QuickTake:

State funding is being slashed by about half for the current fiscal year, and county leaders are now trying to figure out how to absorb the reduction. But it probably means fewer beds in shelters and other service cuts, county commissioners were told.

Lane County homeless shelters will have fewer beds and reduced services that connect people to long-term housing, following a drop in state funding.

County staff briefed commissioners Tuesday, Sept. 23, about the shortfall and how it will affect the county’s 924-bed system of shelters. The county’s state funding will be slashed in half – from $15 million last fiscal year to about $7.6 million for the current fiscal year, which started July 1.

“There are going to be significant cuts to the services that we are going to offer,” James Ewell, the county’s homelessness and community action manager, told commissioners.

The state funding flows to the county, which distributes it to homeless service providers like the River Avenue Navigation Center and the nonprofit St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County. Those providers use the money to run a variety of services.

At this point, officials don’t know how many shelter beds will be lost in Lane County. 

The cuts also affect services and programs that help people enter shelters — and from there, enter permanent housing. For example, the funding reduction forces the county to cut two teams of outreach workers who help people on the streets access shelters. 

County officials predicted that programs that help people enter housing beyond shelters will also take a hit, meaning that clients are likely to have longer stays in shelters. It represents a shift in focus, toward preserving beds as much as possible, while cutting away other services that help people on both sides of entering and leaving a shelter. 

“It’s really getting down to the bare bones of what is needed on a nightly basis to provide someone with immediate shelter,” Ewell said.

Advocating with the state

The 924 beds in the county’s system represent 574 shelter beds and another 350 beds that are available during inclement weather.

The counties’ services reach thousands of people each month. In August, 4,081 people participated in Lane County’s homeless services, according to county data.

Ewell said county officials are still waiting on reworked plans from homeless services providers that will take into account the budget reductions. As a result, he said the county doesn’t have an accurate count of how many beds will be lost.

Oregon Housing and Community Services, a state agency, doles out the funding to counties based on what the Legislature appropriates.

A county memo to commissioners lays out the history of advocacy and work to resolve the situation. Though the fiscal year that began July 1, Lane County learned its allocation from the state for emergency shelter funding was $7.6 million. Further, the state has told the county that the figure is based on documentation that providers submitted to the state in May 2024, more than a year ago.

“This document did not account for the FY25 funding or shelter growth, resulting in a lower than needed allocation to Lane County to keep existing beds open and operating,” the county memo said. “No follow-up was conducted by OHCS to more accurately encompass the increased funding and shelter beds in FY25.”

The memo said the state agency has said no more funding for Lane County is available after “extensive advocacy” with the state agency and Gov. Tina Kotek’s office.

Ewell said the county continues to advocate with the state for solutions to the shortfall. 

At the same time, county officials expressed frustration about the late shift that forces them to scramble to cut budgets when the fiscal year already started in July with programs, contracts and plans in place.

“It is unprecedented that the state would wait until the end of August to tell us what our allocations are,” said Eve Gray, director of Lane County Health and Human Services.

Commissioners stressed the human lives that are on the line amid the cuts. Commissioner Laurie Trieger pointed to the county presentation, which notes that studies have found that a year of homelessness without shelter is the equivalent of a 17-year reduction in life expectancy. 

“It’s a budget problem, but it’s not really about the budgets,” Trieger said.

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.