Emergency Shelter Assessment Committee — Portland, ME
Date: 2023-12-21
Time: 08:30

EMERGENCY SHELTER
 ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
 One City Center
 Thursday, December 21, 2023
 8:30 AM

 AGENDA
1. Introductions

 a. Approval of November 16, 2023 Draft Minutes
2. Monthly Shelter Bed Usage Statistics

 a. November, 2023 Statistics
3. Discussion: Change Meeting to a One-Hour Meeting from 9:AM to 10:00 AM

4. Encampment Update

 a.
 Update on Resolution of the Harbor View Encampment

 b. a. Related City Council Updates

5. Hub 2 Update

6. Winter Planning

7. Region 1 Update

8. PIT Count Update

9. Federal, State and Local Legislation

 a. Providing for Unhoused People with Pets Act of 2023 (PUPP ACT)
10. Other Business

 a. My Dog Is My Home's Co-Sheltering Conference 2024
 b. Longest Night of Homelessness Vigil
 Next Meeting
 January 18, 20234 Time: 8:30* AM to 10:00 AM
 Location: One City Center
 If you should have any questions, please contact:

 Aaron Geyer Adam Harr
Health & Human Services Department Health & Human Services Department
 Social Services Division Social Services Division
 (207) 482-5131 (207) 482-5144
 aeg@portlandmaine.gov ash@portlandmaine.gov

EMERGENCY SHELTER
 ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE
 One City Center
 Thursday, December 21, 2023
 8:30 AM

 AGENDA
1. Introductions

 a. Approval of November 16, 2023 Draft Minutes
2. Monthly Shelter Bed Usage Statistics

 a. November, 2023 Statistics
3. Discussion: Change Meeting to a One-Hour Meeting from 9:AM to 10:00 AM

4. Encampment Update

 a.
 Update on Resolution of the Harbor View Encampment

 b. a. Related City Council Updates

5. Hub 2 Update

6. Winter Planning

7. Region 1 Update

8. PIT Count Update

9. Federal, State and Local Legislation

 a. Providing for Unhoused People with Pets Act of 2023 (PUPP ACT)
10. Other Business

 a. My Dog Is My Home's Co-Sheltering Conference 2024
 b. Longest Night of Homelessness Vigil




 Page 1
 Next Meeting
 January 18, 20234 Time: 8:30* AM to 10:00 AM
 Location: One City Center
 If you should have any questions, please contact:

 Aaron Geyer Adam Harr
Health & Human Services Department Health & Human Services Department
 Social Services Division Social Services Division
 (207) 482-5131 (207) 482-5144
 aeg@portlandmaine.gov ash@portlandmaine.gov




 Page 2
ESAC

11/16/2023



Encampment Update –

Jim (HVJ): City Council will be vo�ng on the 20th on a proposal to postpone encampment sweeps.

Terence (PS): City Council also voted 6-2 to expand the Homeless Services Center by 50 beds. The City
also announced that the MIRC Shelter will be opening up on November 29th. This will total around 170
new beds available a�er the 29th at the HSC. Preble Street and the ECRT have been providing meals at
the Harbor View encampment each Monday alongside ongoing eﬀorts by outreach teams to
con�nuously provide food and other basic needs. First read at the end of this CC mee�ng for a
moratorium on encampment sweeps un�l April 30th, 2024. Public comment will be accepted at the CC
mee�ng on Monday the 20th.

Terence (PS): The CC discussed op�ons as well for lowering barriers at the HSC for folks who are
struggling to stay there successfully.

Bill (HA4A): Opening of new beds won’t necessarily mean that same number of people are able to
access the shelter. Addi�onally, there are 140 tents at the Harbor View encampment currently (as of his
last count). Currently, there are only two porta po�es available to all of these individuals. Folks down
there don’t have access to hand-washing sta�ons, showers, places to wash their clothes, etc. We need
more data on the folks that are staying at the encampments so that we can help them meet their needs.
I have been washing people’s clothes for them and trying to help them out as much as I can, but we
need more coordinated eﬀorts to do this.

Brian (COMMONSPACE): Commonspace, like many other provides who work with unhoused folks, is
publicly against the proposal that folks can con�nue to live outside. As horriﬁc as sweeps are, we need to
provide people with more op�ons than simply con�nuing to live outside. Everything we do should be
laser-focused on ge�ng people inside and making sure that no one freezes to death outside. The
implica�on that there is only one solu�on to this issue is incorrect, and we need to approach this from
many angles while allowing ourselves to approach this from mul�ple angles. The emo�ons and values
that we atach to this work can be incredibly helpful, but we need to let go of the narra�ve that you are
“all the way good” or “all the way bad”.

