Assisted living facilities Landing of Oregon and Midwest Behavioral held two public meetings Wednesday to hear community input on the proposal.
OREGON, Ohio — Some Oregonians are concerned about a mental health services facility planned next to a child care center.
Midwest Behavioral wants to bring mental and behavioral health services to Landing of Oregon, an assisted living facility off Seaman Road.
The companies held two public meetings Wednesday to hear from local residents about the proposal, and many of the residents in attendance said they did not like the idea of locating the facility near Thrive Childcare, also off Seaman Road. He said he was dissatisfied with.
Tacey Graff was one of several parents who attended the meeting.
“I wanted to know what kind of people we would be serving and what safety measures we would have in place,” said Graf, whose son attends Thrive.
Another parent, Angelica Bowser, shared concerns about factors such as safety and the number of patients admitted to the facility.
“It's a nice gesture, but who is advocating for the children?” Bowser said. “Who will protect the children?”
Landing of Oregon and Midwest Behavioral declined to comment. But facility leaders said at the meeting that they would focus on seniors' mental health, not addiction treatment, and that they would have unarmed security guards on the facility's grounds.
But leaders acknowledged that information was not included in the initial zoning application to the city, raising concerns.
“Unless something significant changes, I don't think this bill has much of a chance of passing,” Oregon Mayor Michael Seferian said.
Seferian serves on the city's Planning Commission. Adding these services would have to go through a committee and then the City Council.
“They were scheduled to come before the Planning Commission earlier than this, so we as the city put them on notice to tell them that if they want to win, they have work to do,” Seferian said. “That's why they called a meeting like this to explain to residents what this meeting is about.”
Many in the community left the meeting unsatisfied. The parents left with the idea that they might change childcare services.
“As a parent, you can't in good faith send your child there if it looks like something was just thrown out there,” Bowser said.
The Landing of Oregon and Midwest Behavioral are scheduled to submit their proposal to the Planning Commission on May 21.
