Deschutes Civic Assembly on Youth Homelessness

2024 BEND, Oregon

In Fall of 2024 and in the midst of a presidential election, political polarization hit a fever pitch around the U.S, At the same time, a group of everyday people, randomly chosen, came together to help their community.

Working alongside political and socioeconomic differences, they demonstrated a powerful model for collaboration and rebuilding trust between communities and institutions. Wahoo Films joined us to produce this short documentary showcasing their inspiring work. Watch and see how everyday people can set a new standard for governance and show us how we can do better, together.

The Challenge

Deschutes County sits at a socio-political crossroads. In 2022, Bend’s level of income inequality was in the top 12% in the United States, and in 2024, Central Oregon was in the top five rural places in the U.S. for its rate of homeless families and youth.

Youth homelessness is a multi-faceted, intersectional issue, and those who experience it are severely underrepresented in the public decision making that affects their lives. With support from the Central Oregon Youth Action Board (YAB) – a group of youth with lived experience of homelessness – and its grassroots beginnings, the Assembly was uniquely-positioned to answer the complex question:

“What should our priorities be for building community solutions to prevent and end youth homelessness?”

Our Approach

Healthy Democracy brings a commitment to integrity and equity in its design. In collaboration with our partners, the Deschutes Civic Assembly prioritized an additional element: innovation. Our partners DemocracyNext and the MIT Center for Constructive Communication initiated the tech-enhanced aspect: AI that recorded the Delegates’ deliberations to find patterns, form predictions, and identify ways to make Assemblies more efficient. Local partner The Central Oregon Civic Action Project (COCAP), introduced grassroots organizing, forming relationships with local electeds and building momentum to make Central Oregon a hub for deliberative democracy. The YAB contributed invaluable insights, their life experience enhancing both the design of the Assembly and the information the Delegates received.

1. Lottery SELECTION

Over 12,500 Deschutes County residents received an invitation letter in the mail to participate in the Civic Assembly. In addition, 200 letters that were given to local social service agencies to distribute to residents experiencing homelessness or without permanent addresses. On August 1, 2024, a public Lottery Selection event was held at the Downtown Bend Public Library where 30 Delegates, culturally and demographically representative of Deschutes County, were randomly selected to participate in the Assembly.

2. ORIENTATION

On September 14, 2024, Delegates gathered for the first time in the Charles McGrath Atrium on the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend, Oregon. Delegates were welcomed to the Assembly and given an overview of the process by Healthy Democracy. Key partners also helped set the stage, including COCAP Director, Josh Burgess, who introduced the local policy and political context, and DemocracyNext Executive Director Claudia Chwalisz, who gave an overview of the tech-enhanced aspects of the Assembly. Delegates were also introduced to visiting researchers and third-party evaluators, including staff from Cal Poly Humboldt and the OSU-Cascades Laboratory for the American Conversation.

3. INFORMATION GATHERING

Civic Assemblies aim to be as democratic as possible throughout. As with all Assemblies, the informational inflows were board, diverse, and democratically sourced. In this project, the Assembly’s information came from the following sources:

  • Introductory presenters and documents selected by a Content Committee (more details below)
  • Presenters and documents requested by Assembly Delegates

The ways in which information was received and processed were also broad, diverse, and democratic:

  • Plenary presentations
  • Small-group discussions with guests
  • A free-form “information fair,” where Delegates could seek out additional information or policy analysis from guests seated around the room
  • A selection of introductory printed documents
  • Digital document archive
  • AI-summaries of small-group discussions, for better access to the personal experience of fellow Delegates and small-group discussions with guests
  • A variety of plenary and small-group debriefing and synthesis methods

More about the Content Committee. In this project, a Content Committee was convened, composed of a wide variety of local stakeholders with experience and expertise on the topic of youth homelessness. A community survey was also disseminated, to gather a wider variety of suggestions of resources and presenters. The Content Committee reviewed the results of this survey, deliberated on suggestions, identified gaps, and collaboratively prioritized the an introductory weekend of presenters and resources for the Assembly. Any resource that was suggested but not included in the initial packet was made available to the Delegates in a digital archive.

After this initial weekend, the Assembly took the reigns, with Delegates identifying gaps in the information they’d heard so far and requesting additional presenters and documents. These requests were then filled by staff, with assistance from the Content Committee.