Jim (HVJ): Dito to what Brian said. In my experience, a quick and emo�onal response to something is
not always the right thing. Some�mes, you need to take a step back and look at the whole picture before
you act.

Greg Owen (ac�ve in recovery community): I would just like to agree with the past two speakers that
ﬁnding a middle ground is very important. My name is Greg Owens and I am very ac�ve in the recovery
community. It wasn’t that long ago that I was sharing pipes with a lot of the folks who live outside right
now. Many of these people are my friends. I have a background in sales and I listen to Rush Limbaugh
every day. I try very hard to sit in the middle and wait to speak un�l I know what I need to say. I think
having a headcount at the encampment is a good idea, but we need to acknowledge that many people
at the encampments might not want to be counted and known. Many folks down there may think that




 Page 3
any eﬀorts to alter their current lifestyle will keep them from living this beau�ful life that they have
roman�cized in their minds. This may be the ﬁrst �me that they have felt they have a community. Our
only goal should be housing these folks. Let’s leave the poli�cs out of it and focus on helping these
people. Because I my own unique experience, I have something to oﬀer that a degree might not.

Vickey (CHOM): I don’t think it could be put in beter terms than what Greg shared personally. Every
single person that sits around these tables is compassionate. I’ve never seen anyone in these mee�ngs
treat anyone with anything other than dignity and respect. I think from a systems perspec�ve, we need
to try to treat everyone with this same dignity and respect, regardless of where their posi�on falls. There
will always be a small group of people who camp outside in the winter, but for everyone we can, we
need to ﬁnd a way to bring them inside. Everyone deserves to be indoors. If folks say no today, they
deserve to be outreached tomorrow. The more we can ﬁnd common ground, the beter. The HSC has
worked to reduce some barriers since opening, and I think that is a direct response to the feedback they
have heard from the community. The more we can all work together, the beter oﬀ we will be. Everyone
deserves to have four walls and a roof over their head, full stop. People are deserving of more.

Bill (HA4A): Maybe it would be possible to make a small sec�on of the HSC friendly to service animals,
like they do at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter. Capturing data would be a voluntary process at the
encampments. Giving people tours of the HSC, providing resources to help folks get over to the HSC with
all of their things. Maybe the HSC could use Uber or Taxis to do this.

Maybe get a number of agencies together and have an Uber account with funding from mul�ple sources.
Maybe the ECRT could house this?

TTD and Commonspace both have Uber business accounts that they use, but funding is very diﬃcult to
come by, and adds up quickly.

Anne-Maire will bring this to UWSM to see if this would fall under HUB Coordinator responsibili�es as
well.

Manna might be able to help out as well, the Family Shelter frequently uses their services.



Hub 2 Update –

Naqueesha has found that the HSC has been a very strong partner in the work of atemp�ng to move
people into shelter. Another piece that has been a very posi�ve outcome has been housing naviga�on
support. Individuals in the encampment who have vouchers, but who haven’t been able to get help with
housing naviga�on are star�ng to get connected to housing navigators at the HSC. Josh as the HSC has
been very helpful in this work.

The City of Portland is also looking to bring on more housing navigators to do some of this work. The City
is also looking to ﬁll outreach worker posi�ons for the ECRT and HSC. On Monday from 10:00 – 2:30, this
City will be holding a hiring event for many of these posi�ons. This will be at 39 Forest Ave.

There has been a lot of good movement around case conferencing and the work that has been done to
create access sites. There aren’t as many resources as we need, but this is good progress!




 Page 4
Winter Planning –

There’s a lot of overlap between the encampment conversa�on and the winter planning discussion.
Greater Portland Peer Services, in partnership with First Parish Church received funding for a warming
shelter.

TTD applied for the long-term solu�on funding to add 5-6 addi�onal beds to their DV shelter, but have
run into neighborhood issues that are extending the process. These beds were supposed to be ready to
open in January, but are currently help up.

Salva�on Army and the YMCA are both available, but only through February 2nd. These services are
available to families, and have primarily been asylum-seeking families, though this is not speciﬁcally
writen.

The State Street Church is also reopening this year, and will take 4-6 families (about 25 people).



Legisla�ve Update –

Hopefully the Government will not shut down. As of right now, things have been ﬁgured out, though this
is temporary.

SNAP work requirements have changed as of September 1st – homelessness is now an exemp�on from
SNAP work requirements.

Emergency bills were decided by the Legisla�ve Council. All 7 emergency bills related to homelessness
failed in the Legisla�ve Council. Only 4 of the sponsors for those bills are appealing.

