Details
Status
This is a past meeting.
Date
May 2, 2025
Time
8:30 a.m.
Meeting Type
Custom
Details
Several months after applying for and being voted as the Continuum of Care (CoC) Collaborative Applicant, OHS was informed by Metro Legal that any Metro compensation for those with lived expertise of homelessness as members of the Homelessness Planning Council (HPC) or any CoC committees would be expressly forbidden by the Metro charter. OHS is aware that best practices dictate that those with lived expertise should be compensated for their time. Over the course of about eight months, OHS worked closely with Metro Legal, members of the HPC, a privately selected mentor with lived expertise, and the Cloudburst team providing HUD Technical Assistance to seek solutions that would allow these payments to proceed. In August of 2024, OHS utilized the Ask A Question (AAQ) tool to explicitly inquire about this issue with HUD staff, but the HUD answer to this question did not provide a solution. It has been made clear that OHS cannot legally pay those with lived expertise for their work on the HPC or any CoC committees, as it would explicitly violate the Metro Charter.
As the Collaborative Applicant change was finalized in late February of 2025, OHS began the process of informing the broader community about the upcoming change. On February 13, the Youth Action Board (YAB) and Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) were notified of the change and the date on which it would take effect. This issue was discussed with the HPC on March 12 and the CoC General Membership on March 20. At the CoC All Chairs meeting on April 25, a workgroup to discuss potential solutions was suggested.
OHS will host a workgroup for local agencies that have the capacity and interest to fund and administer payment for CoC work to those with lived expertise of homelessness on Friday, May 2 at 8:30 AM at the Metro Office Building. As Metro is unable to legally provide funding for this purpose, we would like to provide a platform for other entities to express their interest in filling this role.
Transition of the Planning Grant and Compensation for Lived Experience Representation