Search

Editorial: County’s rent assistance program needs transparency, urgency - OregonLive

Keeping Oregonians housed has been a top priority for state and local leaders since the coronavirus pandemic began, for good reason. The region’s ongoing housing shortage coupled with the economic fallout of coronavirus-related restrictions put families across the state at risk of losing their homes.

The prospect of preventing even more misery justified the actions that state and local governments have taken to protect the stability of Oregonians’ living situations, particularly renters, such as funding rent assistance and extending a moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent.

But these actions require governmental agencies to meet the community’s expectations for urgency, fairness and transparency. Unfortunately, Multnomah County’s handling of its rent assistance program is falling short. With millions of dollars in additional rent assistance expected in coming months, the county must strengthen its practices now.

As The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Jamie Goldberg reported, the county has lagged others around the state in allocating rent assistance given by the state back in February. By mid-April, the county ­– which is relying on a network of community organizations to allocate most of the state funding ­­– had identified recipients for only 12% of the $8 million in funds.

The network has made up a lot of ground since then – last Thursday, a spokesman told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board that the county and its community organizations have now identified recipients for 43% of the state funds. But it’s still slow going for landlords to get their checks. So far, a little over $1 million of the state funds has been distributed by the county and Home Forward, the area’s affordable housing provider which is issuing checks to landlords on behalf of the community organizations.

That delay doesn’t mean that residents are on the verge of eviction. The statewide eviction moratorium protects tenants through June 30. But the slow pace has been frustrating landlords, who have been waiting for the county to show some urgency on turning out funds meant to cover months of back rent.

County spokesman Denis Theriault said the process has taken time because the community organizations handling most of the applications process want to carefully evaluate clients to make sure these limited dollars are going to those in greatest need. The groups are also understaffed and serve many functions in addition to rent assistance, county officials said in a recent executive committee meeting of the A Home for Everyone coalition.

But this isn’t the first time the county and its partner organizations have been through this. Last fall, they similarly managed millions of rent assistance – and similarly lagged other counties in getting the funds out. Initially, program organizers indicated that they wanted to take advantage of the eviction moratorium and the rent repayment grace period. The 211info rent assistance website stated that aid would be prioritized for payments due after the then-expiration date of the moratorium in order that it be “leveraged to the fullest extent possible.” The wording was later removed.

Any delay unfairly parks the burden of thousands of dollars of unpaid rent on landlords, who range from large corporate owners to retirees with a single unit. These are public dollars intended to pay this obligation. While some landlords may be able to absorb months of unpaid rent, others may not. Certainly, tenants should be the top priority, but county leaders should also recognize the need to sustain landlords of all sizes if this region is ever to climb out of our years-long housing shortage crisis.

The county also fails on transparency of the program. Neither the county website nor the 211info.org rent assistance website clearly list the network of community organizations that are handling the majority of applications. Instead, renters who visit the 211info site or call 211 are only able to submit their names for a waiting list – provided the waiting list isn’t closed, as it was last Friday. Another link on the page provides a listing of groups that offer year-round rent assistance, but it’s unclear whether these are the same organizations handling the emergency assistance.

Desperate tenants deserve clearer information. While community organizations are conducting their own outreach to people in need, there are undoubtedly many renters who don’t know where to go. And if the waiting list on the 211info site is closed to new names, tenants at the very least should have easy access to the full list of organizations taking applications. The need may outstrip the resources, but there’s no reason to add to renters’ frustration by making it unnecessarily hard to seek help.

It should be noted that in its fall round of rent assistance, the county was able to dedicate an impressively high percentage of assistance to renters who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. That worthy achievement recognizes that those groups face a higher risk of COVID, a greater likelihood of employment in frontline jobs most vulnerable to COVID exposure and are far more likely to rent than own a home.

But achieving that goal cannot come by obscuring information or failing to follow through with prompt payments. We will need a robust rent assistance program for months – or years – to come. The county shouldn’t wait to build trust and support for the program now.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom. Members of the editorial board are Therese Bottomly, Laura Gunderson, Helen Jung and John Maher.

Members of the board meet regularly to determine our institutional stance on issues of the day. We publish editorials when we believe our unique perspective can lend clarity and influence an upcoming decision of great public interest. Editorials are opinion pieces and therefore different from news articles.

If you have questions about the opinion section, email Helen Jung, opinion editor, or call 503-294-7621.

Let's block ads! (Why?)



"assistance" - Google News
May 01, 2021 at 02:00PM
https://ift.tt/3vBrDCN

Editorial: County’s rent assistance program needs transparency, urgency - OregonLive
"assistance" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Ne4zX9
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update

Bagikan Berita Ini

0 Response to "Editorial: County’s rent assistance program needs transparency, urgency - OregonLive"

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.