Transforming the Criminal Legal System

Transition from the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program model to the Providing Access To Hope model

The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program was a pre-booking diversion program based on a model developed in Seattle, Wash. in 2011 and has been replicated across the country. The program allowed police officers to redirect low-level offenders involved in drug activity to intensive case management services tailored to the individual's needs instead of jail and prosecution. 

The acknowledgement that representatives of the criminal legal system don’t offer an ideal response for individuals struggling with substance use disorder — combined with the shifting legal and political landscape — necessitated an overhaul of LEAD, especially in light of the decriminalization of small levels of drug possession through Ballot Measure 110. Unlike the LEAD program model, which relied on local law enforcement to make referrals to a treatment agency, the Providing Access to Hope (PATH) program model leverages their expertise to identify people who are involved in the criminal legal system, or to confirm their involvement. PATH outreach workers then work with those individuals to identify and overcome barriers that were preventing them from accessing addiction treatment services.

The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program has been converted to the Providing Access to Hope (PATH) program, which helps those who are unsheltered, close to experiencing homelessness, and/or at risk of becoming involved with the justice system, get connected to treatment for a substance use disorder. It also connects people to behavioral health and recovery services, and helps them overcome barriers that can keep them out of housing.

The goal of PATH is to help people avoid the trauma of homelessness by working with clients to develop problem solving skills, work toward recovery goals, help them build a solid foundation of recovery and access a stable place to live.

The Diane Wade House 

Pretrial system reform

In February 2020, the MacArthur Foundation officially announced additional funding for Multnomah County’s SJC efforts. This new initiative is examining the current Pretrial System, with the goal of creating a smarter and more equitable system based on risk, while centering the work on the principle that all people are innocent until proven otherwise.

Building the system our community deserves

For decades, a complete overhaul and transformation of the criminal legal system was seen as a lofty, long-term goal that allowed public safety systems and leaders to defer their responsibility to create change. Efforts to tinker with policy changes have only led to incremental change. What has resulted is continued harm against people of color. That cannot continue.

Multnomah County believes that criminal legal system transformation is an urgent matter. That’s why the County used the 2020 What Works in Public Safety Conference to launch a new, urgent project focused on doing just that. The January 2020 conference brought together local and national experts from healthcare, human services, law enforcement and the judiciary, as well as defense attorneys, community providers, elected officials and victims’ rights advocates. The conference helped focus attention on strategies to improve a system that is inadequately equipped to respond to behavior rooted in social problems such as racism and poverty.  

Since hiring an outside facilitator in December 2020, the effort to bring together community and criminal legal system stakeholders to envision a new, implementable vision of a just public safety system — known now as the Transforming Justice Initiative — has begun its work in earnest. A core visioning team, which is composed of experts in behavioral health, housing and public safety, has met weekly since January to explore strategies that grow health and housing responses and shrink the legal system footprint. 

In May 2021, the Transforming Justice steering committee met for the first time. It consisted of approximately 35 people who influence or have been affected by the criminal legal system, including local elected officials and executives who administer the criminal legal, housing and health systems; victims of crime; victim services providers; representatives from the advocacy community; and individuals with lived experience in justice and behavioral health systems.

The Steering Committee met for over a year to review and approve the discovery plan proposed by the working group. That plan involved outreach to a number of stakeholders in the criminal legal system to obtain their feedback on how the system should change. Throughout late 2021, members of the working group conducted surveys and one-on-one meetings. The group also held listening sessions with people and organizations across Multnomah County, including individuals with lived experience in the criminal legal system; behavioral health providers; political leaders; people living with a mental health and/or substance abuse diagnosis; criminal justice agencies; and BIPOC community leaders.

Based on this information, the Steering Committee approved 18 core strategies for moving the work forward. In the summer and fall of 2022, LPSCC hosted dozens of meetings with a wide range of stakeholders to get initial feedback on these strategies. These sessions have helped inform next steps for implementation in the coming years.