Multnomah County to require drug users to get treatment referral at new drop-off deflection center

In 52 days, Multnomah County says it will open a bare-bones drop-off center where people caught with fentanyl and other drugs will be screened for addiction and told about treatment options.

That’s a pivot from the county’s original plan -- developed largely out of public view and first reported last month by The Oregonian/OregonLive -- that imposed no requirements other than checking in at the drop-off center.

The center is part of the county’s evolving response to a new law that, effective Sept. 1, makes minor drug possession a crime again.

Instead of arresting and potentially jailing drug users, lawmakers envisioned a system that would route people toward treatment. The Legislature earmarked money for counties to develop so-called deflection programs; whether counties offer such programs is voluntary.

Multnomah County’s deflection plan now requires screenings for substance abuse, treatment referrals and what county documents described as a “to-be-determined engagement” with an undefined service.

The initial plans saw swift and fierce political blowback from critics, including from the incoming district attorney and a key lawmaker who brokered House Bill 4002, the legislation that rolled back the state’s unpopular drug decriminalization law.

On Thursday, a policy adviser, the chief of staff to Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and the health department director sketched out elements of the latest plan for county commissioners.

The county officials were unable to provide immediate answers to some questions, including who will end up at the drop-off center and details of on-site security.

What’s clear, however, is that the center won’t have the capacity to take people experiencing severe mental health crises or others in need of “acute care” when it opens, said Rachael Banks, the county public health director.

Under the first phase of the county’s plan, the center won’t offer so-called sobering beds where people can emerge from acute intoxication. It also won’t provide medication used to treat opioid addiction.

The second phase, expected to begin next year, is expected to begin to offer both of those services, though in a limited capacity.

Under the third phase of the plan, the county will open a different location that will include both deflection services as well as the round-the-clock sobering center Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards has advocated for.

That’s not expected to happen for another two years.

Brim-Edwards asked specifically about the initial phase of the plan and how it will handle people who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol but not acutely impaired.

“Are they sobering without a sobering bed?” she asked. “I am trying to understand what services they will be provided.”

Vega Pederson said she expects those questions will be answered once the contractor is hired to operate the center, planned for a commercial building at Southeast 9th and Sandy Boulevard.

Brim-Edwards said the early stage of the plan appears to call for little more than a respite center.

She said police have advocated for an option other than jail, the hospital or leaving people to suffer on the street.

“The leadership team -- whoever that is -- needs to be really clear that that may not change with this deflection center,” she said.

Vega Pederson has led the effort so far, which includes Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, DA-elect Nathan Vasquez, a member of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s staff, Portland Police Chief Bob Day, Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell and Judge Judith Matarazzo, Multnomah County Circuit Court’s presiding judge.

Vega Pederson said the group is aware of the shortcomings of the center “and is committed to continuous iterations of deflection and this process knowing new resources are coming on line. How it looks on Sept. 1 and how it looks on Sept. 1 is not what it’s going to look like on Dec. 1 or Jan 1 as we bring more resources online.”

Vega Pederson also referenced a second policy group focused on planning how the deflection center will operate. She did not say who sits on that panel.

The commission meeting included occasional flare-ups between Vega Pederson and two fellow board members, Brim-Edwards and Commissioner Sharon Meieran.

Commissioners Jesse Beason and Lori Stegmann said they had other commitments and were not present for the discussion.

Brim-Edwards told Vega Pederson to hold future policy meetings about the deflection program in public and said commissioners had been left out of the planning process.

“I absolutely insist those meetings need to be public,” Brim-Edwards said, stressing in particular that people who will live and work near the deflection center in the Buckman neighborhood need to be part of the process.

Vega Pederson did not directly address Brim-Edwards’ request.

Meieran expressed reservations about the lack of clarity surrounding a plan set to launch in weeks.

“I think a lot of this is just saying we have a plan for a plan for a plan and that once the provider comes on we’ll work on a strategy about that, once we figure out X, we will work on Y. But meanwhile we don’t have the basic operational considerations in place.”

Vega Pederson said the board would continue its discussions related to deflection at its meeting next Tuesday and at a future meeting.

The Buckman Neighborhood Association also plans to hold a public meeting with county officials about the planned deflection center at 6:30 p.m. on July 17 at the Multnomah County Building.

-- Noelle Crombie is an enterprise reporter with a focus on criminal justice. Reach her at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.

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