The company, which has long provided youth behavioral health services, plans to expand its residential program to treat youth with mental health and addiction issues.
Parrot Creek Child & Family Services in Oregon City is in the midst of a construction project that will provide 40 beds for Oregon City’s youth. The $29 million project is expected to break ground in October 2023, with the new facility opening in summer 2025, said Simon Fulford, executive director of the Clackamas County-based organization.
As Oregon faces high demand and unmet need for mental health care and addiction treatment services, nonprofit organization Parrot Creek is expanding its services. The 25,000 square foot expansion will increase Parrot Creek’s bed count from 20 to 40 beds. But more than just doubling in size, Fulford said the expansion will allow for a third program to be tailored based on youth needs.
“This doubles our production capacity, but it also triples our service capacity,” Fulford said.
Currently, 28 beds are dedicated to youth with mental health and addiction issues. Planners are still planning programs for the remaining 12 beds. This could serve young people suffering from both mental health and addiction issues, or provide respite care for young people who need time away from their families.
“We really want to develop a third program based on current needs,” Fulford said.
Funding for the project comes from a variety of sources, including $8 million allocated by state lawmakers this year and $4 million in federal grants.
Parrot Creek has raised 80% of the needed funding and secured a loan covering up to $5 million to begin construction. Fulford said the goal is to raise money to pay it back.
The organization works with children with mental health and addiction needs, including those who come from the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and those enrolled by their parents. The organization has worked with thousands of children and young people since its founding in 1968.
Parrot Creek provides outpatient mental health and addiction treatment, recovery services and other services for parents of children in the child welfare system on an 80-acre campus.
High need across the state
In a presentation to Congress last week, Oregon Health Authority officials emphasized the need for youth residential services.
Oregon needs 3,700 more beds to serve people in need of mental health and addiction treatment, according to a state report released in June. However, this report only shows the needs of adults, not the needs of young people.
As of August, Oregon facilities had 39 active beds serving youth with addictions, according to a state report. Healthcare providers wanted to serve 66 people, but were unable to do so for various reasons, including a lack of workers.
However, while the state has authorized 85 beds, this number does not indicate the number of beds available, as facilities may have more licensed beds than they can staff.
The Oregon Health Authority is working on a system to help track the youth system in residential care for psychiatric and substance use disorders, Chelsea Holcomb, director of the agency’s Child and Family Behavioral Health Department, told the Senate Health Committee last week. I spoke at the meeting.
Holcomb said it will display wait times, the level of care needed and the referral source.
“This allows us to continuously examine our systems in real time,” Holcomb said.
Get your morning headlines.
Subscribe
