On this edition of Prison Pipeline: Deflection Programs.
As a kind of trade-off when the Oregon legislature recriminalized simple possession of some drugs, the state of Oregon and the majority of Oregon counties committed to setting up what are called deflection programs, the goal of which is to connect individuals to treatment, healthcare, housing, and other social services without these individuals entering the criminal justice system.
On this edition of Prison Pipeline we hear from an expert on deflection programs, Koren Vanderweele, Program Manager at the Treatment Alternative for Safe Communities Center for Health and Justice, and from two witnesses who testified May 30 before the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Interim Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response on attempts to set up deflection programs in counties around the state, Amanda Dalton, a lobbyist representing the Oregon District Attorneys Association, and Cherryl Ramirez, Executive Director of the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs.
Interim alternative listen/download link.