Only one housing-related bill got through.

An appeal requires; formal leters of appeal from the bill sponsor and the primary supporters of the bill

Mastraccio bill - $2m in emergency funds for shelters (being reconsidered today 11.16)

Lookner is appealing on a bill that would prohibit certain municipali�es from sweeping encampments
when there is a lack of emergency shelter

Joint Select Commitee on Housing has a hearing on Dec. 5th regarding $5m of emergency funding
allocated in the Spring session – poten�al opportunity to discuss the larger issues of how shelters are
funded



Region 1 Update –

Most of the mee�ng was spent talking about encampments and ways that advocacy can be provided.
York County has quite a few things going on and there are a growing number of encampments in
Biddeford and Sanford. The encampments are more spread out than in Portland, but the numbers are
prety high. There is an ongoing discussion on how to serve popula�ons in more rural encampments.




 Page 5
Other Business –

HVJ Mayoral Candidates Forum was cancelled.

December 13th HVJ will go to the Police Academy in Vassalboro to present to the gradua�ng class of
cadets.

Homeless Persons Memorial Vigil will be on December 21st from 4:30 – 5:30pm.

Winter Walk may be coming to Maine – Bill (HA4A) will keep us updated.




 Page 6
 PORTLAND HOMELESS SHELTERS
Average Total Number of Individuals Residing in Shelters* per Night:

 November 2022 November 2023

 ADOLESCENTS 22 Individuals 16 Individuals

 FAMILIES 131 Individuals 123 Individuals
 45 Average Families 40 Average Families


 ADULTS 376 Individuals 314 Individuals

 Total 529 Individuals 453 Individuals

 *GA hotels are on the next slide.
 Prepared by: City of Portland, Health & Human Page 7
 Services Department, Social Services Division
 HOMELESS SERVICES CENTER *Because people are entering
 NOVEMBER , 2023 the country in other communities
 then relocating here, what would be
 Intakes by Residency considered out of country intakes are
 captured as out of state.
 MAINE TOWN OUT-OF-STATE *OUT-OF-COUNTRY


 Augusta 1 Skowhegan 1 AZ 1
 Bangor South
 2 2 6
 Portland ME CA
 Benton Harbor South
 1 1 FL 2
 Portland
 Buxton 2 Thomaston 1 MA 1
 Gorham 1 Topsham 1 NH 2
  Kennebunk 1 Waterboro 1 NV 1
 Lewiston 2 Westbrook 1 NY 2
  Lisbon Falls 1 Windham 1 OR 1
 OOB 1 UT 1
 Orland 1 WA 1
  Scarborough
MAINE TOWN: 24 1
 OUT-OF-STATE: 18
 Page 8
 OUT-OF-COUNTRY: PORTLAND: 30 Unknown: 1 TOTAL: 73
 PORTLAND, CITY-WIDE
 NOVEMBER , 2023
 SHELTER INTAKES BY MONTH
 Pre-COVID Current
 INTAKES Bed Bed
 2019 2022 2023
 198 Capacity Capacity
 200 189
 186
 16+ at shelter
 180
 161 161
 Through These Doors 4/6 16 and hotel
 158 157 156
 160 150 153 overflow
 144
 140
 136 Family Shelter 0 146 146
 121
 120 112 Joe Kreisler 5 24 24
 102 102 98 97
 100 Milestone 20 41 34
 80
 HSC (Men) 50 154 at OSS,
 60 75 at PSRC 208
 HSC(Women) 23 overflow
 40

 20 25 at Shelter, 25 at Shelter,
 0
 Florence House 14 15 at Safe 15 at Safe
 JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV Haven Haven
*NOTE: this and the next two slides compare the current year, last year, and the last year before the pandemic. Elena’s Way** 10 NA 40
* * Due to a COVID outbreak at the shelter beginning on 10/3, new admissions were paused
until 10/23 when the quarantine period had ended and all clients tested negative. Page 9 TOTAL 121 496 474+
 PORTLAND, CITY-WIDE
 NOVEMBER , 2023
 HOUSING PLACEMENTS BY MONTH
 2019 2022 2023 TOTAL
 BED
50 48 48 24 HOUSING TEMPORARY PERMANENT
 NIGHTS
45
 45
 PLACEMENTS
 Through
40
 39 2 190 2
 36 36 These Doors
 34
35 33 Family
 30
 31 9/29 5719 9/29
30
 29 Shelter
 27 27

