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July 18, 2018
Team Beats Back Jail Door
c ontinueD froM f ront
people have enrolled in LEAD,
76 remain active in the program,
and over 1,000 documented needs
from participants have been met
—like seeking medical attention
for serious health issues, receiving
basic amenities, and being set on
a path to obtain housing or a job.
Unlike other court-mandat-
ed programs, specialty courts,
or probation requirements, how
clients receive their unmet needs
is self-directed by them, with the
assistance and support of Cen-
tral City Concern case managers,
Kern said.
“No one is telling them you
have to do this, We’re just asking
them what do you want to do. And
just from that frame, you actually
end up going further,” Kern add-
ed.
The way it works is, when a po-
tential drug offender is apprehend-
ed by a police officer, that officer
may refer them to LEAD and, if
they accept, an arrest for posses-
sion of a controlled substance is
diverted and they won’t be booked
in a precinct, jailed, or taken to
court, Kern said.
However, there are several re-
strictions on who the program
can apply to. For example, if the
person in question has more than
5 grams of heroin, or 10 grams or
more of cocaine or methamphet-
amine, they’re ineligible. Also
having an active extraditable war-
rant or a restraining order against
another client in the program
disqualifies them, according to a
county document outlying the cri-
teria.
And it can only apply to certain
parts of the city, like the Lloyd
District, Old Town/China Town,
and most recently inner southeast
Portland, in a catchment area that
stretches from the Willamette on
the west to Southeast 12th Avenue
on the east; and between I-84 on
the north and Southeast Powell on
the south.
Once a client is accepted, case
managers assess them to figure out
what their needs are. They then
regularly check in on them, often
where they sleep on the street, and
build a relationship to try and help
the client fulfill those needs.
“We’re an outreach program
so the case managers are mostly
working in the community and not
so much in an office...as that re-
lationship develops, what ends up
happening is there’s a trust there,”
said Kern, who has worked for
Central City Concern for over two
years.
What might start as requests for
blankets and food becomes a jour-
ney to work on long term, serious
issues like mental health, sub-
stance abuse, and housing, Kern
said. Medical or mental health
emergencies that might have cul-
minated in a trip to the E.R. or
jail can get mitigated by receiving
a primary care or mental health
provider and scheduling regular
check-ups for ongoing conditions,
she added.
LEAD Case manager Hubert
Matthews told the Portland Ob-
server that his personal connec-
tion to addiction is a motivating
factor for doing the work he
does.
“Due to the fact that I am a re-
covering addict, my experience as
a case manager has been very re-
warding. I have been able to serve
a population that I was a part of
for many years,” he said.
Matthews said assisting people
struggling with chronic drug ad-
diction is very complex because
they ultimately won’t stop using
until they are ready, which is why
he advocates for a set of strategies
aimed at reducing negative conse-
quences associated with drug use,
known as harm reduction, instead
of a punitive approach.
He added that meeting people
where they are is important to
make social services as accessible
as possible to drug addicts so their
needs can be more easily met.
“It has been proven that putting
money into jailing addicts does
not help meet these needs, and
so I think we need to have a bet-
ter infrastructure to support social
services. Addiction touches every-
one’s lives one way or another,”
Matthews said.
The LEAD program’s harm
reduction model is based on the
premise that drug addiction itself
is a medical disease, known as
substance use disorder, not a mor-
al shortcoming.
It’s a point of view that Kern
said is in line with many civic
leaders, including Multnomah
County District Attorney Rod
Underhill, who has lauded Coun-
ty Commission Chair Deborah
Kafoury for championing the
funding of the initiative. He also
stated the recent expansion of the
program into southeast Portland is
“critically important to our com-
munity.”
“It shows our commitment
to embracing a harm reduction
model for people who are strug-
gling with addiction or mental
health...with that vision, we are
starting to move away from the
punitive and sanction-based
model of prosecution and are
continuing focus on the individ-
ual,” Underhill said.
Kafoury added that she’s also
encouraged by the progress being
made by the program.
“We need strategies that keep
the public safe and hold people
accountable, but also gives them
an opportunity to recover and
change for the better. Programs
like LEAD demonstrate our com-
mitment to expanding those op-
portunities,” Kafoury said.
As to whether the LEAD pro-
gram will have economic ben-
efits to taxpayers by diverting
substance abusers from excess
use of expensive public services
like emergency room visits, or
being jailed, Abbey Stamp, the
Executive Director of Multnomah
County’s Local Public Safety Co-
ordinating Council, which over-
sees LEAD, said she is hopeful it
will, but they’ve not accumulated
enough data to determine one way
or another.
“We have an evaluation plan
we will pursue after another year
or so when enough clients have
enrolled and engaged…it will take
some time, especially because
LEAD clientele have many com-
plex needs,” Stamp said.
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