"This grant will allow the city of Portland to provide essential services to some of the State's neediest residents," Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. "It is vital that the state address the needs of people experiencing homelessness in order to help them make the shift to living on their own and pursuing gainful employment. This will not only be beneficial to the individuals receiving aid, but to the health of the community overall. We would also like to applaud the efforts of the organizations involved in this iniative."
The lead entity of the Portland Continuum of Care is the City of Portland's Health & Human Services Department. Portland has created a centralized structure, the Emergency Shelter Assessment Committee (ESAC) to identify, monitor, advocate, plan, and facilitate collaborative decision making around all shelter, housing, and support issues concerning homeless teens, adults, and families. ESAC, which was established in 1987, is a collaborative of social services agencies, community representatives, municipal/state agencies, and homeless consumers.
The services that were awarded in the HUD Continuum of Care include: Case management services for homeless individuals and families, permanent housing for homeless adults, employment counseling and training; transitional housing; counseling and case management services for parenting teens; transitional housing and support services to homeless youth and young adults who need mental health and substance abuse treatment; transitional housing for homeless families to help them achieve stability and independence; transitional housing for people with sever mental illness and substance abuse issues; and a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
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