The regional Coordinated Houseless Response Office, which was created by lawmakers in 2022, could shift from Deschutes County’s umbrella to Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council’s.

It would one of the first major changes since the office’s former director, Cheyenne Purrington, resigned in May after nine months on the job, citing a lack of coordination and support. Purrington actually recommended in a resignation letter that office oversight move from the county to Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.

In July, the office’s governing board, which consists of a councilor from each city in Deschutes County and a county commissioner, unanimously approved a strategic plan for the office.

The five priorities of the plan are copied from an earlier Bend emergency homelessness task force plan almost verbatim. But the plan’s approval, which was unanimous among the board, is a good sign for Bend City Councilor Megan Perkins, who sits on the board

“We have a game plan and a real shared vision among the governing board of what we want this office to look like in the future,” Perkins said.

The priorities read:

• Engage the whole community

• Establish the Coordinated Houseless Response Office

• Expand services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness

• Address the crisis of unsheltered homelessness

• Improve access to affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness

Both Perkins and Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, who also sits on the board, believe the office would be more appropriate under COIC, which is already handling the funding from Gov. Tina Kotek’s executive order declaring homelessness a state of emergency in Oregon. The coordinated office received $1 million for two years upon its inception.

“It’s better to get everything together and consolidate it all with COIC,” Adair said. “I believe that’s a better plan.”

The office’s strategic plan is a far cry from Purrington’s initial draft of the plan, which was proposed in March.

Purrington’s plan was ambitious. It involved creating a homeless bill of rights and a homeless court to ensure access to justice and legal protections. But it also had many of the same goals that the new plan does, including improving data quality and transparency and engaging various community groups, outreach providers and government entities to better address homelessness in Deschutes County.

According to Tammy Baney, the executive director of COIC, the new plan is just the first step.

“That document will end up being a really defined chapter in a larger planning effort that will kick off this fall,” Baney said.

It will lead to a regional strategy to prevent and end homelessness, which hasn’t been updated since 2015.

The COIC board of directors discussed the coordinated office and its plans at a meeting Thursday, but Baney said a formal vote on whether to shift oversight of the office from Deschutes County will not be taken until an agreement is drafted. That could be as soon as September.