BRUSH PRAIRIE — Standing in the pew-filled sanctuary of the now-closed Bethesda Slavic Church, Annette Klinefelter points to where the room may soon be transformed into classrooms, visiting areas and counseling offices for teens recovering from drug addiction.
This is the “church that fell out of the sky,” said Klinefelter, the executive director of Daybreak Youth Services. The nonprofit, which provides residential treatment for teens with chemical dependency and related mental health issues, has proposed transforming this 30,000-square-foot church at 11910 N.E. 154th St. into a 40-bed residential treatment facility for boys and girls.
“It has everything that you need,” she said. “We can get up and operational with very little investment and construction.”
But there are a few steps Daybreak has to overcome before construction can begin.
The Clark County council on Tuesday will consider a permanent zoning change to some rural centers that will allow for residential care facilities with 11 beds or more. Current code only allows for residential care homes, which can have 10 or fewer beds, in rural centers.
Republican Councilors David Madore and Tom Mielke voted at a public board time meeting in November to approve a temporary emergency ordinance for the zoning change, allowing Daybreak to move forward with the purchase of the 8.5-acre site. Republican Councilor Jeanne Stewart was absent from that meeting.
The council’s decision, as well as the proposed facility itself, has drawn the ire of some Brush Prairie residents. Some have accused the county of failing to adequately inform neighbors of the facility and fear what consequences may result from having 40 recovering teenagers in the area at all times.
“It’s typical government,” said Janelle Webb, one of the critics of the proposal. “Pushing something through without due process.”
But with children across the state suffering from drug addiction and not enough facilities to treat them, Klinefelter said projects like this can’t wait.
“(These children) have an immediate health care need,” Klinefelter said. “The kids who come here are the kids who have life-threatening addiction that’s going to kill them if they don’t get away from the addiction.”
‘Not in our backyard’
There’s a small yellow sign posted in the yard of a home neighboring the facility, opposing Daybreak’s center.
“Say ‘NO’ to a Rehab Center in Brush Prairie,” the sign reads. “Not in our backyard!”
Diane and Jim Hunter, who own a small farm about half a mile from the site, question whether there is adequate infrastructure, including sewage and lighting, to accommodate the building. They also fear what may happen if one of the patients runs away from the facility.
“That’s the kind of child that can whoop your ass,” Jim Hunter said. “There are risks. We’re going to bear them.”
Webb, who has been among the most vocal critics of the facility, agrees that some teenagers need treatment, but said community members are “extremely concerned” about their homes, property values and children.
But she and others feel defeated by the county’s approach to the rezoning.
“The community does not want this, and they just pushed it through,” she said.
In addition to its public meeting where it approved the emergency ordinance, the Clark County council forwarded the zoning changes to the Planning Commission. At a February public hearing, the commission recommended unanimously that residential care facilities be allowed on rural center parcels larger than 2.5 acres. It also recommended that the council open a review of all residential care facilities in order to provide more opportunities for such facilities.
Daybreak’s proposal will also have to go before a Clark County hearings examiner on March 24 to receive a conditional-use permit.
Klinefelter said concerns over teenagers running from the facility are unfounded. There will be at least one staffer for every five children at all times, she said. Bedrooms are checked hourly at night. Doors will be locked and secured. Unbreakable plastic will be placed over every window. Outings are supervised by Daybreak staff.
“They can’t just open the door,” Klinefelter said.
Klinefelter also argued that some of the other allowed uses in rural centers — such as animal boarding centers, private recreation facilities such as gun clubs or paintball facilities, or utility substations — would be far less desirable than a treatment facility.
“This is the lesser of many, many potential evils that you could have in your backyard,” she said.
‘Build more capacity’
The need for rehabilitation facilities, especially those for teenagers, is at an all-time high, Klinefelter said.
Daybreak’s current 16-bed facility off Falk Road in Vancouver only treats boys, though Daybreak has a 40-bed facility for girls in Spokane. Statewide, there are only about 200 beds available for inpatient treatment. Daybreak, however, estimates that in Clark County alone, there are 2,500 children between the ages of 10 and 17 that need inpatient psychiatric and addiction services.
Daybreak has been searching for 16 years for a large-enough facility to provide more inpatient treatment, said Klinefelter, who added that this building is perfect. The building has two large auditorium spaces, a commercial kitchen and a series of classrooms that Klinefelter said will be transformed into bedrooms.
“This is like pretty much ready to use,” she said.
In addition to last year’s support from Madore and Mielke, County Community Services Director Vanessa Gaston and county Juvenile Court Administrator Patrick Escamilla voiced their support for the facility to the county council.
The space for inpatient care for teens is “incredibly limited,” Gaston said.
“It’s going to be hard to find a facility to place (these children) because the resources just don’t exist,” Gaston said. “Across the state, we need to build more capacity.”