25
 24 23 Joe Kreisler 4 557 4
 20
20 18 Milestone 2 714 2
15 12 HSC (Men) 7 1752 7
10
 HSC
 1 268 1
 5 (Women)
 Florence
 0
 6 1348 1 5
 JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV House
 *Starting October, 2013, Oxford Street Shelter (HSC) shifted prioritization
 Elena’s Way 3 376 3
 of housing placements to their 30 longest-term stayers. TOTAL 34 10,924
 Page 10
 PORTLAND, CITY-WIDE
 NOVEMBER , 2023
 1st TIME HOMELESSNESS STATISTICS
 (BASED ON SELF-REPORTING)
 % of % of
 2019 2022 2023
 1st Time
160 153 1ST TIME the Portland
 All Homeless % of All
 HOMELESSNESS Shelter First Time
 STATISTICS Intakes  Intakes Intake
140 ’s Homeless
 Intakes Intakes
120 Through These
 106 4/6 0
 97
 Doors
100
 91 Family Shelter 0 0
80 76 Joe Kreisler 5 3 60% 2% 8%
 71 67
 63
 Milestone 20 12 60% 10% 30%
60 53
 45 44 41
 46
 41 40
 HSC (Men) 50 12 24% 10% 30%
 36 37
40 31
 HSC (Women) 23 11 48%
20 9% 28%

 Florence House 14 2
 0 14% 2% 5%
 JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV
 Elena’s Way 10 0
 Page 11
 TOTAL 121 40 33% 100%
 PORTLAND, CITY-WIDE
 NOVEMBER , 2023 *CTOs from the former Oxford Street Shelter carried over as restrictions
 with the same end date as the CTOs issued for the OSS shelter address
 CTOs FROM SHELTER and are included in this number. Anyone restricted from the HSC can ask
 to speak to management to request lifting the restriction.
 Total Current Criminal Trespass Orders
 Medical
 2022 2023 CTOs in the
 CTO STATISTICS Restrictions Current CTOs
 90 88 Month
90 88
 85 86 87 in Month
 Family Shelter 0 0
80
 Joe Kreisler 0 3
70
 Milestone 0 10
60
 52 HSC* 1 20
50 45 46 Florence House 0 0
 Elena’s Way 0 0
40 35 34
 33 TOTAL 1 33
30
 CTOs Issued in the Month
 10 8
20
 6 6
 5
 5 4
10 3 3 3
 1 1 1
 0
 0 0
 JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NZOV
 Page 12
 PORTLAND, CITY-WIDE
 NOVEMBER , 2023
 HOUSING PLACEMENTS BY TYPE
 Recovery Housing Family Sect. 8/ No
 S+C BRAP STEP OTHER* GA
 Home Project/PSH Reunification HCV Subsidy
Through These Doors 1 1
 Family Shelter 1 7 1
 Joe Kreisler 1 2 1
 Milestone 2
 HSC (Men) 2 1 4
 HSC (Women) 1
 Florence House 4 1 1
 Elena’s Way 2 1
 TOTAL 6 2 6 5 13 2

* RRH, Recovery Program Distribution of Placements in the Month: 34
 6 2 6 5 13 2

 2023 Placements: 360 124
 69
 39 50 37
 25
 8 0 1 7 Page 13
 Calendar Through These Family Florence Joe HSC Elena's Total
 Milestone FS WC
 Day Doors Shelter House Kreisler Beds Way Bed Nights
 1 16 125 42 17 36 206 0 34 476
 2 16 118 40 18 32 206 0 34 464
 14 118 42 16 26 461
 PORTLAND, CITY-WIDE
 3 212 0 33
 4 14 118 39 18 33 208 0 33 463
 5 14 115 41 19 35 207 0 33 464
 NOVEMBER , 2023 6
 7
 14
 14
 115
 115
 41
 41
 18
 17
 34
 34
 208
 208
 0
 0
 33
 33
 463
 462
SHELTER COUNT BY NIGHT 8
 9
 15
 15
 115
 115
 42
 43
 18
 18
 36
 34
 208
 208
 0
 0
 33
 33
 467
 466
 10 15 111 42 18 34 207 0 33 460
 11 14 111 41 16 30 208 0 32 452
 12 14 111 42 15 32 207 0 32 453
 13 14 111 42 19 38 207 0 32 463
 14 14 107 41 18 37 207 0 32 456
 15 16 107 40 15 37 208 0 31 454
 On November : 1 16
 17
 16
 16
 107
 107
 40
 41
 16
 15
 32
 32
 211
 213
 0
 0
 31
 32
 453
 456
 18 16 107 39 15 35 455
 476 individuals 19 16 107 40 16 37
 211
 212
 0
 0
 32
 32 460
 20 16 107 42 15 38 212 0 31 461
 (including families) 21 18 104 41 14 36 457
 211 0 33
 22 18 104 40 14 36 457
  were utilizing shelter services in 23 18 97 37 11 35
 210
 207
 0
 0
 35
 35 440
 Portland 24 18 93 38 12 34 208 0 35 438
 25 18 93 40 14 36 208 0 35 444
 26 18 93 39 18 37 205 0 35 445
 27 18 94 38 18 37 213 0 36 454
 28 18 94 39 14 37 210 0 34 446
 29 18 92 37 16 37 215 0 35 450
 30 18 92 40 17 35 112 0 36 350
 Total 479 3,203 1,210 485 1,042 6,173 0 998 13,590
 Avg/night 16 107 40 16 35 206 0 33 453
 Highest 18 125 43 19 38 215 0 36 476
 Lowest 14 92 37 11 26 112 0 31 350
 Page 14
 Non-LTS
 HOMELESS SERVICES CENTER & COMMUNITY OVERFLOW
 HOUSING PLACEMENT DATA LTS
35
 2022 OSS Placements: Non/Long Term Stayer
30

