Multnomah County and its Homeless Services Department have agreed to change how applicants are prioritized for housing assistance following a federal civil rights investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Oct. 23.
HUD launched an investigation of Multnomah County in May, alleging that the county prioritized homeless services for individuals based on a “DEI points system,” the agency said Friday, which “picked winners and losers based on unlawful considerations.”
A spokesperson for the Multnomah County Homeless Services Department told KGW8 that the agreement with HUD does not change their commitment to values of diversity, equity and inclusion. Nonetheless, they confirmed that they had to change their scoring system for housing benefits.
HUD said its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity opened the investigation in May into the county’s screening system for homelessness services.
According to HUD, the system awarded points for applicants’ interest in culturally specific services and for speaking English as a second language. The agency said those factors appeared to serve as proxies for race and national origin.
The voluntary compliance agreement requires the county to remove intake questions and scoring criteria that prioritize applicants based on race, color or national origin. It also requires rescoring applicants who may have been excluded on those grounds and providing fair housing training to relevant employees and service providers.
HUD said it will monitor the county’s compliance.
The announcement concerns the county’s housing-assistance prioritization process. HUD cited the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race and national origin discrimination in federally assisted programs.
