A child in a behavioral health crisis can spend weeks in the emergency department of the hospitals of the St. Charles Health System. There often can be no better place for them to go.

Staff at St. Charles provide good care, but the emergency room is no place for children struggling with mental health issues.

St. Charles had 110 children staying in its emergency departments in 2024 longer than 24 hours. That number may only grow unless something is done.

This was the first problem Bend legislators state Sen. Anthony Broadman, and Reps. Jason Kropf and Emerson Levy told us they wanted to take on this session. House Bill 3085 is the vehicle. It creates a program to meet this problem all across Oregon.

The bill establishes an Emergency Behavioral Health Services for Children program overseen by the Oregon Health Authority with the goal of establishing regional child psychiatric centers. The centers would be places where children can be stabilized and get the treatment they need in a place for children. It’s critical to have these in various regions of the state, so parents east of the Cascades don’t have to drive across the mountains or to another state to get their children treatment and participate in the treatment.

The bill’s concept is for a pilot program that would set up at least three of the centers in different parts of the state and learn from it.

We don’t know the cost. We don’t know about support for the bill or reasons why some may not like it. Legislative staff have not produced an analysis of the bill. It is not scheduled for a hearing in the Legislature, yet.

Helping children in crisis is not a partisan issue. When a child needs help, it should be easy for them to get it. In Oregon, it is far from that.

If you have time and care about this issue, tell Gov. Tina Kotek to use her influence to get something done this session for these children. You can share your opinion with her here: oregon.gov/gov/Pages/share-your-opinion.aspx.