Crystal Kelly has lived in a tent near a bus station in Old Town for months. Homeless for a few years now, she’s been trying, as she puts it, “to get clean, to stay out of prison.”

“Campsite removals” — the city’s preferred term for sweeps displacing homeless Portlanders and removing their property — are a recurrent part of Kelly’s experience on the street. But lately, she’s noticed a significant uptick in their use around the area.

“I’ve been moved four times in the last two weeks,” Kelly said. “I’m actually getting ready to move again because I got posted again, so I’m on my fifth move.”

Kelly is far from the only homeless Portlander the city swept from Old Town recently. Sweeps, some with days of advance notice, some with little to no warning, intensified during the city’s 90-day Old Town ‘reset’ plan and are continuing in its wake.

The city pledged to connect homeless Portlanders with shelter beds after sweeps, unveiling new policies and a new citywide coordination office in service of those stated goals — the Street Services Coordination Center. However, individuals on the street and the city’s own reports indicate city outreach workers only offered a small number of Portlanders a shelter bed after sweeps, and even fewer ultimately secured a bed.

Between April 11, when the coordination center began offering shelter referrals, and July 10, the city reports offering 518 shelter referrals and conducting 629 sweeps — fewer than one referral per sweep.

Of those 518 shelter referrals, 213 people — 41% — ultimately stayed in a shelter for at least one night, according to city data.

Though the city’s metrics for success regarding the coordination center — which include the total number of people placed into a shelter, the total number of engagements with people experiencing houselessness and the total number of referrals to different service types — lack specific benchmarks, early returns indicate the $6.625 million program is having a negligible impact on unsheltered homelessness.

The city’s data also shows the coordination center — a city-county collaboration — became less effective since its inception in March via an emergency declaration by Mayor Ted Wheeler.

The budget for the coordination center includes $2.75 million annually for 20 additional outreach staff members Wheeler's senior policy advisor said will be hired "in the coming days" — a crucial component of the city’s plan. In the wake of a city posting notice of a sweep, outreach workers are dispatched to connect with people the city displaces, according to the city’s Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program, or HUCIRP. Coordination center outreach workers are then supposed to offer the immediate option of a taxi voucher to a reserved shelter bed; this offer constitutes a “shelter referral.”

The push for systematized shelter referrals moved forward in tandem with increased sweeps as part of the 90-day Old Town ‘reset’ plan. Wheeler announced the ‘reset’ plan in response to demands from local business and neighborhood associations, including the Portland Clean & Safe Enhanced Services District, property and business owners, and the Old Town Community Association, or OTCA. The latter helped the city “draft objectives for the city’s ongoing efforts to ‘revitalize’ the economy downtown,” Street Roots reported March 30.

The coordination center began offering referrals April 11, nearly a month after the ‘reset’ began, helping to oversee a portion of the 90-day effort. (The 'reset' came to a close June 13.) City leaders were quick to tout it as a success.

“I’m proud to say we are turning the tide,” Wheeler said at a celebratory June 13 press conference.

However, a Street Roots analysis found the average number of shelter referrals decreased since the latter days of the ‘reset’ on May 29, while the weekly average of listed sweeps increased since the same date. The “tide,” in Wheeler’s metaphor, represents an inundation of sweeps — while the relative amount of individuals moved into shelter has already receded.

In fact, the city’s data shows the coordination center became significantly less effective after the first seven weeks of operations — which also coincides with the city releasing more detailed weekly data about shelter referrals, starting with the May 30 through June 5 report.

From April 11 through May 29, the city reported an average of 41 sweeps each week and 44 shelter referrals. From May 30 through July 10, those numbers shifted to an average of 57 sweeps each week and 35 shelter referrals.

