by Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle
July 19, 2024
HILLSBORO – Oregon counties are mapping out new diversion programs to combat the state’s fentanyl crisis, an undertaking facing short- and long-term challenges to make it a success.
In Washington County, Oregon’s second most populous, officials plan to start the new program on Sept. 1, when House Bill 4002 takes effect and puts in place a new misdemeanor penalty for drug possession. Earlier this year, the Legislature passed the bill, which recriminalizes possession of small amounts of drugs and gives counties state funding to set up programs to guide people into recovery instead of jails.
But county officials say the state funding does not pay for enough outreach workers to respond countywide every time police interact with a person with illicit drugs. And after meeting with Washington County officials and recovery advocates on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas agrees that more is necessary – both funding and tools to increase the behavioral health workforce.
Salinas, D-Oregon, said she’s impressed with the county’s plans to reach people.
“I think that’s great, she said. “But once they want to scale up, you don’t want to see something succeed and not be able to then get in there and actually make it more robust. That’s my fear. I will want them to go when they’re ready to go.”
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton said the county’s plan is well-organized, with officials starting to work on it in April before the Legislature passed House Bill 4002. In 2019, the county started to plan a new addiction triage and treatment center, which will have locations in Hillsboro and Beaverton when the facilities open.
Washington County, which has about 600,000 people, will receive $1.34 million for its new deflection program. But officials said they would need millions more to build and run the diversion programs in the best way possible.
As it stands now, the gap in funding will lead to inconsistent experiences for drug users. In some cases, the police officer will do a “warm handoff” on the scene, which entails introducing the person to an outreach worker, also called a peer support specialist. In other cases, that won’t be able to happen because of a lack of money to fund the peer workers necessary for the entire county. Instead, a person will receive a citation and information about the deflection programs.
Barton said the warm handoff approach is the best at shepherding drug users toward recovery and he would like it to be used in every contact between police and drug users.
“I would love to do that everywhere in Washington County,” he said in an interview with the Capital Chronicle. “The Legislature, when they provided deflection money to different counties, they did not give enough money to Washington County.”
The Legislature allocated about $18.5 million total for counties to start deflection programs, including paying for staff and other administrative tasks. The programs are optional, and 23 of Oregon’s 36 counties have confirmed they will participate.
Multnomah County, Oregon’s largest, will receive nearly $4 million, while rural counties receive a minimum of $150,000.
Barton said Washington County should have received closer to $3 million, considering its population is about three-quarters the size of Multnomah County.
“That’s why we can’t start the warm handoff approach everywhere because we just don’t have the funds to do it,” Barton said. “But we’re going to approach the Legislature this coming session and tell them we need some more.”
Housing needs high
The money for counties is part of a broader array of $211 million in state funding lawmakers allocated this session for addiction treatment, court programs and recovery and supportive housing and residential facilities.
Deena Feldes is executive director of Transcending Hope, a nonprofit that provides supportive housing to people across the Portland tri-county region, including in Washington County where it has about 100 beds. Supportive staff help anchor people in recovery, by listening and giving advice when they are tempted to stray.
But they can’t meet the demand, with people on waitlists because there’s not enough housing, Feldes said.
“I’m optimistic about outcomes as long as we’re creating more treatment and more housing and more services because we don’t have enough right now,” Feldes said. “”Hopefully all the funding is going to come through and be dispersed because we all know that Oregon is short of support systems for the people that are going to be accessing services.”
Federal efforts
Besides money, Oregon also needs enough professionals to provide treatment and other services for people in addiction, Salinas said.
Many don’t have contact with providers – or even police officers. A new Portland State University study found Oregon police officers in 2016 made drug possession arrests for only about 7% of the population that needs addiction treatment. This means police officers alone will not be the driving force behind the diversion programs, which also need peer support specialists who can do outreach, housing agencies and treatment providers.
On the federal level, Salinas said she is looking for ways to fund peer support specialists and eliminate barriers so more of them can enter the profession. Peer workers, or navigators, are people who have overcome addiction and other challenges and can relate to people considering recovery.
In February, Salinas introduced a bill in Congress that would require the federal government to recommend national procedures to train, certify and supervise peer workers, with flexibility for states.
Salinas’ visit in Washington County was one of five planned with counties in her district to discuss addiction treatment programs. Salinas also has met with officials in Marion, Polk and Clackamas counties and has a meeting planned for Yamhill County.
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