Portland officials have unveiled a plan to consolidate social services and public health programs, including clinical services offered at India Street, under one roof in a new downtown location.
The plan, laid out in a memo to a City Council committee that oversees the department, would consolidate programming and staff at four locations to 39 Forest Ave., an office building between Congress Street and Cumberland Avenue.
Kristen Dow, the city’s health and human services director, said the space will be better for both staff and clients, who often utilize multiple city programs and multiple locations. Those services would be under one roof.
She said the move will not only allow the city to maintain its current programming, but to expand and improve it, including a new program designed to divert people from needing to use the emergency shelter by connecting them with other services or helping them reach family members for support.
+INFO: Press Herald
