Five Principles
A Human‑First Approach to Addressing Homelessness
A clear, coordinated, and compassionate framework for helping people move from the street into stability, recovery, and
productive lives in Multnomah County.
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.
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.
1. Unified leadership
A single entity with professional leadership to supervise and coordinate all activities addressing homelessness in
Multnomah County, utilizing an integrated methodology 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. 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.
Endorse The Five Principles
The Five Principles offer a clear, coordinated, and compassionate path forward for Multnomah County. Endorsing this
framework signals your support for a system that treats people with dignity, aligns resources under unified leadership,
and ensures accountability for real outcomes.
Join community members, organizations, and leaders who believe Multnomah County can and must do better.
ORGANIZATIONS ENDORSING THE FIVE PRINCIPLES
Unified Leadership, Lasting Impact
The Five Principles creates a coordinated, trauma-informed system where every person has the capacity to recover when supported. By aligning leaders and partners around shared accountability, we transform fragmented services into seamless pathways to recovery. Our approach bridges compassion with measurable outcomes, ensuring Portland’s communities receive consistent, dignified support.
Why We Need the Five Principles
Multnomah County homeless policies summary:
- Homeless are helpless victim needing charity
- Record spending, more homelessness
- Plan to continue failed policies with less money
- “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting differentresults”
Five Principles
- Homeless are citizen deserving respect, have rights as well asresponsibilities
- “Success” is return to productive life
- Not policy specific, but results oriented
- Takes whole person, and whole community, into account
Constant Increase in Homelessness
- Homelessness increasing by1.9% per month in MultnomahCounty despite record spending
- Government and serviceproviders see this as proof weneed more money
- We see this as evidence ofPOLICY FAILURE
Order of Magnitude More Homelessness in Multnomah County
- Why does Multnomah County have
9x to 13x the homeless rate of
Metro neighbors? - Clackamas, Washington Counties
treat the homeless as citizens
who need help: Compassionate
Respect - Multnomah County treats
homeless as helpless victim who
need charity: Compassionate
Neglect - No responsibility to help themselves
Example: “Compassionate Neglect” versus “Compassionate Respect”
Multnomah County Deflection Center Compassionate Neglect | Washington County Deflection Center Compassionate Respect |
Person can walk out, no consequences | If person walks out, they go to jail |
If they stay, given list of providers | If they stay, choose from list of providers |
If they call on provider, it is listed as “success” | Escorted to provider, enrolled by case manager |
No follow up, no record of use or completion of services | Case manager follows up monthly, attends graduation |
Multnomah County Policies Fail by Its Own Standards
- Multnomah County practices “Housing First”
- Actually is “Housing Only”, providing housing with minimal support
- “Success” is measure by placement into permanent housing
- HSD Shelter Report: 15% of exits from shelter are to permanenthousing, i.e. “successful”
- HSD Dashboard: Of “chronically homeless”:
- 2,112 “ exited homelessness to permanent housing in 2025
- But 1,328 (63%) “returned to homelessness from permanent housing”
- By their own standards MultCo homeless policies are failing
(1) Unified leadership, one coordinated system, one accountable budget
- Currently Metro, Multnomah County and the City of Portland each have
their own bureaucracies, priorities, budgets, and programs to address
homelessness. The result is program duplication, gaps in treatment,
waste, and little progress. Without unified leadership the best intentions
and policies will not be effective.
(2) Coordinated outreach that connects people with healthcare, counselling, housing, benefits, and a clear path forward.
- Currently street outreach to the homeless is split among over 20 different
organizations, each with its own policies. A few work to get the homeless
into the right services, some only do “harm reduction” by giving out tents
and straws and needles, some do a mix. There is little coordination or
accountability for results.
(3) Housing and treatment together, tailored to the individual’s needs, guided by data, outcomes, and individual recovery plans (IRPs).
- Each individual has unique needs, which need to be assessed,
documented, and their treatments need to be tracked. The current system
mandates that everyone be put into an apartment with minimal supervision
or support, whether they (or their neighbors, or the landlords) are ready or
not. This results in very high return to homelessness rates and damaged
properties.
(4) Use evidence-based methods to prevent people from falling into homelessness and evaluate such programs with outcome-based criteria.
- Much funding goes into homeless prevention programs such as rent-
support, eviction-prevention programs, prisoners returning to society, and
aging out of foster care. While all are worthy efforts, funding is limited and
there is little data to show which are most cost-effective in preventing
actual homelessness.
(5) Safe, clean public spaces for everyone, supported by consistent laws and supporting interventions.
- Without safe streets, individuals and businesses leave the city. Without
those taxpayers we cannot fund homeless services, or other services for
our neediest citizens.