This is a critical piece of the puzzle of getting addicts arrested for possession or other crimes into a criminal diversion program capable of treating their addiction and providing all the needed services required to reach recovery. Detox facility, holding facility while waiting for detox, sober housing after detox, clinical and peer support, medical support for administering recovery drugs and treatments for psychosis. Folks to help people with educational services, job skills, etc. this will help but unfortunately it is not the whole meal deal. Good for Nathan on a plan for this problem.
This Portland liberal progressive is 100% behind Vasquez and his objectives. With Multnomah County, for him, it must feel like trying to penetrate a nuclear bomb-proof shelter. (After 20+ years living in Multnomah County and downtown Portland, I had to sell up and move to the calm and peaceful paradise of downtown Milwaukie!)
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to sit down with District Attorney Nathan Vasquez to discuss how CityTeam Portland’s Recovery Residential Program can play a meaningful role in strengthening Multnomah County’s deflection and diversion efforts. With our recent expansion, we now offer forty additional beds for men seeking long-term recovery. Seventy-five percent of the men in our program come to us through court-mandated pathways from counties across Oregon, yet Multnomah County represents almost none of those referrals. The District Attorney was genuinely surprised by this gap.
I am encouraged by his willingness to rethink our system and open new doors for individuals who need treatment options rather than another cycle through the justice system. As someone who has lived through addiction myself, I know that real change often requires both accountability and opportunity. Treatment works when we create clear pathways, consistent expectations, and a community that believes people can rebuild their lives.
This is a promising step forward for our county, and CityTeam Portland stands ready to help ensure that individuals struggling with addiction receive the structure, support, and dignity they deserve on the road to recovery.
In the miasma of current Portlandia politicians, Nathan Vasquez once again quietly and resolutely stands out for his rational, common sense solutions to the problems the elites refuse to address: allowing the drug addicts and untreated mentally ill to hold the rest of us hostage to their self-absorbed preference for self-destruction.
Sorry Jessica and the DSA, but genuinely helping these people requires sticks and not just carrots, as anyone with an ounce of sense would understand.
This is a critical piece of the puzzle of getting addicts arrested for possession or other crimes into a criminal diversion program capable of treating their addiction and providing all the needed services required to reach recovery. Detox facility, holding facility while waiting for detox, sober housing after detox, clinical and peer support, medical support for administering recovery drugs and treatments for psychosis. Folks to help people with educational services, job skills, etc. this will help but unfortunately it is not the whole meal deal. Good for Nathan on a plan for this problem.
This Portland liberal progressive is 100% behind Vasquez and his objectives. With Multnomah County, for him, it must feel like trying to penetrate a nuclear bomb-proof shelter. (After 20+ years living in Multnomah County and downtown Portland, I had to sell up and move to the calm and peaceful paradise of downtown Milwaukie!)
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to sit down with District Attorney Nathan Vasquez to discuss how CityTeam Portland’s Recovery Residential Program can play a meaningful role in strengthening Multnomah County’s deflection and diversion efforts. With our recent expansion, we now offer forty additional beds for men seeking long-term recovery. Seventy-five percent of the men in our program come to us through court-mandated pathways from counties across Oregon, yet Multnomah County represents almost none of those referrals. The District Attorney was genuinely surprised by this gap.
I am encouraged by his willingness to rethink our system and open new doors for individuals who need treatment options rather than another cycle through the justice system. As someone who has lived through addiction myself, I know that real change often requires both accountability and opportunity. Treatment works when we create clear pathways, consistent expectations, and a community that believes people can rebuild their lives.
This is a promising step forward for our county, and CityTeam Portland stands ready to help ensure that individuals struggling with addiction receive the structure, support, and dignity they deserve on the road to recovery.
In the miasma of current Portlandia politicians, Nathan Vasquez once again quietly and resolutely stands out for his rational, common sense solutions to the problems the elites refuse to address: allowing the drug addicts and untreated mentally ill to hold the rest of us hostage to their self-absorbed preference for self-destruction.
Sorry Jessica and the DSA, but genuinely helping these people requires sticks and not just carrots, as anyone with an ounce of sense would understand.