The Center for Addictions Triage and Treatment (CATT) is a comprehensive substance use treatment center being developed by Washington County.

The CATT Connection

APRIL 2023

Public Safety and the CATT Come Together to Support Our Community

For too many people, their journey into substance use treatment includes contact with the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, this can result in devastating consequences for the individual, putting their housing, employment and family relationships at risk. A primary goal of the CATT will be to help people access services as quickly as possible, avoiding charges or incarceration related to a health condition.

Our public safety agencies share this goal. Together we share the vision of effectively connecting community members to needed treatment.

Representatives from Hillsboro Police, Beaverton Police, Forest Grove Police and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office have been meeting regularly to collaborate and plan how the services can work together to support our community members who struggle with substance use. Areas of focus have included:

Coordination of services
Training of staff (both CATT and Public Safety)
Input on architectural design

We recognize that neighbors of the two CATT locations may have concerns about how the programs will impact their area. Being a good neighbor and minimizing any effect to surrounding areas is a priority. The Public Safety Work Group has focused on these key areas:

Neighborhood safety
Criminal response planning
Community engagement
Using data to assess neighborhood impact of CATT

We wish to thank our partners in Public Safety for their strong support of this program.

Open House Delayed,

but Community Outreach Continues

Although we are a bit away from construction and opening, we know that neighbors of the two CATT sites are interested in learning about how the buildings will be used in the future.

Last month, staff attended the Five Oaks Triple Creek neighborhood association meeting to share information about the project, including planned services and proposed timeline. We also are working on planning an open house at the Evergreen building, to share more information about the project and meet some of our neighbors.

While we had hoped to hold the open house this spring, it looks like we need to wait until the summer to give the previous tenant time to finish their move. We will share more information about the open house in our next newsletter. We hope to see you there!

Two Committees Retire; Work Praised

The CATT Leadership Team wants to express its highest appreciation to two committees for providing valuable input and professional advisement to the project. Both committees discussed hard questions, solved problems and suggested options. Thanks to their strong commitment to the process, we were able to tackle the issues at hand, move quickly through the work, and retire the committees.

We thank the Community Engagement Advisory Work Group (November 2021 – December 2022) for their subject matter expertise help with:

The development of the CATT Community Engagement Strategic plan
Community engagement needs for the intensive services building
How to uplift voices of recovery in our community engagement process
How to respond to potential NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) concerns
The addiction de-stigmatization campaign
What our Intensive Services Building provider needs to know about community engagement
How we can help CODA develop relationships with the community, disseminate information, identify potential impacts, and ensure an equity-centered approach

We thank the CATT Peer Space Committee (January – March 2023) for their excitement about the project and helping with:

Designing the peer drop-in space
Honoring key equity and inclusion considerations
Creating a welcoming atmosphere using trauma-informed best practices
Recommending an operations model and uplifting the value of collaborating with other community services
Informing the selection criteria for the provider who will occupy the peer space resource

What is Residential Treatment?

CODA, Inc., will manage the intensive services, including residential treatment, at the CATT once the building is open. In this article, CODA explains what residential treatment for problem substance use will look like at the CATT.

When someone is ready for help to treat their addiction, a residential program can be a good option. It’s not just a way to get sober. Residential treatment centers give people a safe place to focus on their health and recovery. And staff are there 24/7 to help.

At CODA, residential treatment typically lasts from 90–120 days. During this time, people focus intensely on learning a new lifestyle. For many people, residential treatment is where they first begin a path toward recovery. There is a regular, daily schedule, which includes one-on-one and group counseling sessions. There are also many chances to share with others who are having the same experience. For many, treatment includes medications as well as counseling. A resident’s family or other personal supports are important to include whenever possible.

Residential treatment is all about learning, sharing and testing new skills. In CODA programs, we focus on:

Identifying triggers to use
Creating new routines
Building a plan to handle difficult situations
Finding a group who will support recovery

Residential treatment is all about the community. People new to treatment learn from those who are further along in recovery. Later they will offer the same support to help someone else. Everyone is a teacher and a learner. There is always someone around to listen.

Another key step is planning the transition out of residential treatment and back to the community. This means focusing on safe housing, healthcare, and other recovery supports. Leaving residential treatment is a beginning, not an end. At the CATT, CODA will shape a residential treatment program using this same vision:

A place to focus on health and recovery
Daily structure for stability
Building a strong community to move forward

CATT Champion Spotlight

Our work on the CATT is grounded in the knowledge that substance use touches all of us in different ways. As we’ve worked on the CATT project, many people have stepped forward and shared very personal stories with us about how they or their loved ones have been impacted by substance use. These stories have inspired us and emphasized the need to improve access to substance use care and treatment. We have been sharing stories from community members we call “CATT Champions.” Every CATT Champion has volunteered to have their story published in their own words. We hope these stories help to highlight the reason we are working hard to bring a substance use triage and treatment center to our community.

CATT Champion Carlos

The first time someone gave me alcohol I was six years old. I was a hyper kid and a family member gave me beer to calm me down. I grew up in a really rough area and had a very traumatic childhood that included sexual abuse. At 16 I began to drink on my own; I kept drinking until I was 42. During that time, I also became addicted to drugs. As a first generation Mexican American, I didn’t know where I belonged. My Spanish was different from others, my English was different, too. I used substances to try to belong somewhere.

I got arrested a lot. If I wasn’t in jail or prison, I was using. I became suicidal. Substance use scorched my life and everybody who was a part of my life. It was pretty severe.

In March 2011 I got arrested for a DUI in Jefferson County, I didn’t know I had a problem. I attended treatment for several months, but I didn’t understand what was happening to me. There was a counselor there that was also a Certified Recovery Mentor and he talked to me like no one ever had. He had a very compassionate way of speaking to me yet maintained the clinical aspect while he spoke in “alcoholics language” – like one alcoholic to another. He said I had a gift, but I didn’t know what he meant at the time. I didn’t believe in myself, but he turned every negative thing I said about myself, into a positive. He gave me his card and said he would mentor me if I wanted to go to school and become a mentor.

Five months later in November 2012 I got pulled over for another DUI and finally admitted out loud that I was an alcoholic. From there I went to treatment and started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

It was in college that I asked for help after not being able to focus while taking my exams. I got some mental health counseling and discovered I had undiagnosed ADHD, PTSD, and suffered from suicidal thoughts.

With lots of help, I made it through college and earned several certificates in drug and alcohol counseling and I am now training as a culturally specific gambling counselor. I’ve been working in this field for seven years now and consider it a privilege to give back. I work with the Latino community and know the struggles people can have when language barriers prevent them from understanding the court system or when mental health issues go undiagnosed. As a culturally specific counselor, I can pick up on these things and help others. I’ve learned that this is my gift that my mentor recognized in me.

If a program like the CATT had been available to me during my years of addiction, I could have gotten help – culturally responsive help for both the addiction and my mental health challenges – and maybe not struggled for as long as I did. The CATT will be a tremendous resource for people struggling with substance use in our community and having peers on staff will make a huge difference. What I want people to know is that recovery is possible, and you don’t have to do it alone.

Visit our website for more information and to provide feedback.

See past editions of the CATT Connection newsletter.

Not on our newsletter distribution list yet? Sign up today!