Despite the city touting the success of the Street Services Coordination Center's shelter referral program, sweeps (which typically includes the city displacing multiple people) far outpaced the number of individual referrals. (Source: Portland's Weekly Street Services report)

It is important to note the city’s data contains various inconsistencies in how individual sweeps are recorded, meaning it’s difficult to know how many distinct encampments the city swept per sweep listing. For instance: The June 20-26 report lists “NW 4th and NW Davis (1)” and “NW 4th and NW Davis (2)” as separate sweeps, while the June 27-July 3 report lists “NW 1st-4th and NW Glisan” — an area including at least three blocks — as a single sweep.

Wheeler said the city removed about 206 Old Town encampments in May during the June 13 press conference. However, the city’s data lists 72 sweeps within the commonly understood boundaries of Old Town throughout the entire ‘reset,’ further highlighting the unreliable nature of the city’s publicly available data.

Skyler Brocker-Knapp, Wheeler’s senior policy advisor, did little to explain how the city distinguishes between individual encampments when asked by Street Roots.

“The campsite removal locations listed in the weekly report are a point of reference. Encampments vary in size and scope,” Brocker-Knapp said in a July 18 statement via Cody Bowman, Wheeler’s spokesperson. “Some encampments are confined to an intersection, while others span several blocks.”

Sweeps throughout the city did visibly increase and continue at an increased rate after the ‘reset.’ The city swept at least 629 encampments between April 11 and July 10, while offering only 518 referrals, per city data. Of those 629 listed sweeps, Street Roots found 95 occurred in Old Town between April 11 and July 10.

Because the city does not publish geographical data about shelter referrals and declined to provide information when requested, it’s impossible to say what the city’s self-reported data shows about specific neighborhoods if it is indeed tracking that information.

When looking at individual weeks of sweep activity compared to shelter referrals, no discernible link can be drawn between the number of sweeps in Old Town and the number of referrals reported by the coordination center. The most referrals listed since weekly reports began including weekly breakdowns was 43 from June 6-12, with only two Old Town sweeps listed. Conversely, June 13-19 lists 13 Old Town sweeps and only 35 referrals.

The inability to find any correlation between the number of listed sweeps and the number of referrals also applies to citywide numbers, as illustrated by the same two reports. The city lists 68 sweeps citywide in the June 13-19 report compared to 35 referrals, and lists 52 sweeps in the June 6-12 report compared to 43 referrals.

The city’s data does show despite the city sweeping Old Town encampments even more aggressively since June 13, shelter referrals decreased overall. In fact, the 43 referrals from the last week of the ‘reset’ — June 6-12 — was the only time the city came particularly close to the weekly average of 44 referrals it reported from the period of April 11 through May 29.

The end of the ‘reset’ could explain a decrease in referrals if it were not for the fact that sweeps in Old Town have happened at a higher frequency since then — 10 per week since June 13 compared to six per week during the ‘reset,’ according to city data.

For their part, homeless Portlanders in Old Town don’t believe the city offered many people shelter. In some cases, people are skeptical the coordination center proactively offered shelter to anyone in Old Town.

Kelly told Street Roots she wasn’t contacted a single time by the team, despite experiencing four sweeps since the coordination center began its referral program April 11. Additionally, Kelly said she has not seen referrals made to others around Old Town.

“No,” Kelly said when asked if she’s received a shelter referral. “They’re not actually helping anybody.”

Chris, a woman in her 50s who lives on the streets in Old Town, similarly said she has not witnessed city workers offering shelter to people before, during or after a sweep.

“No, I haven’t seen that happen,” Chris said. “They just come with bags, and they say, ‘Bring your stuff and leave.’ You only have, like, hours … people who haven’t made it get escorted by the police out of there. And then they come back, so it just starts over.”

Another person in Old Town, who goes by Ninja, said he has not witnessed any outreach workers assisting those the city regularly sweeps in Old Town.

“The only time they (connect people with shelter) is when they ask about it,” Ninja said. “I’ve never had that (taxi) voucher, personally.”

Also residing in an Old Town encampment is Jordan Silva. Though he frequently moves his encampment and has not been swept recently, he witnessed the increased sweep activity in the area.

