As Camping Ban Takes Effect, Advocates Urge Portland Leaders to Expand Deflection and Connect More People to Care

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

October 30, 2025

Contact: Devon Downeysmith, Director of Communications
Partnership for Safety and Justice (PSJ)
devon@safetyandjustice.org | (971-270-2110)

PORTLAND, Ore. — As Portland’s camping ban takes effect November 1, Partnership for Safety & Justice (PSJ) is urging City and County leaders to rise to the moment by bringing the city together around practical, compassionate solutions that work. At the heart of PSJ’s call is expanding deflection — a program that connects people in crisis to the Coordinated Care Pathway Center, where peer mentors, nurses, and case managers provide connections to housing, treatment, and recovery support without jail or prosecution.

As it stands, the deflection program’s eligibility criteria are so limited that only people cited for drug possession qualify — excluding most individuals who would benefit from care. The result is a system that punishes poverty and provides no meaningful pathway toward stability.

PSJ is calling on City and County leaders to take two simple but powerful steps that would make Portland’s system more humane, effective, and sustainable:

1. Expand deflection eligibility to include unhoused people living in extreme poverty — so every encounter becomes a chance to connect someone to help rather than push them deeper into crisis. This straightforward change would immediately open doors for hundreds of Portlanders who need support and begin to correct a policy gap that leaves too many people outside the system of care.
2. Connect people from deflection into housing/housing services – people living on the streets need support in navigating to more stable shelter and housing. The deflection center should work with existing contracted providers to connect people to services, including housing.

PSJ emphasizes that this moment extends beyond any single group. From people living outdoors, to small-business owners downtown, from outreach workers to law-enforcement officers who want tools that work — everyone has a stake in making this city safe and thriving for all. This isn’t about opposition; it’s about alignment — giving police, providers, business owners, and neighbors the resources to do what matters.

The organization notes that this is about more than one policy — it’s about who Portland wants to be as families face rising costs, federal SNAP benefit cuts, and growing fear as federal immigration enforcement and other national tensions unsettle communities.

PSJ says this moment reflects a broader awakening — a time when people across Oregon are stepping up for one another in the face of hardship. From neighbors volunteering time and resources, to business owners supporting outreach, to service providers and first responders working beyond capacity, communities are already showing what solidarity looks like in practice.

PSJ knows that when we invest in solutions that help people rebuild their lives, we strengthen the whole city. A safer Portland is one where everyone’s needs are met — where neighbors, small businesses, service providers, and law enforcement are all working together toward the same goal: a city that’s safe, stable, and thriving for all.

About Partnership for Safety and Justice
Partnership for Safety and Justice (PSJ) advances safety, healing, and equity through approaches that prioritize care over punishment. PSJ advocates for evidence-based, community-driven solutions that strengthen families, reduce incarceration, and build safer, healthier communities for all.
Learn more at www.safetyandjustice.org.