Proposed, for board reviewMonths 4 to 12; the board and log launch the day the coordinator starts
Phase 1: run the Care Network on tools that already exist
Get roster clinicians listed where counselors already look (Care Solace, the care-finding service Bend-La Pine and Sisters have used, and 211info, the statewide help line and directory), stand up an internal weekly open-or-full capacity board and a three-date referral log inside the host agency (the partner organization that would hold the records), use an off-the-shelf scheduling tool to place volunteers into existing programs, and publish a verified after-hours youth crisis map by county.
The fastest route to a fast first appointment is to be found inside the tools counselors already open. Bend-La Pine uses Care Solace for warm handoffs (referrals where someone makes the call with the family) to community providers, Sisters began a partnership with it in 2022, and 211info runs a searchable directory with interpreters, though it has no closed-loop referral function (one that reports back whether the person was seen). The thin layer no one has is a weekly capacity signal, because the national model that relies on clinicians marking themselves unavailable can go stale, and a staffed intake that screens and matches.
Everything in this phase would be a form, a spreadsheet and a phone, chosen so a volunteer group can actually maintain it and a partner agency can take it over. The capacity board would be internal to the coordinator, never public, so no Prineville therapist is labeled the school threat therapist. The log would hold three dates, a town and the family’s insurance, if any, with no names and no notes, and it would sit inside the host agency rather than with the nonprofit.
The one page that would be public is an after-hours youth crisis map: for each county, whether youth mobile crisis response is live, the Deschutes County Stabilization Center’s rule for anyone under 18 (confirmed with the county before publishing), and what a family does tonight. Several proposals said this pathway was unconfirmed; this phase would take the job of confirming it and re-verifying it quarterly. Volunteers would be routed into Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Sheriff’s COPY mentoring program and YouthLine through an off-the-shelf scheduling tool rather than new programs.
Why we think it works
- Bend-La Pine Schools uses Care Solace for warm handoffs (referrals where someone makes the call with the family) to community providers. (Back to School: Mental health resources available for students in need at Bend-La Pine..., strong evidence)
- Sisters School District began a partnership with Care Solace in December 2022 under a two-year contract funded by a grant from the Roundhouse Foundation (a Sisters-based family foundation), with Care Solace coordinating care for students, staff, and families. (Schools launch mental health partnership (The Nugget, Sisters), moderate evidence)
- 211info supports a searchable directory with radius search and interpreters but lists no closed-loop referral function. (211info, moderate evidence)
- Give an Hour generally does not pre-screen clients, asks clinicians to mark their profiles unavailable when their client load is full, and provides no liability or malpractice insurance to its volunteer providers. (Give an Hour: Provider FAQ, moderate evidence)
- Oregon's Mobile Response and Stabilization Services program is described by the state as a youth crisis service available where county programs are live, which must be confirmed county by county. (Oregon Health Authority: Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, emerging evidence)
What we would do
- Ask Care Solace directly, through Bend-La Pine, Sisters and Jefferson County 509J, how a community clinician joins its provider network and whether a fast-access flag is possible; set a 60-day deadline for an answer; districts would not be asked to change contracts, and the nonprofit would see no Care Solace data.
- List the intake line, not individual clinicians, in 211info so volunteer slots are not consumed by general public calls outside the intended path.
- Stand up the capacity board on an ordinary online form and spreadsheet, internal to the coordinator: clinician, town, telehealth yes or no, languages, ages served, insurance accepted, open slots this week; the coordinator chases blanks weekly and reports open capacity to the High Desert Education Service District (the regional agency that supports all six school districts) monthly; until the coordinator starts, a static roster with a monthly email check is the honest version.
- Keep the three-date log (referral, first contact, first appointment, plus town and insurance, if any; no names, no notes) inside the host agency; the nonprofit receives rolling counts with no names, and numbers too small to protect privacy are not shown.
- Verify and publish the after-hours youth crisis pathway for each county: whether youth mobile crisis response (the state's Mobile Response and Stabilization Services program) is live in Crook and Jefferson counties, the Deschutes County Stabilization Center's rule for anyone under 18 (confirmed with the county before publishing), the county crisis line numbers, and what a family does tonight; re-verify quarterly with each county.
- Place volunteers through an off-the-shelf scheduling tool and a Volunteer Central Oregon listing, routing them to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Deschutes County Sheriff's COPY mentoring program and the Bend call center of YouthLine (Lines for Life's peer crisis line for teens) rather than to new programs; adults only.
- Name the receiving institution (the ESD, a county, or 211info) in writing for each tool before it is built, and plan the handoff as content and process, not software.
How we would know it is working
- Request to Care Solace made through the districts within 60 days and the answer reported; the intake line listed in 211info
- Capacity board updated weekly, with the share of blanks chased reported monthly to the ESD
- After-hours youth crisis map published and re-verified each quarter for all three counties
- Zero youth-identifying records held by the nonprofit
- A named receiver documented for every tool before it is built
What could get in the way
- Care Solace is a district vendor under contract; districts cannot let an outside group tag providers or route referrals inside the tool, and the answer may be no.
- Ask the vendor directly through the districts with a 60-day deadline, let the vendor decide on any flag, and run the capacity board regardless.
- A public capacity board labels a rural therapist as the school threat therapist and keeps families away from that office.
- The board stays internal to the coordinator; the public sees only a directory entry for the intake line.
- Capacity boards decay when clinicians stop updating, and the weekly chase is the coordinator's job, which is unfunded until month six.
- Launch the board the day the coordinator starts; until then a static roster and a monthly email check.
- Public bodies cannot simply accept a handed-off tool; they face procurement, accessibility and records rules for anything they host.
- Build only content on ordinary tools and hand off content and process rather than software.
Who we would work with: Care Solace (through Bend-La Pine, Sisters and Jefferson County 509J), 211info (the statewide help line and directory), Deschutes County Behavioral Health Access Team (the county's intake line) and Stabilization Center (the county's crisis center), BestCare (the community behavioral health provider in Madras and Prineville) and the Crook and Jefferson county crisis lines, High Desert Education Service District (the ESD), Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon, the Deschutes County Sheriff's COPY mentoring program and Lines for Life's YouthLine, Volunteer Central Oregon