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County deflection center provides immediate referrals; judges and advocates say longer‑term tracking and capacity remain limited
Summary
Multnomah County officials told councilors Sept. 9 that the county’s HB 4002 deflection center gives officers an immediate pathway to clinical screening and referrals, but year‑one access was largely limited to law‑enforcement referrals and longer‑term outcome tracking depends on provider verification and varies by service.
Multnomah County officials described the county’s deflection model on Sept. 9 as an on‑ramp for people encountered by police with small‑amount possession charges to receive an immediate clinical screening, peer support and a care plan. County staff and judges at the Community and Public Safety Committee discussed the program’s early results, how completion is measured and the limits of current follow‑up.
Natalie Amar, Multnomah County’s deflection coordinator, said the program was created under House Bill 4002 and is based at the county’s coordinated care pathway center. In year one, Amar said referrals into deflection were almost entirely from law enforcement; a leadership team with representatives from police, courts, the district attorney’s office and county leadership sets the program’s eligibility and completion rules.
Amar said completion requires a person to receive a care plan at the center and then access a named referral in the care plan within 30 days. The county verifies completion with the receiving provider; Amar emphasized the standard varies with the service—some services are considered completed after an intake and assessment, while others (for example an inpatient stay) require completion of that specific episode of care. She acknowledged a limitation: “That is an option, but it's not mandated. People can only be referred...by law enforcement at this time,” and that the program’s year‑one intake volume was therefore limited by the number of law‑enforcement referrals.
Anthony Jordan, the county’s interim behavioral health director, and Amar said the leadership team is piloting additional pathways including referrals from Portland Street Response and active outreach teams. Jordan noted sobering services were added at the center in April and said return visits to care coordinators are now permitted so people can re‑engage beyond the initial encounter.
County data presented to the committee show several hundred law‑enforcement referrals in the first year and increasing referral volume following targeted missions by police; Amar reported that 87 people accessed a referral within 30 days in the most recent quarterly window and 19 people used new sobering services after they became available in April. County staff cautioned that published completion measures track the initial referral and a provider‑verified first step rather than longitudinal retention past that first episode.
Judge Michael Greenlick, who oversees treatment courts in Multnomah County, described specialized court programs that require repeated judicial oversight and, in many cases, the possibility of significant criminal penalties for noncompliance; those programs have different entry criteria and longer judicial monitoring than deflection. He also noted practical barriers for bringing minor drug offenses into court‑based interventions—high failure‑to‑appear rates, an acute public‑defense shortage and the need for sustained engagement that many unsheltered people cannot reliably meet.
Ending: County staff said pilots to expand referral pathways and additional care coordination resources are being pursued; judges and providers warned that sustained results require more treatment capacity, housing and dedicated follow‑up resources beyond the first referral.