“A lot of people got moved around," Silva said. "Mainly (Old Town), Chinatown, and near the waterfront. I’ve seen a lot of handcuffs, arrests.”

As far as outreach workers accompanying the sweeps?

“I’ve only seen that once,” Silva said. “I don’t think that was a common thing.”

Silva went on to describe how the city treats his homeless neighbors.

“Just like a piece of trash,” Silva said. “They just get moved … they’re just thrown away.”

The city paints offers of shelter beds as humane mitigation for the impact of continued sweeps, though the people receiving those offers don’t seem to agree. Congregate shelter beds are viewed unfavorably by many homeless people due to safety concerns, privacy concerns and restrictive regulations, among other reasons.

The city’s data on outcomes of shelter referrals reflects the lack of interest — or feasibility — among homeless Portlanders regarding congregate shelter beds. Of the 518 shelter referrals conferred by the coordination center since April 11, only 213 — 41% — resulted in someone spending a night in a shelter.

The city’s rate of “accepted” referrals is much higher. According to weekly reports spanning May 30 through July 10, the city referred 212 people to a shelter, and 201 people “accepted” a referral. The city did not publish “accepted” referrals prior to May 30. Even so, only 101 of those people actually spent a night in a shelter.

According to the July 4-10 report, the city referred 29 people to a shelter and all 29 people “accepted” the referral. Of those 29 people, only 15 ended up in a shelter bed for one or more nights.

Brocker-Knapp provided an explanation for the shelter referral process, though it differed significantly from previous explanations city officials gave Street Roots but refused to provide on the record.

“The number of referrals corresponds to the number of people who have expressed an interest in a shelter bed — not the total number of people we engaged with,” Brocker-Knapp said in the July 18 statement. “Our goal is to offer shelter bed (sic) to all individuals we engage with.”

Previously, Street Roots was told the mere offer of shelter constituted a referral, regardless of whether or not the recipient of said offer “expressed an interest.” It remains unclear why the city now says a shelter referral is distinguished by interest, rather than the offer itself — particularly when the separate category of “accepted” referrals already exists.

“Our goal is to increase the health and safety of our community, and sleeping in dangerous and squalid conditions in the elements is not a compassionate solution to homelessness,” Brocker-Knapp said.

According to the coordination center, after someone accepts the offer, a bed is reserved, and the city provides a taxi voucher. The coordination center is then no longer in touch with them and has no further insight into what they may do next. The only confirmation someone eventually occupied a shelter bed comes later when shelters report who actually arrived.

Even if the city universally offered referrals, the city’s plan (a taxi voucher and an offer of shelter allowing for two bags of belongings) has inherent logistical limitations. Many people living on the streets have far more than two bags of personal possessions, and they do not wish to leave those additional belongings unattended or in the care of city contractors for 30 days.

When the city sweeps a homeless encampment, those items are either disposed of or stored for later retrieval. Multiple lawsuits in recent years accuse the city of discarding usable materials and personal possessions seized during sweeps, and trust in the city’s storage policy is all but nonexistent for homeless Portlanders.

“They say they’ll give you your stuff back, but I’ve never gotten mine back,” Ninja said. “If you don’t pick it up and take it with you, they take it from you. When they start sweeping, as soon as they get there, they’re picking shit up and putting it in their trucks. If you don’t get out and get your stuff, they’re taking it … I’ve never gotten any of my shit back from them.”

In Chris’ words, the loss of important belongings during a sweep “happen(s) everywhere.”

“That’s what they do,” Chris said. “They put up a notice, clean it up, and people come back there anyways. They just throw away all their stuff … They said you can call this number to get your stuff back … but nobody gets their stuff back.”

Even if an individual is interested in immediate shelter and is willing to leave behind all but two bags, other barriers present themselves. Advocates point out shelters do not represent a viable option in many circumstances because of restrictions on couples, pets, entry and exit times, storage, or requirements like religious services, or racial, gender and LGBTQ+ discrimination. Curfews and other limitations, which vary between shelters, can often exclude individuals.

