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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 2015)
Portland, the DOJ and the slow moving gears of mental health In 2013, the city agreed to create a m ental health center in its settlement with the Departm ent o f Ju stice over police use o f force Two years later, what that would look like is a ll still a matter o f perspective. & HI « fi B Y CHRISTEN McCURDY S T A F F W R IT E R mental health, not-soothing, ocal hospitals are going full steam warm and ahead with a plan to merge psychiatric welcoming in a care services into a single emergency psychiatric emergency; treatment center - which the city is touting service.” as the answer to a neglected requirement in Patients who seek mental alternative to Portland’s agreement with the Department health treatment in standard emergency jails or of Justice, even as stakeholders say it rooms currently face long wait times - ofteri hospitals, In doesn’t actually meet that requirement. being warehoused for several days - to that regard, we . And police reform advocates are watching access appropriate care. Farentinos said at will definitely be the progress of the United States vs. City of Unity, staff will be-able to perform an an alternative,” Portland agreement in light of the abrupt assessment right away with professionals Farentinos said. resignation of Paul De Muniz, the former who specialize in psychiatry and addiction, Mayor Charlie chief justice of Oregon’s Supreme Court and who will be on hand to monitor patients’ Hales has included the only Oregon link, from the Compliance progress more closely. $500,000 in one-time Officer/Community Liaison team tasked “A great majority, about 80 percent of funding for the new with overseeing the agreement. psychiatric emergencies, can be treated in a Providence center in his 2015-16 The Unity Behavioral Health Center - Health few hours and, get back in the community,” proposed budget, unveiled announced earlier this year as a planned Farentinos said. “In many ways, a Services, which is May 5. The city already pays more collaboration between Legacy Health, Kaiser not participating in the psychiatric emergency -service functions as a than $300,000 a year for the COCL/ Permanente, Oregon Health and Science triage and treat. As an outcome, it reduces Unity project, will keep its mental health COAB. University and Adventist Health Services - the rate of hospitalization and gets the services intact. Providence currently has 79 < “We’re generally using the term would total $50 million in remodeling costs beds available, but"dt^® ^W ^a^SsT28by ™ ‘p sy c h ia tr ic e m e r g e n c y s e r v ic e s ’ r a th e r th an 1 person back teethe Community faster, ’ though there are, people thaLwill at Legacy Health’s Holladay Park campus in the end of the year. drop-in center because people who know in-patient hospitalizations.” ' the Lloyd District, according to a website The United States vs. City of Portland about health care tell me that’s a better and “Right now. what we have is when people Legacy has created to raise awareness and settlement, the result of a Department of more efficient term,” Dana Haynes,, are in mental health crises, there are funds for the site. Legacy has committed Justice investigation that found the Portland spokesperson for Hales’ office, told Street occasions when we handcuff them and put $10 million in real estate and raised another Police Bureau had a pattern of excessive Roots in response to a question about the them in the back of a Grown Vic [patrol car] $21 million in private donations. force against people with mental illness, drop-in center requirement in the and take them to an emergency ER,” The new facility will have 101 beds total - said one of the underlying causes of the agreement “A drop-in center could be a Haynes said. “That’s the wrong response 79 for adults and 22 for children and problem was the “absence of a quonset hut with a fence. I mean, it just with the wrong vehicle to the wrong venue. adolescents, accordihg to Dr. Chris comprehensive community mental health doesn’t say enough. So we use the term But if somebody’s having an emergency Farentinos, the behavioral health director infrastructure (that) often shifts to law psychiatric emergency services center.” crisis in downtown Portland, w e don’t have a for Legacy. enforcement agencies throughout Oregon Renaud said in the 1980s, there was a lot of other options beyond that. The In an interview with Street Roots, the burden of being first responders to handful of quadrant-based, peer-run day psychiatric emergency services center Farentinos described the center as “a individuals in mental health crisis.” treatment centers in Portland that allowed would be the appropriate place to take merger” consolidating the hospital systems’ It called on the city and coordinated care people in a fragile state to come in and work someone who’s having a mental health ’mental health care to one centralized site. organizations - just then being formed to through crises safely, usually without crisis. It would create parity for mental Most of the participating systems - with the overhaul care delivery for those on the treatment - and this is probably what the health the same as for physical health.” exception of Kaiser - will transfer their Oregon Health Plan - to create “one or term “drop-in centers” evoked for Renaud said the Unity center may solve mental health services to the site. more drop-off center(s) for first responders stakeholders. problems in emergency rooms, but doesn’t Currently, Adventist has 43 beds for and public walk-in centers for individuals “That’s the idea of the walk-in center, a meet the heeds of people with mental psychiatric patients, and OHSU has 20 - with addictions and/or behavioral health place where people can be safe, not get illnesses. and spokespeople for both organizations service needs*” treatment and not get judged. They could “It does fit the needs of various hospitals. confirmed those beds will be moved to Jason Renaud, co-founder of the Mental have a crisis and not attract the attention of It prevents liability,” Renaud said - but he Unity when it opens, which Legacy is hoping Health Association of Portland, said when police or worried neighbors,” Renaud said. emphasized that it doesn’t meet the«- will happen by the end of next year. Legacy the settlement agreement was first released, Amy Watson, who serves on the COCL requirements of the agreement. has 43 total psychiatric care beds — 17 at he was tasked to take it to people in the board and is a professor of social work at There’s also a question mark hanging Good Samaritan, 10 at Legacy Emmanuel mental health system. Stakeholders: told him the Jane Addams College of Social Work at oyer next steps in the agreement’s and 16 child/adolescent beds at Randall they weren’t consulted about most of the the University of Illinois at Chicago, told implementation. Paul De Muniz, a former Children’s Hospital. reforms and felt many of them were either Street Roots the settlement “doesn’t have as chief justice of Oregon’s Supreme Court and Kaiser didn’t respond to Street Roots’ unhelpful or redundant. much teeth” in making sure the drop-in the only Portland-based member of the query about the number of mental health The deadline for creation of the drop-in centers open, because the coordinated care COCL, announced his resignation from the beds in its Portland facilities (which are only centers was 2013. By winter 2014, city organizations aren’t parties in the board April 8, citing a personal health issue. available to Kaiser patients), but Legacy officials were describing drop-off sites as agreement. (Amanda Marshall, U.S. Attorney for the ^spokesperson Brian Terrett noted it “aspirational,” but more recently have “I started asking people to stop talking Oregon district, has also announced her wouldn’t be moving any of its beds to the touted Unity as the answer to the neglected about drop-off center and to start talking resignation, also citing a personal health requirement. new facility. Between the three about treatment center where people can issue, effective May 15. The US Attorney is But Farentinos acknowledged it’s organizations that are moving their beds, get care,” Farentinos told Street Roots. the local representative of the Department probably not what the authors of the there are 106 psychiatric cafe beds total - “When someone is having a mental health of Justice.) agreement had in mind - though it’s just a few more than the 101 for the new crisis, say they’re depressed or suicidal, and In November, when the city announced intended to be an avenue where people in proposed site. they go to an emergency room, a medical its selection of the Rosenbaum group - mental health crisis can access treatment Farentinos noted there will be a few more emergency room, of course the staff is very rather than going to jail. pediatric psych beds at Unity than are caring and is going to do the best they can, See MENTAL HEALTH, page 13 “There is language that aspires to offer an but the environment is not designed for currently available, and said she believes B
