2 of this 2021 Act, on any property, notwithstanding ORS chapter 195, 197, 197A, 215 or 227 or any statewide plan, rule of the Land Conservation and Development Commission or local land use regulation, zoning ordinance, regional framework plan, functional plan or comprehensive plan, if the emergency shelter…” authorizes local jurisdictions to site emergency shelters if certain conditions are met.

The law requires local governments to approve applications for emergency shelters regardless of state or local land use laws, if the application meets specific approval conditions outlined in the bill. Approval conditions include:

• Sleeping and restroom facilities,
• Meets applicable building codes,
• Located within an urban growth boundary or in a rural residential zone,
• Has adequate transportation access to commercial and medical services,
• Will not pose any unreasonable risk to public health or safety, and
• Will not result in a new building that is sited within an area designated under a statewide land use planning goal relating to natural disasters and hazards (e.g. flood plains or mapped environmental health hazards) unless the development complies with regulations directly related to the hazard.

Since the adoption of HB 2006, Washington County has used this legislation to site multiple shelters throughout the county.

Unlike an unmanaged encampment, a pod village shelter includes 24/7 staffing from a qualified shelter operator and meets all basic needs for shelter guests including lodging, food, water, and hygiene needs. This organically eliminates the “crimes of necessity” that are more common in unmanaged encampments. On top of provision of these immediate needs, the shelter operator also enters into a good neighbor agreement and provides a code of conduct for shelter guests. When shelter guests do not follow the Code of Conduct, they are exited from the program.

Finally, shelter staff and housing case managers are actively working with shelter guests to help them make the transition into long-term affordable housing. Shelter is just a temporary stop along the way towards long-term housing stability for program participants.

Funding for shelter locations comes from the Washington County Homeless Services Division. This division receives funding through the voter-approved regional Supportive Housing Services measure as its primary funding source, Continuum of Care funding from the federal government, and temporary funding from the Governor’s implementation EO-02 declaring a state of emergency related to homelessness.

The Washington County Community Engagement Spectrum includes four levels of community engagement: inform, consult, involve and collaborate. The steps for community engagement in expanding shelter programs include each of these aspects:

1. Public notification (Inform) – Surrounding residences and businesses are notified of plans to locate a shelter at the site and of upcoming community engagement meetings.
2. Information & listening sessions (Inform, consult, and involve) – In-person or virtual meetings are held to introduce staff and partners to the neighborhood and gather feedback and concerns.
3. Workshop (Consult and involve) – Site partners, law enforcement, County staff and neighbors gather to begin forming a Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA).
4. Draft feedback (Involve)– The draft GNA is shared, and a virtual meeting is held to focus on feedback or questions about the document.
5. Program launch (Inform)– Surrounding residences and businesses are again notified of the timeline for shelter operations to begin as well as the final GNA.
6. Continued engagement – An additional community engagement session is held 3-6 months after the shelter opens to gather feedback about implementation and any needed amendments.

Community engagement opportunities will be posted on our Good Neighbor Agreements page and interested community members are also welcome to email us at [email protected].