Our Place is a new substance use disorder treatment facility in Salem, Oregon, offering accommodation to parents and children while one or both parents continue with treatment. This type of service can offer many benefits to parents and children and can help improve treatment outcomes and child well-being.
Our Place: A family-centered recovery model
Our Place is a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment program in Salem, Oregon, that opened in October 2025. Our Place provides free accommodation for people in SUD treatment and their families. If one or both parents are involved in SUD treatment, they can apply to reside at Our Place with their child or children, while they continue their treatment. [1]
This provides family-centered care, offering SUD treatment to parents, alongside additional support around mental health, parenting skills, employment, and household management. This service aims to prevent and reduce the negative impact that children can potentially face when they have one or more parents in SUD treatment. It can also serve to encourage parents to utilize treatment without concerns about separating families. [1][2]
Our Place was developed by Marion County and Catholic Community Services, the organization responsible for building the apartment block for Our Place. The building’s construction was contributed to with $500,000 of COVID-19 relief money granted to the county. Other funding includes Medicaid and national opioid settlements. [1]
The building contains five apartment units. Each family has their own unit, where they can live while the parents undergo SUD treatment.
What Our Place offers
Our Place offers: [1]
- An apartment for each family
- Comprehensive SUD treatment programs
- Additional supportive services, such as training for parenting skills or employment
- Counseling for parents and children
Why family-inclusive treatment matters
Family-inclusive treatment can provide a significant benefit for individuals in SUD treatment and their families. Currently, 8.7 million children in the United States (12% of under-18s) live with at least one parent with SUD. [4] Parental SUD is associated with the following impacts on children: [4][5]
- Increased health problems
- Increased mental health concerns
- Impaired emotion regulation
- Reduced academic performance
- Increased delinquency
- Increased exposure to violence and conflict
- Impaired parent-child attachments
- Increased risk of maltreatment, neglect, or impaired parenting skills
- Higher levels of involvement from child welfare services
Providing a service that incorporates SUD treatment with family-centered needs can help reduce these risks by supporting families in a range of aspects, including improving parenting skills, preventing maltreatment, and providing a safe environment. [2] Previously, people with children entering SUD treatment would likely be separated from their partners and children, with parents being split between two treatment programs and children living with only one parent or put into foster care. [1]
Family-inclusive services can help encourage parents to enter SUD treatment without concerns about leaving their children, which can improve treatment engagement and retention. [2][5] This also prevents children from experiencing trauma and feelings of abandonment that may arise when separated from one or more of their parents.
What parents and children receive at programs like Our Place
Our Place offers accommodation for parents and children, providing a safe and supportive environment for parents to progress with their recovery while remaining with their children. [1]
Parents receive specialist SUD treatment, which includes recovery support, counseling (which their children also participate in), and skills development. Additionally, Our Place offers services to help with learning and improving upon other necessary skills, including aspects relating to running a household, such as grocery shopping, meal planning, and budgeting. [1]
Our Place includes five apartment units, where families are expected to remain for around six to nine months. They are not required to leave until they have completed their treatment and have found a suitable place to live. [1]
Similar programs are available elsewhere in the country, including the Families in Transition (FIT) program in Miami, Florida. This program can house around 65 parents and 125 children in its residential facility, which also provides comprehensive support for parents with SUD while also offering vocational, parental, and community skills development. [3]
Benefits and impact for parents and children
Benefits of services such as Our Place to parents: [2][3][4][5]
- People are more likely to enter treatment if they don’t have to be separated from their partner and child
- Reduced barriers to care, such as childcare needs, housing issues, and limited transportation
- Treatment completion rates are higher if parents can stay with their children during treatment
- Treatment outcomes are improved
- People can develop a range of crucial personal and family-based skills alongside SUD treatment
- Family relationships can be maintained, and any interpersonal issues contributing to substance use can be addressed within the treatment program
Benefits to children: [2][3][4][5]
- Preventing children from being separated from their parents can help reduce trauma and anxiety
- There is likely to be less involvement from child welfare services
- Children can observe their parents during recovery, modeling improvements, and the development of crucial skills
- Providing parents with SUD treatment while living alongside their children can help break intergenerational addiction associated with genetic and environmental factors
Eligibility and how to apply
To be eligible for accommodation at Our Place, one or both parents must have commenced SUD treatment and reached the outpatient stage of their recovery. People with more intensive treatment needs will require alternative services. [1]
People can email Morgan at thmorgan@co.marion.or.us to learn more about Our Place or apply.
Advocating for family-inclusive addiction treatment
For parents with ongoing SUD treatment needs, programs offering family-inclusive programs can provide multiple benefits. Parents can continue living together with their children, which can improve treatment retention and outcomes, and ensure that the individual continues to receive support from their family throughout their treatment.
These services can also provide important benefits to children, helping to reduce the need for foster care, reduce and prevent the negative impacts of parental alcohol and substance use issues, and contribute to improvements in parenting and family dynamics.
Various family-inclusive addiction treatment programs are available across the country, including Our Place, an apartment building for families in Salem, Oregon.
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