4. DELIBERATION

On October 4, Delegates reconvened in the Atrium after a three week break and settled in for three days of deliberation, The information requested by the Delegates at the end of the first weekend resulted in three panels of community representatives, one representing governance, one social services, and one community members with relevant lived experience. Once the final stage of Information Gathering was complete, Delegates began forming recommendations.

An ‘Information Fair’ was held, in which Delegates conducted online research and discussed their recommendations face-to-face with visiting community representatives and stakeholders who provided insight and expertise regarding the feasibility, trade-offs, and impacts of these early-stage recommendations. In a series of small group sessions, Delegates reviewed, considered, deliberated, and fine-tuned their recommendations, culminating in a voting and prioritization process from which the final 22 supermajority recommendations were created.

Have questions about our approach?

CONTACT US

Results

By the end of the Assembly, Delegates had produced a series of recommendations, 23 of which were supported by 75% or more of the Assembly. Delegates publicly presented the recommendations that received majority support to members of the YAB on the last day of the Assembly, to the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council on November 7, 2024, and to the City of Bend on November 11, 2024. Deschutes County and the City of Bend both committed to reviewing and publicly responding to the recommendations.

Review Recommendations
Develop programs to help 18-year-olds transition out of the foster care system. Teach life skills, inform of available resources, assist with finding housing, incorporate work/trade options.
95% Agreement Recommendation #1
A central hub that would have the following:
-A recreation center that would be run by Bend Parks and Recreation.
-A safe space for at-risk teens.
-Designated space for programs and non-governmental organizations that
would allow teens to access benefits at one central location.
Would increase availablity of resources and foster awareness and involvement with the community. Bend Parks and Recreation has an extensive volunteer core that would be a valuable resource to tap into.
95% AgreementRecommendation #2
Improve foster care system. The foster care system needs to provide more resources for those exiting the foster care system to access housing, jobs training, and education.
91% Agreement Recommendation #3
Schools to follow up on students intentionally who are protected under the McKinney-Vento Act if student is not present in school for 10 days. Follow-up should be on a case-by-case basis.
91% AgreementRecommendation #4
Childcare support for families with young children to help break the cycle of poverty. Creating a Co-Op and utilizing COCC, RPA, and high school students who are studying Early Childhood Education.
86% AgreementRecommendation #5
Delegates Present Recommendations to the Youth Action Board
watch: public selection event

Representatives of COCAP, Deschutes County, the City of Bend, and Healthy Democracy explain the purpose of the Assembly and how Delegates are selected, followed by the live selection of the 30 Delegates who would make up the Assembly.

SELECTION EVENT
watch: livestream of the assembly

For transparency, all plenary sessions of the Assembly were streamed on Healthy Democracy’s YouTube channel. Small group sessions were not livestreamed in order to protect the privacy of Delegates. Learn more about our Transparency and Privacy Policy.

lIVESTREAMS

Delegate Testimonials

‘”…the words running through my head right now are gratitude and hope. I was really scared coming into this process that I was going to be walking into a room full of people diametrically opposed…the cordiality and the ability for this community to come together is inspiring…”

“I don’t speak up very often, but I want you to know it’s been an incredible pleasure to be with all of you…”

“…I came into this process a skeptic…thanks for giving me hope…”

In Their Own Words: Deschutes Delegates reflect on their time together.

In the News

Additional Information

Invitation letter

Over 12,000 Deschutes County residents received this letter inviting them to participate in the Assembly. Of those who responded with interest, the 30 Delegates were randomly chosen through the open-source software, Panelot.

INVITATION LETTER
demographic profile

Learn about the demographic make up of the Assembly, including reselection for Delegates who dropped out. Demographic factors included, but were not limited to, geographic location, race, and educational attainment.

dEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
iNITIAL information packet

Delegates received multiple packets of background information about youth homelessness, curated by the Content Committee. Information was also shared through presenters, workshops, and internet research.

iNFORMATION PACKET
Session Materials

Pre-Assembly

Day 1 – Sunday, September 14th

Day 2 – Sunday, September 15th

Between Sessions

Day 3 – Friday, October 4th

Day 4 – Saturday, October 5th

Day 5 – Sunday, October 6th

Advisory Committee Materials

Post-Assembly Subcommittees

Press Releases

Media Orientation

Consent Forms

Podcasts

Thank You to our Funders