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Campus with comprehensive services to address addiction crises
B-roll available below
Earlier today, the Board of County Commissioners finalized a contract with Fora Health to be the service provider and developer for the county’s forthcoming recovery center campus. The campus, aimed at helping residents who are struggling with substance use disorder (SUD), will provide a full continuum of services and supports to help people become self-sufficient and return to their community.
The selection was made after Clackamas County issued a competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) last year to design, construct and operate the center. The evaluation committee, composed of people with lived experience, funders, and county staff, unanimously endorsed Fora Health.
Essential to Fora Health’s selection is the group’s ability to provide multiple services at the campus, which meets the Board’s goal of enabling individuals to receive all the services they need, when they need them.
“I am thrilled to see Clackamas County take a leading role in addressing the critical needs of our community members struggling with addiction and mental illness through its partnership with Fora Health,” stated Chair Craig Roberts. “While Oregon ranks 10th in the U.S. for alcohol and drug dependency, we are ranked 50th in the nation for access to treatment and recovery services – highlighting the urgent need for action. Our collaboration with Fora Health represents a significant step forward in tackling this public health crisis and ensuring that those who need help can access the services they deserve."
“Fora Health believes that everyone possesses the innate ability to recover and improve their health and well-being, and that falls in step with Clackamas County,” stated Commissioner Ben West. “Clackamas County believes and operates under the premise that recovery is possible for anyone – because it is.”
See the details of the contract agreed upon this morning.
About Fora Health
Per its website, Fora Health has a nearly 50-year history of helping over 55,000 individuals change their relationship to drugs and alcohol, and the company has received the highest level of accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities since 2000.
As part of its NOFO proposal, Fora Health proposed an experienced team of partners including Holst Architecture, Elden & Co., and Walsh Construction. Their proposal also emphasized working with people with lived experience along with established community and clinical partners.
Fora Health and their partners have worked on several recovery and housing projects in the metro region, including the Fora Health Supportive Housing Facility, Fora Health Treatment Center, LifeWorks NW Center for Hope and Recovery/Beech Street Apartments, and others.
Campus, services, and the neighborhood
Last October, the Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase of the former Clackamas Elementary School property in North Clackamas with the purpose of transforming it into the new recovery center campus.
Fora Health’s proposal calls for an array of treatment services – withdrawal management, residential care, outpatient services, and care coordination – combined with transitional housing on the site.
The proposal also describes the importance of community engagement: “We’ll collaborate with the community at appropriate stages of the development process – from start to finish – through a customized engagement plan.”
Clackamas County has already convened a Good Neighbor Group, made up of the future site’s residents, surrounding organizations, and businesses as well as people in recovery. This representative group will help establish a Good Neighbor Agreement between Fora Health and the neighborhood. Such an agreement will outline provider and neighbor commitments.
Project background
Find full information on the recovery center.
The recovery center campus is a result of the Board’s enaction of the county’s recovery-oriented system of care (ROSC), passed by resolution in April 2023, which guides the county’s response to the addictions, mental health and homelessness crises. Building on the resolution, in September 2023 the Board held the Clackamas Addictions Recovery Summit, a forum that brought together local, national, and international experts on SUD and homelessness who met with commissioners, staff, and a diverse community stakeholders.
A key recommendation from the panelists was to create a recovery center for individuals with SUD (see a full breakdown).