UMATILLA COUNTY
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2022
CCS ends day treatment for at risk youth
BY JOHN TILLMAN
Hermiston Herald
Umatilla County’s mental health and
addiction treatment provider Commu-
nity Counseling Solutions has closed its
mental health day-treatment program
for at-risk children under 12. CCS Ex-
ecutive Director Kimberly Lindsay said
it was a difficult decision but circum-
stances forced the move.
“It was not taken lightly,” she said.
Our employees genuinely care about
the people we serve. While technically it
was a “decision” to end the program, we
really had very few options.”
Operating a day-treatment program
requires a license from the state, she
explained. The license requires various
services to be delivered, including ther-
apy by a master’s level clinician.
“A key individual resigned this posi-
tion within day treatment in early May,”
Lindsay said. “We informed the schools,
InterMountain Education Service Dis-
trict and the Umatilla County commis-
sioners about the potential impact of
the program workforce shortage.”
CCS strove to fill the position, in-
cluding offering a $10,000 sign-on bo-
nus.
“We did not have one applicant,”
Lindsay reported. “We cannot operate
the program if we are out of compli-
ance with the state regulations. Given
this, we did notify the state at the end
of June of the need to discontinue the
program.”
CCS also notified day treatment em-
ployees and families the closure would
affect, she said, and is in constant com-
munication with its other community
partners, including Yellowhawk Tribal
Health Center and Greater Oregon Be-
havioral Health Inc.
“We are continuing to operate the
Mackenzie Whaley/Hermiston Herald, File
Community Counseling Solutions, Umatilla County’s mental health and addiction treatment provider, is open at its Pendleton lo-
cation July 14, 2022. CCS reported in early June it had to close the mental health day-treatment program for at-risk children under
12 due to a lack of staff with proper certification.
summer program for the enrolled chil-
dren, albeit modified, through mid-Au-
gust,” Lindsay said. “This program is
fully funded by CCS.”
The organization’s staff is meeting
with InterMountain Education Service
District and contacted schools to sched-
ule meetings with with enrolled stu-
dents. Lindsay said CCS plans to meet
with each family and individual and af-
fected schools to develop a plan of care
to provide as smooth of a transition as
is possible.
All but one of 11 children enrolled
in the program are in Pendleton School
District, she said.
“We will redirect the funding that
was used for day treatment to pro-
vide skills training in Umatilla County
schools,” Lindsay said. “Five positions
have been created, one supervisory. We
will work closely with the schools to en-
sure that their mental health personnel
are doing what they can to support the
highest needs kids.”
CCS considered the option of pulling
a clinician from the children’s outpa-
tient program to work in day treatment.
“Due to the number of unfilled posi-
tions, all existing clinicians have higher
caseloads,” Lindsay said. “Any of those
existing clinicians could have applied
for the day treatment positions. When
you compel a person to change posi-
tions, it generally causes discontent,
and the person may leave the agency.
That would have exacerbated the issue,
and the individuals who are currently
on their caseload would have to tran-
sition to a clinician who already had a
full caseload. No one wants to choose
which clients are most important. Every
enrolled child is at risk.”
CCS inherited the program from
Lifeways, which received funding from
GOBHI until 2019, Lindsay said. Los-
ing those resources meant that children
over 12 no longer could be served in
day treatment. The number dropped
from more than 20 to today’s 11 chil-
dren participating in the program. CCS
relied on funding from the Oregon
Health Authority.
CCS agreed to take over behavioral
health services in Umatilla County
during a workforce shortage occurring
nationally, she noted.
“The health care sector has been par-
ticularly hard hit,” Lindsay said. “The
clinician shortage is not just occurring
in Umatilla County, but across the state
and nation.”
Lindsay expressed great apprecia-
tion for the grace and patience Uma-
tilla County community members have
shown during the mental health staff
shortage.
“We do try hard on a daily basis to
provide a great service,” she said. “We’ll
continue to put our best foot forward.
We are looking at all options to fill va-
cant positions, and are committed to
providing quality services.”
Julie Smith, director of special pro-
grams in the Pendleton School District,
recognized closing day treatment was
beyond CCS’ control.
“You can’t provide therapy without
therapists,” she said. “It’s one less service
available to our families experiencing
trauma such that they need to partner
with CCS, even if not in a therapeutic
session. It’s hard for families with unre-
solved mental health issues.”
Smith noted the shortage of trained
professionals and other mental health
resources, as well.
“Specialized, highly trained therapists
with the requisite clinical experience
aren’t just sitting around,” she said. “We
provided services during the school day
for a number of years, but COVID put
the kibosh on that. Some of the highest
need students can’ even get to school.”
Smiths aid she hopes that pooling re-
sources in the county allows at-risk chil-
dren to get the help they need in school,
as outpatients at CCS, Yellowhawk or
with other providers.
Stretch of 100-plus days one of hottest on record
BY ANTONIO ARREDONDO
Hermiston Herald
Last week’s summer heat
wave wasn’t just hot. The week-
long stretch was one of the hot-
test periods in Umatilla County
history.
Ann Adams, assistant fore-
caster of the National Weather
Service, shared details on the
heat, which stayed above 100
degrees for seven days starting
July 25 and ending July 31.
The stretch is one of the lon-
gest periods of sustained heat in
Pendleton history, Adams said.
It’s the second year in a row the
county saw summer records af-
ter an extremely hot 2021 sum-
mer. While most of that sum-
mer’s heat came in late June, it
wasn’t as concentrated.
“We got pretty warm last year,
but the days were spread out a
lot,” Adams said.
There was no week in 2021
where every day saw tempera-
tures rise above 100 degrees.
Meanwhile, the week of July 25,
2022, is tied for the second-lon-
gest mark in Pendleton history
at seven days.
The record for most consec-
utive days with high tempera-
tures above the century mark is
11 back in August 1967. While
that stretch was longer, the days
were slightly cooler, if above
100 degrees can be considered
“cool.”
The average high tempera-
ture in 1967 during their record
stretch was 102.5 degrees. Con-
versely, the average high of the
stretch this July was nearly 4 de-
grees warmer at 106.1 degrees.
Of the three stretches of heat
of more than a week in Pendle-
ton history — the other being a
week in July 1968 — the latest is
the hottest on record.
The Hermiston area may
have hotter annual averages
than Pendleton, but this didn’t
stop the heat from setting other
records. The city saw the same
seven-day streak of above 100
degree days starting July 25.
While this stretch may fall to
fifth place in terms of length —
Hermiston dealt with 14 days
of heat in June of 2015 — it still
has the hottest stretch of the
top five.
In addition to an average
high temperature of 107.3 de-
grees, Hermiston set three daily
records during the stretch. Ac-
cording to the National Weather
Service website, the tempera-
tures on July 28, 29 and 30 were
all the hottest on record.
July 29 was the hottest day
in recorded history for July
in both cities. Pendleton saw
a high of 111 degrees, while
Hermiston had a high of 112
degrees.
The other two days saw
slightly lower marks, but still set
daily records. July 28 had a high
of 108 degrees in Pendleton and
109 degrees in Hermiston, and
July 30 was 110 degrees in both
cities. Adams says these tem-
peratures are about 15 degrees
higher than the average high for
the time.
The heat may have died
down this week, but it should
come roaring back by Monday,
Aug. 8. Adams said tempera-
tures should rise past 100 de-
grees again, with a high of 102
degrees in Pendleton and 104
degrees in Hermiston.