Multnomah County today reported that 127 people were referred by law enforcement to the deflection program between Sept. 1, 2024–the day a new law (HB 4002) took effect making possession of small amounts of illegal substances a misdemeanor offense–and Nov. 15, 2024. In that same period, the Coordinated Care Pathway Center provided program participants 268 referrals to services.
“We have seen a lot of positive connections to services for those that we have served in the few months since the deflection program began,” said Multnomah County Behavioral Health Division Director Heather Mirasol. “Like many other deflection programs across the state, we are learning a lot. We continue to pivot and be flexible as we identify barriers for participants and as we work to streamline processes surrounding this innovative approach.”
The County continues to see an increase in the number of people initiating deflection:
- Between Sept. 1 (the day the new law went into effect) and Nov. 15, 127 people initiated deflection.
- In the first month of the Pathway Center opening (Oct. 14-Nov. 15), 74 people were referred to the Pathway Center.
- In the current reporting period (Nov.1 to Nov. 15), 34 participants initiated deflection. In the two weeks prior (Oct. 14-Oct. 31), 12 participants initiated deflection. Portland Police Bureau referred 51 people, Oregon State Police referred 4 people and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office referred one person.
- Since the deflection program began, the Pathway Center has provided 268 referrals to participants for services, programs and resources. In the current reporting period, the Pathway Center provided 76 referrals to participants.
The County stressed that the number of referrals by law enforcement partners continues to fluctuate from week to week due to varying law enforcement priorities and capacity levels. The County will begin releasing more detailed program outcomes such as the number of successful/unsuccessful deflections and other demographic information in the first quarterly update, which will be published in mid-February 2025.
The County also asked the community for patience with the new program with just over two months of data and a month of operating time at the Pathway Center.
“We are still a ways out from seeing any trends or patterns in the numbers,” said Multnomah County Behavioral Health Division Deputy Director Jen Gulzow. “It may be tempting to draw definitive conclusions about the program’s early performance but that would be premature. Like other new programs, we need to give the program time to work and conduct a thorough analysis of the data.”
“It is going to take time to have a true sense of participant outcomes, but at this early stage we are confident in the services we are providing at the Pathway Center and encouraged by participants’ willingness to accept referrals to recovery,” said Tuerk House CEO Bernard Gyebi-Foster. “We have been at this for over 50 years and we know every trauma-informed engagement we offer at the Pathway Center matters.”
The County continues engaging with community members and answering questions about the Pathway Center. Similar to the previous reporting period, there have been no known reports of increased loitering or criminal activity related to program participants.
Source: Multnomah County