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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 Mental health agency making strides, but path still bumpy OBITUARY Mary Louise Strohl Montgomery Astoria Feb. 18, 1917 — Dec. 11, 2016 Crisis respite center lacks secure beds Mary Montgomery was born Feb. 18, 1917, olina and became a children’s protective ser- in Quincy, Illinois, to Dr. Harley and Eva (Gill) vice worker for the states of Maryland and Flor- Strohl. Mary passed away Sunday, Dec. 11, ida. Upon retiring in 1980, she moved from 2016, in Astoria. Winter Park, Florida, to Astoria, where she was employed as a library assistant for 11 Mrs. Montgomery was a graduate of the class of 1939 at the University years at the Astoria Library. of Illinois, with a major in fine arts. She is survived by her son, Mark She was granted a year’s study with V. Montgomery III and daughter-in- Frederic Taubes, an Italian painter. She law, Tomelene, of Lompoc, California; was a member of Illustrators Interna- daughter Kristin M. Johnson and son- in-law, Jeffery H. Johnson, of Astoria; tional (an honorary fraternity). She granddaughter Jasmine Swank and her maintained a studio and painted many husband, Shannon, of Astoria; grand- portraits while also employed by Gar- son Michael Montgomery of Boulder, rard Press as art editor and job estima- Colorado; grandson Daniel Montgom- tor. She later became a cartographer, Mary ery and his wife, Morgana, of Win- then apprenticed as an editor with Montgomery ston-Salem, North Carolina; grandson Kingsport Press. Matthew White and his wife, Davina, In 1941, Mary married Ensign Mark V. Montgomery Jr. They divorced in 1969. of Templeton, California; five great-grandchil- They had three children, Mark III, David P. and dren, Solice Swank of Astoria and Ethan, Isaiah, daughter Kristin. Cmdr. Montgomery and their Emma and Jaiden White of Templeton, California. A special remembrance for a longtime friend, son, David, preceded her in death, along with a Pat Miller. Special thanks to Brent and Renee grandson, Ethan Montgomery. As a Navy wife, Mrs. Montgomery continued Kahle for providing 2 1⁄2 years of loving care to paint many portraits, landscapes and still life, and friendship. The Kahles became, and will con- throughout the U.S. and British Territories until tinue to be, part of Mary’s family. Visitation will be held Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, she became legally blind in 2003. She maintained a lively interest in art, politics and Bible study, from 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, and was a member of the First Congregational from 10 to noon at Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mor- Church, although she was baptized in St. John’s tuary, 1165 Franklin Ave., Astoria, Oregon. Funeral services will be held Saturday, Dec. 17, Cathedral, in Quincy, Illinois, of which she had fond memories. She was also church organist 2016, at 1 p.m. at Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary. Private vault interment will be at Ocean View and choir director of the Navy Chapel in Trin- idad, British West Indies, from 1947-1948. She Cemetery in Warrenton, Oregon. Memorial contributions may be given to the later taught in a private school and sang at the Clatsop County Animal Shelter, 1315 S.E. 19th Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. In later years, Mrs. Montgomery studied St., Warrenton, OR 97146, or to a charity of one’s social work at Winthrop College in South Car- choice. By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Six months after a leadership implosion, Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare has hired more than two dozen new staff- ers, opened a crisis respite center in Warrenton, and secured a two-year cer- tificate to provide mental health services. Amy Baker, the exec- utive director brought in to stabilize the agency in June, has also ensured that the status of high-risk patients is reviewed every morning, a safeguard to help prevent people from crisis. “I think that we’ve made some significant headway, but we’re defi- nitely not where we want to be yet,” Baker told the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners during an update on the agen- cy’s progress Wednesday night. “We’re still cross- ing some — I don’t want to say huge waves — but defi- nitely some rough waves.” Among the 26 new hires is Pyper Powell, the clini- cal director, who previously worked at the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Con- sortium, along with a psy- chiatrist, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and a new crisis response team. Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, the county’s mental health contractor, was in disarray earlier this year after staff departures tied to management and operational dysfunction. An internal investiga- tion, as well as a review by the Oregon Health Author- ity, outlined the management shortcomings. The state had issued the agency a one-year provisional certificate to pro- vide mental health services pending a follow-up review. The agency has about 100 employees and 1,400 patients. One positive step, and challenge, is the crisis respite center in Warrenton that opened in July. The 16-bed center, an alternative to hospital emer- gency rooms and jail for peo- ple in crisis, has served 31 patients so far. The crisis respite center is supposed to have four secure beds, a commitment made after concerns from law enforcement and city lead- ers in Astoria and Warrenton that potentially dangerous patients could walk away. Baker said the respite center has not been licensed for secure beds, but could complete the process by March. The respite center was also supposed to have res- idential treatment, a clien- tele, covered by insurance, that could help finance the facility. But Baker said that because of state funding issues there is no residential treatment component, so the respite center will have to find ways to be financially sustainable. At a briefing Baker gave to the Warrenton City Com- mission on Tuesday night, commissioners praised the respite center as long over- due. Warrenton Police Chief Mathew Workman said his department has a good relationship with the new facility. “This fills a real need, not just in Warrenton, but countywide,” Mayor Mark Kujala said. “So that’s why we’re really pleased to be a home for the respite center.” Emergency Board denies more money for women’s prison By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The Oregon Emergency Board Wednes- day denied a request by state corrections officials for $3.8 million to continue laying the groundwork for opening a second women’s prison in Oregon. Lawmakers on the 20-mem- ber board said they want to see if efforts by the Department of Corrections and several coun- ties can reduce the female inmate population enough to avoid opening the Oregon State Penitentiary Minimum in Salem, where the second wom- en’s prison would be housed. The Emergency Board could reconsider the request in March. “This isn’t a denial,” said state Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stay- ton. “All we are doing is delay- ing the decision.” The decision came amid backlash from justice reform advocates and others over the Department of Corrections plan to open the second prison in June for as few as 20 female inmates. Despite a statewide revenue shortfall of $1.7 bil- lion, Gov. Kate Brown also had allocated $17.5 million to open the prison in her pro- posed budget. Lawmakers approved $55 million in “justice rein- vestment” grants to counties over the past three years with the hope of avoiding open- ing additional prisons. The grant proceeds are intended to pay for programs that help keep offenders out of prison. Despite those concerted efforts, the population at the state’s sole women’s prison — Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville — has hovered over the 1,280 limit since May. The population reached an all-time high of 1,315 in November, said Liz Craig, an administrator in the Department of Corrections Office of Communications. State corrections officials have used the 1,280-popula- tion threshold as a trigger for opening a second women’s prison. Corrections officials have been delaying additional mon- etary requests for opening the facility “solely based on our commitment to justice rein- vestment,” Department of Corrections Director Colette Peters said. 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