Deflection programs are a new strategy in Oregon, designed to help people with substance abuse disorders avoid jail time. 28 counties have launched their own versions since fall, after state lawmakers re-criminalized low level drug possession.
Today, Lane County’s program has deflected more than 170 people away from the courts. But many of its clients could still end up facing criminal charges.
'Just deflect them!!!'
Navigators sat ready to respond in their offices near downtown Eugene. A message hung up on display on a whiteboard on the wall reads: "When it doubt, just deflect them!!!"
Lane County’s deflection program launched last October with $2.1 million in state funding. It's meant for people with substance abuse or behavioral health disorders, who are suspected of minor offenses like trespassing, drug possession, or disorderly conduct.
Instead of taking someone to jail, a police officer can now call up one of these deflection navigators, who come and help guide a client towards rehabilitation instead.
"To arrest them, that's easy," said Arturo Zamudio, a supervisor for the county’s navigators with Ideal Option, a service provider that the county has partnered with. "But to deflect them, that's actually telling that person ‘I'm trying to give you hope. I'm trying to give you that other chance.’”
Someone can also ask to enter deflection voluntarily without having committed a crime.
Once someone agrees to be deflected, Zamudio said a peer navigator will help them search for programs that can get them to a more stable place, such as housing or a detox facility.
"The navigators provide them a list of options, and then walk with them, helping them make those phone calls, answer those questions, fill out that paperwork," he said, "because it can be really overwhelming."
Zamudio said navigators have their own life experiences with substance abuse or incarceration which they bring to these relationships. He said each deflection case is highly individual, person-centered and trauma-informed.
"The end goal is is to get their life back," said Zamudio, "or to get a life that they want."
Housing
After a participants enters the program, Lane County offers them temporary housing in either Eugene or Creswell, when it's available.
In Eugene, a nonprofit called the Reveille Foundation has opened up 20 rooms in a converted motel, located just across the street from the building Reveille shares with the navigators.
Zamudio said this makes his job easier, as he can find a client quickly when a spot at a shelter or rehab opens up for a limited time. He said the housing also serves as a incentive for people to engage with deflection.
"The [criminal] charge is a part of that motivation, but sometimes what we're seeing with the housing is that's the other motivation," said Zamudio. "People are tired of living on the streets and they want something different."
Each room in Eugene has a bed, TV, bathroom, minifridge, and microwave. Clients also receive free food and clean clothes, according to Steve Yamamori, Reveille's President and CEO.
“People can’t think about their recovery if they’re hungry," he said. "People can't think about their recovery if they don't feel safe, if they’re not warm, or cool, or taken care of.”
To maintain their housing, Yamamori said clients have to be engaged with services, and can’t be actively using drugs. If someone breaks those rules, he said they may be asked to leave—but they won’t be kicked out of the deflection program entirely.
“We actually have had people leave because they're not ready for recovery, but then they'll come back, or we'll see them on the street, and they re-engage," said Yamamori. "They're like, Look, can I have another chance?' And they can absolutely have another chance.'"
The Reveille Foundation has previously faced criticism about how it was running at least one of its local facilities for housing veterans.
KPTV reported last December that some residents living at a Reveille-run shelter in Portland were experiencing poor living conditions and a lack of access to basic services like food.
Yamamori told KPTV that Reveille hadn't found evidence of some of the reported issues, but was committed to remediating the clients' concerns.
Graduation and removal
Once a person has been in deflection in Lane County for at least 90 days, they can qualify for graduation.
Clint Riley, the coordinator for Lane County's program, said a peer navigator will nominate a person. He said a panel will then review their case.
Riley said if the client has made enough progress, and the District Attorney signs off, the criminal charges will be permanently waived.
“What we're looking for benchmarks are folks are engaged with a provider, reduced substance use, maybe having days and weeks of sobriety," said Riley. "Maybe they've gotten housed, they're making improvements in their life, and you're seeing their criminality decrease.”
So far, however, only a small percentage of people in deflection in Lane County have actually reached that finish line.
Out of more than 170 people enrolled, just 12 have graduated, according to county data. Riley said he expects those numbers to improve as more time passes, and people currently in the middle of the process get closer to the end.
Meanwhile, nearly half of all clients have been removed. Riley said some people never come back after their intake session. He said eventually, they may be charged for the initial crime from which they were deflected.
“Maybe they'll get the help they need once they're inside the criminal justice system," said Riley. "But what we're seeing is folks that are deep in addiction and trying to make these changes is hard for them.”
Zamudio, the peer navigator, said to keep more people in the program, staff have to rebuild trust with these communities.
“They've been told about programs before and things that were going to be available, and then they were placed on waitlists, or they were told we no longer have funding for that program" said Zamudio. "So when the officers may be doing that deflection call, people may not be that willing to trust that maybe it's [not] just another program that's going to let them down.
Yamamori said service providers are also changing the public’s ideas about how officials engage with these communities.
“For veterans and for underserved populations who get harassed all the time for sleeping outside by law enforcement and or county and or city--you do get traumatized, and you can have that trepidation, fear, anger, all of those things," said Yamamori. "When somebody flips the script, it takes people a little bit of time to understand, ‘wait a second, this person is actually trying to help me.’”
Funding
For now, Riley said Lane County’s program has enough resources to meet demand. But he said that could change as law enforcement gets more confident with using deflection.
“If more and more people that are doing these quality of life crimes start coming this way, we'll need more rooms, and we'll need more navigators," he said.
Oregon previously allotted $20 million for the first year of deflection programs across the state. Gov. Tina Kotek’s recommended budget proposes renewing that funding for two more years.
But Riley said he’s worried that if more counties set up deflection programs, state money could be spread even more thinly. He said he’s hoping that more funding will emerge for Lane County’s program.
Oregon lawmakers are now putting the final touches on the upcoming state spending plan before the new fiscal cycle begins July 1.
