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On May 11, Clackamas County issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit responses for Safety off the Streets programs and resources. These are shelters or other types of crisis housing with the primary purpose of providing safe, temporary shelter for people experiencing a housing crisis.
All such programs are “transitional” – they are not meant as permanent places of residence and seek to connect households to permanent housing and access to other services as quickly as possible. These types of programs provide people with temporary places to stay, meet basic needs, and be offered some level of support to seek/obtain housing. Safety off the Streets programs play a critical role in a system’s response to homelessness, as people in a housing crisis will always need a safe and decent place to go that is immediately available.
The programs typically utilize one of the following models:
- Safe Rest Areas: Areas designated for immediately accessible short-term camping or sleeping in other structures.
- Safe Parking Sites: Designated parking areas for people temporarily living in their vehicles, where they can stay during the day and overnight without fear of being towed or ticketed.
- Transitional Villages: Establishes small, transitional communities through the construction of stick-built or prefabricated small-living structures and common facilities on a single site.
- Facility Based Congregate Shelter: Provides either year-round or temporary shelter for people to stay overnight.
- Facility Based Non-Congregate Shelter: Shelters that provide private rooms, units, or dwellings for program participants to stay in for short periods of time until they can be navigated into permanent housing.
This RFI, which closes on June 22, will enable the county to explore strategies for expanding programming and resources to serve people experiencing homelessness. Learn more and apply for the RFI.