City of Redmond planning to create its own stabilization center
The city hopes it can replicate the success of the Bend facility
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Deschutes County Stabilization Center has been open for a little more than a year and is positively impacting close to 10 lives every day -- an impact that Mayor of Redmond George Endicott hopes to replicate.
“I think all communities are facing these kinds of situations, and the more we can do to help our citizens, the better off we are," Endicott told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday.
Redmond's planning to complete the building of its stabilization center in 2025. According to Endicott, the city will be working with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office to staff the center, which would be built in conjunction with a new police department headquarters. The center will be funded either by a general obligation bond or through regular funding sources.
“All communities have issues, as police go out on calls, and on occasion they will run into a situation that is not necessarily a criminal activity but might involve someone who is having a mental health crisis,” Endicott said.
According to Adam Goggins, a clinical supervisor at the Deschutes County Stabilization Center, the Redmond Police Department regularly brings people to the Bend facility. A stabilization center in Redmond could change that 15-minute drive to Bend to just a few minutes with a walk-in crisis center in Redmond.
“I think increasing the accessibility in access to crisis services in any community can be really helpful in helping people who really need that,” Goggins said.
The stabilization center in Bend is open 24/7 and serves about nine people a day. Goggins said about 15 percent of those people are dropped off by law enforcement.
“We have a lot of services, and we have always had a crisis walk-in clinic in Bend. We’ve talked about extending that crisis walk-in clinic to Redmond, but we have not had the ability to do that previously," Goggins said. "This potentially could help further extend our services to a large portion of the population who otherwise might not have those resources available.”
