Washington County’s deflection program off to a smooth start in first 30 days

The Washington County Deflection Program provides an opportunity for people cited or arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance as an unclassified misdemeanor (PCS-U) to avoid prosecution through successful engagement in treatment.

This new program is part of the Oregon Drug Intervention Plan, established by HB 4002 and 5204 (2024). These new laws established four pathways to ensure people facing PCS-U charges have an opportunity to engage in treatment: optional county deflection, conditional discharge supervision, formal probation supervision, and probation revocation with early release to treatment opportunity. Washington County’s Deflection Program is the first of these four pathways and became effective on September 1.

In the first 30 days of the program (September 1-30), 91 people were charged with stand-alone PCS-U crimes in Washington County. Of those people, 27 were eligible for deflection and as of the date of this release, 17 have chosen to participate. The primary reasons for ineligibility are because they are currently on formal supervision or they have existing criminal charges.

“We are pleased with how the program is running so far,” said Danielle Farr, senior program coordinator with Washington County Behavioral Health and lead for the county’s Deflection Operations Team (DOT). “As program implementation spreads throughout the county and more resources become available, we expect these numbers to grow.”

The DOT is comprised of representatives from Health and Human Services, District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, Community Corrections and Behavioral Health Resource Network providers.

“I am proud that our Washington County leaders from both the public safety world and recovery support world have come together to design, build and implement our deflection program,” said District Attorney Kevin Barton. “We are deeply committed to fulfilling the promise of ensuring more treatment, for more people, more quickly.”

When a law enforcement officer issues a criminal citation or makes an arrest for the sole crime of PCS-U, they provide a written and verbal description of the program, schedule the initial court date seven days later, and instruct them to contact the DOT. During the following week, the DOT will also attempt to contact the person. If contact is not made before the court date, a DOT member will be present in court to connect with the person before they see the judge. “We make every effort to connect with each person before they go to court to give them an opportunity to participate in the program,” Farr said.

“As we celebrate the first 30 days of our deflection program, I am proud to see the positive impact it is already having on our community,” Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey said. “We are committed to redirecting individuals away from incarceration whenever possible and into essential substance use treatment, fostering recovery rather than punishment.”

“One month in, it’s going incredibly well,” said Officer James Weed with the Hillsboro Police Department. “We have had multiple success stories, particularly of some more vulnerable people in our city who have been historically very resistant to going to treatment now actively seeking and getting treatment.”

In some areas of Washington County and dependent on resources and funding, peer support specialists attempt to go to the scene at the time of the citation. They meet with the person being cited to provide support and begin the program entrance process if the person is interested in participating. Washington County is contracting with Mental Health and Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO) and 4D Recovery for these services. If peer support specialists are not able to go to the scene, they work to connect with people in the days following the initial citation.

“Being able to offer individuals in our community an opportunity to start their recovery journey with someone who can share their own recovery story is a difference maker,” said John Karp-Evans, deputy director of MHAAO.

Candice Altman is a peer support specialist with 4D Recovery who has been deployed to assist in deflection. “As someone with lived experience in substance use disorder and criminal justice involvement, it is so rewarding to walk with our participants through this process,” she said. “It’s important for them to see that they too can get through this successfully.”

The deflection period is six months. A participant has successfully completed the program when the DOT determines they have successfully engaged in substance use treatment and demonstrated they are likely to continue to engage in their recovery efforts after completing the program.

"Staff from across our organization worked together all summer to make sure our deflection program started off on the right foot," said Kathryn Harrington, chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners. "Because of our early efforts, 17 people now have treatment services opportunities they may not have had otherwise. I'm extremely pleased with these early results, both for these individuals and the positive impacts we seek to measure for our community in the future.”

For more information about deflection in Washington County, visit wcor.us/deflection.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

For Deflection Program Coordinator, contact Wendy Gordon, [email protected], 503-849-9117

For Washington County Sheriff: Contact Deputy David Huey, [email protected], 503-209-5613

For Washington County District Attorney: Contact Stephen Mayer, [email protected], 971-708-8219