MISSOULA HOARDING TASK FORCE:
The Missoula Hoarding Task Force will be a volunteer advisory group that meets bi-monthly to review residential hoarding situations for the purpose of informing, coordinating, and collaborating in the provision of services to help people live safely in their homes.
Mission Statement:
The group will be a partnership of local public and private agencies whose purpose is to collaboratively seek to raise public awareness of hoarding and to preserve safe and appropriate housing by development and utilization of tools, best practices and early intervention strategies, by:
- educating and supporting professionals in the area of hoarding and its related disorders
- working with individuals to help achieve goals, mitigate the level of consequences of hoarding, and re-establishing home environmental quality and safety
- focusing on harm reduction principles
- recognizing that even if harmful behavior cannot be completely changed, modest behavioral change is beneficial, and meaningful and significant improvements can be made in quality of life
- reducing the severity, impact and/or and harm for any individual, families, neighborhoods, and the community, as well as the lead responding organizations
Task Force Core Values
- Respect the Individual
- People who hoard are often experiencing multiple issues which frequently requires the assistance of others to manage and recover.
- Reasons for the behavior can be difficult to identify, may be varied, and multidimensional
- Each individual who hoards requires compassion, individualized assessment and services
- People who hoard deserve courtesy and respect
Organizations that encounter hoarding situations are encouraged to bring challenging cases to the monthly task force meeting for review (confidentiality rules apply) with the goal of identifying strategies, developing plans and locating resources that may help bring about a positive outcome for all involved.