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The Community Residential Siting Program The Community Residential Siting Program (CRSP) was 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 Portland. The program services were provided primarily in the early 2000's and services reduced over the years as funding from program partners were reduced and finally eliminated in 2012. The resources and tools developed as part of the program remain available to providers and the community. However, the materials have not been updated so may not address all requirements.
The Important role of Communication
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.
Although services were not always legally required, our experience has shown that when providers get involved 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. Sometimes a good neighbor agreement is a useful tool in establishing reasonable expectations and communication. Community Residential Siting Advisory Committee (discontinued)
The Community Residential Siting Advisory Committee (CRSAC) was charged with developing guidelines, best practices, educational goals and objectives, and protocols in siting residential social services in Multnomah County. Nothing that this committee addressed is intended to restrict or regulate the siting of facilities designed to serve people who are protected from discrimination by virtue of their race, religion, color, sex, marital status, familial status, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or source of income. The committee members represented community activists, social service/residential facility providers/developers, consumers/tenants, advocacy groups, and government agencies. The materials provided in the links to the left were developed with the input of the CRSAC.
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