County budget covers opening of two addiction triage centers and expansion of deflection program as state funding shifts

County behavioral‑health staff told the budget committee that Washington County will open two Recovery Centers for Addiction, Triage and Treatment (CAT) locations—one in Hillsboro and one in Beaverton—this year. Staff said the centers will provide assessment, sobering, withdrawal support, residential stabilization, peers, outpatient services and co‑located social supports including medical and pharmacy resources. In the presentation county staff said the centers were funded with contributions from Coordinated Care Organizations, legislative funds and other non‑general‑fund sources; no general‑fund dollars were used to open CAT.

At the same meeting county staff also described the state’s Criminal Justice Commission behavioral‑health deflection program created under HB 4002 (the Oregon drug intervention plan). The county’s deflection program routes people cited or arrested for certain low‑level possession charges to treatment and services instead of prosecution. The presentation said the program is multi‑departmental—Health & Human Services, the Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office—and that the county had established a new fund for the program (fund 157). The county said its first eight months produced 452 referrals; 338 were ineligible under current criteria, commonly because the person had other pending charges or was under supervision.

Why it matters: CAT centers and the deflection program are central elements of the county’s effort to expand non‑carceral paths to addiction treatment and to divert people away from prosecution. Budget and eligibility choices affect the scale of services, staffing requirements and coordination with law enforcement and courts.

Program details and adjustments: Staff said the deflection program provides peer navigation and treatment referral, and that success metrics—what counts as a successful engagement—are under review. County staff noted they are exploring broader referral pathways such as ‘‘social referrals’’ from community providers, and discussing eligibility expansion (for example adding certain property or disorderly conduct charges) to broaden the pool of people who could access the program. County staff also emphasized that deflection is one pathway among many (conditional discharge, probation programs) and that the state framework allows counties to design local implementation.

Funding pressures and state actions: Marnie and other HHS staff noted broader federal and state funding uncertainty. The department reported two state funding decreases since the budget was prepared—Measure 110 funding for addiction treatment and Oregon Project Independence funding for seniors—both of which will be ‘‘deeply felt’’ by clients and staff and are being negotiated with state partners. Staff reported no proposed cuts to the deflection program in the presented package but said eligibility and success metrics are being revisited.

Ending: County staff framed the CAT openings and the deflection program as important system‑level investments that prioritize rapid access to treatment and peer support while acknowledging continuing uncertainty in state and federal funding.