“I’ve had them get me into a shelter,” Ninja said. “It was good, I just missed too many days in the shelter, and so they kicked me out for that. I enjoyed being in the shelter. It’s just that those restrictions make it easy to get kicked out. There’s curfews. In most places, it’s like 11 (p.m.) or midnight.”

Chris described her experience similarly, saying shelters are “super, super cold.”

“You have to leave after three days,” Chris said. “It was horrible. It’s really difficult to get in. Then you have to be out at five in the morning. Then you have to be back at five (at night) … It’s very difficult for me.”

In other words, even before an outreach worker refers a homeless Portlander to shelter, there’s a fair likelihood they are disinclined to choose that option.

Logistical hurdles are also present for the city’s efforts — there are few available beds on any given night, despite their unpopularity and exclusive nature. Multnomah County estimates anywhere from 90-95% of shelter beds are full at all times. The coordination center has around 100 shelter beds at its disposal — far fewer than the number of homeless Portlanders the city removes from their sleeping spots each week.

The coordination center secured the beds via an arrangement with the Joint Office of Homeless Services. The 100 beds provided by the Joint Office are part of the 1,614 beds in Multnomah County. The 2022 Point-in-Time Count found 5,228 homeless people in Multnomah County, which the county regards as a substantial undercount — 3,057 unsheltered, 1,485 in a shelter, 686 in transitional housing.

In one of the few answers to initial questions Bowman agreed to provide with attribution, he said the coordination center accommodates people with disabilities, pets and other needs. Street Roots sent a follow-up question requesting more specificity. In response, Brocker-Knapp instructed Street Roots to contact the Joint Office of Homeless Services for information about potential shelter accommodations for people with disabilities, pets and other needs.

Despite all the shortcomings, Wheeler was quick to laud the success of the ‘reset’ and associated referral efforts. City leaders and business owners, for their part, expressed they are pleased with the plan’s early returns.

“There will be bumps along the way, (but) I think we’ve got a good formula here,” Wheeler said during the June 13 press conference.

Wheeler plans to expand the strategy throughout other areas of Portland. But if the city replicates ‘reset’ methods in their current form throughout the city, there is little indication, if any, the outcomes will be different.

“(T)he evidence to support that claim of success is all but non-existent, an analysis by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows,” Nicole Hayden reported July 10 in The Oregonian. “That is largely because city officials have failed to collect meaningful data or coordinate with outside groups or agencies it works with, the analysis found. The city has no evidence any individuals it rousted from sleeping on the streets got permanent housing or other needed services.”

The city’s own weekly reports and the testimony of individuals living in encampments indicate despite promises and plans, the city only offered shelter to a fraction of the homeless Portlanders it swept.

Portlanders on the streets echoed a sense these measures are, at best, inadequate. Kelly told Street Roots the limited shelter options on offer do not represent a viable solution to the problems she and many others face. In terms of what would help, Kelly broke it down concisely.

“Treatment options, getting people clean and into actual housing,” Kelly said.

She believes the minimal mitigation offered by shelters is a far cry from the required level of assistance.

Chris expressed a similar sentiment. Strict or not, she said, the shelters are a stopgap, at best.

“If you don’t have a place to stay, one night (in a shelter) won’t do it,” Chris said. “You need at least a few months to get your shit together.”

She also stressed the need for the government to assist with housing.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect, but at least give people a space,” Chris said. “Having that would give people an opportunity to do the next step, to apply for a job.”

Silva balked at the notion the city reliably connected people with shelter after sweeps.

“That’s nonsensical,” Silva said. “If that was the case, it wouldn’t be like this. How do you solve homelessness? You figure out who really wants to not be on the streets — and that’s easy to do — and you give them a home and food. And that’s it.” 

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