Oregon county prioritizes 'BIPOC' and 'LGBTQIA2S+' for homeless services

A county in Oregon is prioritizing homeless housing for “BIPOC” households and those who identify as LGBT.

Multnomah County is facing renewed controversy over its homeless services system, which uses a point-based rubric to prioritize access to housing assistance over identity-based measures. According to a report by the Washington Free Beacon, the county’s screening tool assigns points across multiple categories to determine eligibility and priority for support. 

These categories include factors such as whether or not English is a person’s second language, if a person has an interest in LGBTQ services, and if a person has an interest in culturally specific services, among others.

According to a Frequently Asked Questions pamphlet from the Homeless Services Department, the system is “designed to prioritize households with the highest housing barriers and who are over-represented in our local homeless population (BIPOC households, LGBTQIA2S+, people with disabilities, etc.).”

The system is part of a broader effort to prioritize diversity, including the county’s homeless service department distributing $17.6 million in 2024 to "culturally specific service providers,” a 91 percent increase from the previous year. Despite this, over 80 percent of the department’s programs reported a decline or no change in the diversity of clients.

Earlier this year, a disabled white woman with cerebrovascular disease sued the homeless services department in the county after being denied equitable assistance due to a low score under the county’s system. Her complaint followed an investigation by Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries, which determined that there was "substantial evidence of an unlawful housing practice on the basis of disability."

The woman, Michele Mei, sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act, arguing that she was improperly excluded.

“I’ve gotten short term rent assistance. So I want to make that clear. But that isn’t at all what I was applying for or I’m eligible for. In terms of being long-term supported, nothing’s changed,” Mei said, according to FOX 12.