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Local providers describe new deflection program and Seaside housing conversion, programed to launch in September
Summary
County behavioral-health staff outlined a new "deflection" program offering alternatives to arrest for some low-level offenses, plans to hire a drug-and-alcohol clinician, use contingency management, and place clients into supportive and workforce housing created by the Coordinated Care Organization's Seaside Red Lion purchase.
Amy Baker, a county provider, told the Clatsop County Health Systems Advisory Committee that the county is designing a deflection program in partnership with the sheriff’s office, probation and parole, the courts, the VA and other law‑enforcement partners to give some people the choice of treatment instead of arrest.
"Deflection is new to Oregon, but it's not new to the country," Baker said, and added the county will hire a drug‑and‑alcohol clinician to support the effort. She said the program will offer participants access to the county’s full suite of services — housing support, supported employment and other services addressing barriers to stable community living. "That program is supposed to go live in September," she said.
Baker described contingency management as a likely component: "we financially incentivize people for coming to treatment and staying clean and sober," she said, citing national research that the practice can be more effective than treatment as usual.
Baker also updated the committee on a housing conversion in Seaside. She said the Coordinated Care Organization purchased the Red Lion property — referred to in the meeting as the "hawks eye / Red Lion project" — and renovations are expected to be complete in August. "We will be able to start placing people in housing in September," she said. Baker said the project includes "17 units of permanent supported housing, and then ... an additional 34 units of workforce housing" aimed at supporting the health‑care workforce.
Committee members asked about the layout and operational separation of the housing: Baker said the building was specifically designed to keep the two sides "pretty separate," and that the former pool area will be repurposed as a community room for permanent‑supportive tenants while laundry, elevators and other services will remain distinct between the two sides.
The committee did not take a formal vote on program design or funding at the meeting. Baker said her team is still researching national models and coordinating with systems partners; she described hiring and vendor scheduling as continuing constraints and said the county is pursuing multiple approaches, including a tuition‑assistance policy to recruit clinicians.
The committee requested further updates as the county finalizes staffing and vendor timelines and as the program moves toward its planned September launch.
