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Welcome to the Community Residential Siting Program A City of Portland, City of Gresham and Multnomah County Partnership
The Community Residential Siting Program (CRSP) is a service offered through the Office of Neighborhood Involvement designed to address issues, questions and concerns of citizens, neighborhood associations, social service providers and service recipients related to the siting and operations of Community Residential Facilities in Multnomah County. Our Mission: To advocate for an ongoing, proactive exchange of information and education among providers of residential social services and community members to ensure mutual understanding and respect that results in long-term, supportive peaceful relationships that promote safe, livable communities. What We Do:
The CRSP's Role in the Siting Process
Good communication is the key to healthy community relations. It is in the interest of both the neighborhood and the special needs housing facility to formulate strategies for effective communication. Depending on the nature of the facility, the site, and the neighborhood this communication can take many different forms. In situations in which the housing provider, the residents, and the neighborhood have few concerns about the nature and operation of the facility, the communication strategy may be fairly informal. A presentation at a neighborhood association meeting may suffice. In other instances when there are many issues of concern between the neighborhood and the housing provider, a more formal strategy may need to be developed. At any stage of communication and discussion the use of a trained neutral facilitator may be useful.
While most of the kinds of housing we deal with are not legally required to participate in the CRSP's siting facilitation process, our experience has shown that when providers get involved with our office at the early stages of the siting process, many of the pitfalls of siting a facility are avoided and the results are more often satisfactory to neighbors, providers and clients. Once a facility is established in the community, the CRSP can provide further assistance to neighbors if problems should arise with that facility's operation. If a good neighbor agreement exists, we can help make sure all parties follow this agreement in good faith through mediation services, or we can help create one if none exists. We can also act as a go-between to facilitate good relations between the facility's operators and their neighbors. |