25

20

15

10 6
 2
 3 4 4 3 3 7 4
 5
 4 6 8 6 7
 2 1 5 4 1 1 1 4
 0
 January February March April May June July August September October November December

35
 2023 HSC Placements: Non/Long Term Stayer
30

25

20
 13 12
15
 9 6
10
 10 7
 6 8 12
 5
 7 10 6 9 7
 3 1 4 4 2 6 1
 0 1
 January February March April May June July August September October November December
 Page 15
 HOMELESS SERVICES CENTER
 PERMANENT AND TRANSITIONAL
 2023 HOUSING PLACEMENT DATA
 18
 16
 14
 12
 10
 8
 6
 4
 2
 0
 Auburn Biddeford Brunswick Gorham Lewiston Scarborough South Westbrook Other Maine Reunification Reunification
 Portland Towns with with
 friends/family friends/family
 in another in another
 Maine town* state*
 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec TOTAL %
TOTAL HOUSING PLACEMENTS
 10 20 22 8 14 13 15 10 13 13 8 145 100%

Portland 6 7 17 3 6 10 11 7 9 7 8 91 62.8%
Auburn 1 1 2 1.4%
Biddeford 1 1 0.7%
Brunswick 1 1 0.7%
Gorham 4 4 2.8%
Lewiston 1 1 1 3 2.1%
Sanford 2 2 1.4%
South Portland 1 2 2 1 3 9 6.2%
Westbrook 5 1 1 7 4.8%
Other Maine Towns 1 1 1 1 4 2.8%
Reunification with friends/family in another
 1 1 1 1
Maine town* 3 2.1%
Reunification with friends/family in another
 1 1 5 Page316 1 1 3 2 1
state* 18 12.4%
 FAMILY SHELTER
 PERMANENT AND TRANSITIONAL
 HOUSING PLACEMENT DATA
 2023
40

30

20

10

 0
 Portland Auburn Augusta Biddeford Gorham Gray Lewiston Lyman Mexico Old Orchard Sanford South Westbrook Yarmouth Other Maine Out of State
 Beach Portland Town
 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec TOTAL
 100%
 TOTAL HOUSING PLACEMENTS 4 4 8 4 3 5 3 1 4 5 9 50
 Portland 4 3 7 4 3 5 3 2 3 6 40 80%
 Auburn 0.0%
 Augusta 0.0%
 Biddeford 1 1 2%
 Gorham 0.0%
 Gray
 0.0%
 Lewiston 1 1 2%
 Lyman 0.0%
 Mexico 0.0%
 Old Orchard Beach 0.0%
 Sanford 1 1 2%
 South Portland 1 1 2%
 Westbrook 1 2 1 1 5 10%
 Yarmouth 0.0%
 Other Maine Town 0.0%
 Out of State Page 17 1 1 2%
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
 Portland’s Annual Homeless
 Persons Memorial Vigil
  Thursday, December 21, 2023, 4:30 pm

The longest night of the year is a time to remember
our homeless friends who have died and to recommit
ourselves to the task of ending homelessness.

A candlelight procession will start at the Maine
Medical Center-Preble Street Learning Collaborative
at 20 Portland Street at 4:30 pm and will proceed to
Monument Square for a ceremony dedicated to those
persons who have died in our community.

All persons who are homeless, who have been
homeless, who work with people who are homeless,
or who are thankful they are not homeless are
welcome to participate.
 An ASL interpreter will be present for the ceremony.




 Page 26