A new report by Relief Works, a group of urban planning students from Portland State University, finds Portland’s downtown existing stock of public restrooms inadequate to serve the needs of all its users.
Prepared for Mayor Tom Potter’s office, the findings are gleaned from nearly six months of research including an assessment of current public restroom facilities and interviews with more than 20 groups. The report, titled “Going Public! Strategies for Meeting Public Restroom Need in Portland’s Central City,” recommends management, funding, and policy options to improve the city’s public restroom network, as well as areas where additional facilities are needed.
The grassroots advocacy group, PHLUSH, published a report in February calling for more public restrooms in Old Town/Chinatown. Public restrooms are also on the agenda for the Street Access for Everyone initiative that seeks solutions to “street disorders.”
More than a third of chronically homeless people may have dementia or a decline in brain function that would qualify them for disability payments. That’s according to preliminary research results from a Minnesota researcher who says the government payments could get them off the streets and into permanent housing.
Psychologist Kristen Ryan did psychological evaluations on about 50 homeless people and found that 20 of those 50 have shown moderate to severe cognitive impairment. Of the 20 people she's recommended for disability benefits so far, 19 have been approved.
A couple of similar psychological testing projects are also under way in other parts of the country. One California researcher has reported results very similar to Ryan's findings in Minnesota.
A U.S. District judge in Washington, D.C., has issued an opinion today that affirms the rights of hurricane survivors to sue the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its failure to provide housing assistance.
The decision by the district court referenced FEMA's inadequate response numerous times noting that, "Rather than hiding behind bureaucratic double-talk, obscure regulations, outdated computer programs, and politically loaded platitudes such as 'people need to take care of themselves,' as the face of the federal government in the aftermath of Katrina, FEMA's goal should have been to foster an environment of openness and honesty with all Americans affected by the disaster."