The Lane County Stabilization Center project team recently hosted a public meeting and panel to provide updates on the progress of the effort as well as news from a potential location.
The team aims to have the center operational by late 2024 or early 2025. The stabilization center would fill a large void in county services. While the area has been hailed for its unique response to mental health crises through the unarmed CAHOOTS Mobile Team, emergency responders in the area have few places they can take someone in crisis other than a ward. emergency or jail.
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“There is a need and the need is to dress up,” Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger said as a panelist at the meeting.
She shared the hope that while the center would initially be reactive to the county’s mental health crisis, it would eventually be proactive and catch issues before they developed.
The team found a possible location for a center “in its own backyard,” public health spokesman Jason Davis said. A location behind the Lane County Behavioral Health Services Clinic on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard could be the site of the future center, in part because of its proximity to other resources and the fact that the county is already owner.
The idea was first presented to the Board of County Commissioners in October. Last Thursday was the first time the public had the opportunity to comment on the location. The board will continue to consider other location options in the meantime.
Some participants raised concerns about the contribution of people with lived experience with behavioral health systems. Panelists said there would be more opportunities for input in the coming months. In February, members of the public will have the opportunity to provide their input through listening sessions that will be available weekly. After that, the team will facilitate more specific focus groups.
“Today is about sharing the location, sharing this plan for February and giving this open invitation to participate,” Britni D’Eliso, Stabilization Center project manager, told the Register-Guard. . “We’re trying to take a step forward and be proactive in recruiting engagement from the consumer community.”
More information about the project and progress is available online at lcstabilizationcenter.com.
Context of the future stabilization center:
A place that can manage people in mental health crisis and connect them to long-term solutions has been needed in the region for some time. The county officially identified the need for a stabilization center in 2014. The project was initiated when the county received US bailout funds that could be used for the project.
The Lane County Board of Commissioners has committed approximately $8 million to the project. Other sources of financing will have to be found in the years to come. Last year, consultants estimated the project would cost at least $19 million.
Once open, the Stabilization Center will be open 24/7 to anyone in Lane County experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis, including those referred by health care or a social service provider. , people dropped off by mobile crisis response or law enforcement and walk-ins. The project team aims to create a center that can respond to people’s crisis as well as support long-term healing.
It differs from the Navigation Center which opened in the summer because it does not require a referral, accepts walk-in visits and focuses primarily on stabilizing people’s mental health as the Navigation Center focuses on moving people to housing.
After:Navigation Center, Lane County’s low-barrier shelter for the homeless, opens in Eugene
Stabilization services will include:
- Immediate triage and treatment.
- Mental health and addiction services.
- Connections to specialized and long-term support.
- Coordination with existing resources.
- Unloading with transport.
The planned capacity of the center is 42 clients at a time and more than 8,200 people served in one year.
Contact journalist Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-338-2454, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT.
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