From the April 16, edition of Street Roots
Question three: The issue of youths on the streets has generated a lot of discussion of late. As a city commissioner, what is your solution to the friction occurring between the needs of youths on the street, business concerns and public safety?
Dan Saltzman: We need to strike a balance that respects the basic rights of all people while also maintaining safety for all citizens. When or if that balance tilts, police will do enforcement missions. That said, I continue my personal and professional support of programs designed to work with homeless youth- particularly through the Portland Children’s Levy, which has provided consistent funding for programs like Project Metamorphosis.
Mary Volm: This situation is increasing in both numbers and perceived threat in our community. Outside In and other non-profit organizations with the support of the County and State must better address this growing issue. I believe many of these youth have been either abused or abandoned and it is up to this and other regional communities to provide parenting, life skills and integration through treatment (drug and psychological), jobs and housing to those who are willing to receive the help.
Community outreach professionals and the police must take the time to recognize these individuals, talk with them and gently guide them toward support outlets. On-going hostility by street youth must also be addressed through ‘punishment’ designed to teach and integrate rather than “punish.” In understanding where each individual youth made a bad choice or adults abandoned them, the healing truly starts there, in the community that created the problem. Sharing the problem with smaller communities might even educate at the ground level, where responsibility belongs. We must use every resource, and create even more, to address this problem where it starts.
Jesse Cornett: From day shelters, treatment programs, and employment counseling, there needs to be more of a concerted effort to reduce homelessness in Portland. With a city council that seems obsessed with pet projects over the day-to-day needs of Portlanders, we’ve strayed from a critical aspect to a healthy society, which is taking care of our citizens.
Michael Courtney: We need to open the dialogue and try to come together with some good answers. We cannot allow misunderstanding to cripple the business base of our community. We should appreciate the commitment, opportunities and contribution our businesses provide. We have begun to suffer the consequence of the class warfare that politicians feed at election time. Get the voters polarized around personal topics and divide the constituency. Our businesses should be able to expect decency and public support. The youth should be able to expect kindness, patience and some level of tolerance for youthful behavior. But tolerance will call your mama if you fail to be decent. You know what I mean. Too often the response is too heavy handed, often because it has been allowed to get out of control and tempers rise. There are more civilized answers that work at home as well as in town. The big word I would want to promote is Decency. If we can accept a standard of public decency, then we can reduce the tensions of violators of personal space.
Ed Garren: The situation with unemployed and homeless youth on the street is the latest symptom of a failed housing policy in the city, as well as a failed economy and rampant unemployment in our region. The poor schooling our children receive doesn’t help either. Some sort of collaborative effort needs to be developed.
I spent three years working in youth employment and training programs under CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Something similar could help here, but like many issues that affect our city, federal intervention will need to occur to fund it.
In the meantime, if the city can educate the business community, and see if some sort of program can be developed which encourages businesses to employ some of these young people, and provide some job training and rehabilitation, it would go a long way to resolve the problem.
Martha Perez: We don’t have enough shelter for all of our homeless, so we’ve got to think outside of this limited model of service delivery to the homeless, including queer youths. I believe we should continue to look at ways in which legalized camping can occur, so as to best assist with the needs of this population.