In central rural Oregon, a community mental health provider was talking to local officials about how to help a man with an alcohol addiction who had repeated run-ins with law enforcement.
In the course of the visit, one of them realized he had played on the high school football team with the man, illustrating how integrated people’s lives are in rural Oregon. That can help smooth the path for people navigating the complex systems involved with drug addiction and treatment, the provider told lawmakers Monday.
A joint committee of Oregon legislators is considering adopting a “deflection” program, which would allow a person to avoid a drug possession charge if they took an assessment and attended one more appointment to address their addiction. A successful program could be helped by the kind of close coordination between law enforcement and community mental health providers that often exists in rural Oregon, officials said.
Rural Oregon has fewer agencies, fewer police officers and fewer behavioral health providers. This means less confusion, potentially, and fewer people falling through the cracks. And community mental health providers, which partner with counties, already have an established presence in small counties and are often the largest — or only — provider for addiction-related services.
“It would actually be pretty easy from my point of view, because it’s all in the same shop,” said Rick Treleaven, CEO of Bestcare Treatment Services, which contracts with Jefferson and Crook counties in central Oregon to provide community mental health programs.
Bestcare Treatment Services is an addiction treatment provider, participates in Measure 110 programs and provides mental health treatment.
“We also have intimate relationships, daily relationships, with the DAs, the judges, the police,” he said. “Those are all very personal relationships.”
Treleaven, who recounted the story about the man who had played high school football, said his organization is actively engaged with people.
“We’re really working with a distilled group of people that you go after and you don’t give up,” he said. “I believe that the deflection program is an opportunity and opening to start that.”
‘Would be a nice fit’
Greg Brigham, CEO of Adapt Integrated Health Care, echoed that. His organization serves people in Douglas, Coos, Curry and Josephine counties.
Adapt works with a variety of programs, which include sobering centers for police to drop people off instead of jail, drug court and mobile crisis teams to respond to people in crises.
“I think deflection programs would be a nice fit,” he said, noting that his organization’s programs already work to try to help people get better outcomes, whether through medication, helping people avoid criminal charges, or a combination.
At the same time, Brigham and others stress that community mental health providers would need more resources to set up deflection programs. That includes more residential and outpatient treatment facilities.
“There really needs to be somewhere for people,” he said.
Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, said it’s important for people to recognize that the problem won’t be fixed overnight and asked Brigham what’s needed besides funding.
Brigham noted that building out a system — such as a residential treatment facility — takes time to get permits, secure land and obtain construction resources.
“There needs to be a certain amount of, of course, accountability for those that received the funds, but patience for those things to happen,” Brigham said. “Bringing residential capacity online takes time.”
Lawmakers are tackling other aspects of the addiction crisis, such as putting more money into programs to increase the behavioral health workforce, expanding clinics and increasing the availability of addiction treatment medication in jails.
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