March 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Multnomah County's drug deflection program is showing results. The ALS Northwest 50/50 challenge is working to raise funds for patients, families and research. OSU's Big Fish Lab wants you to put a shark on your car.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to local voices. I'm brad Ford. Mulla mccounty has
given the first quarterly update on its deflection program ALS
Northwest fifty to fifty Raffle fundraiser continues to raise money
in support of ALS patients, their families and research into
the disease and how you can put a shark on
your car. Mulla mccauty's drug deflection program is six months old.
(00:28):
People who are caught with illegal drugs and have no
other offenses can have the option of going into deflection
instead of jail. Data from the first quarter gives a
picture of how the program's evolving. Bulla mccounty chair Jessica
Vega Peterson says transparency has been important.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
One year ago, at this time, the Oregon Legislature hadn't
even passed how to Spell four thousand and two to
change our drug laws. Six months ago, there were zero
deflection programs in the state of Oregon, and Moltnomon County
was on a very fast track to open mobile refrection
election on September first and a facility where law enforcement
(01:03):
would take those being deflected. By mid October, four months ago,
we were just opening our deflection center and beginning to
welcome clients. Today, we offer our community the first comprehensive
data data that includes program performance metrics for the first time,
including completion and demographic data. This follows several smaller data
(01:26):
releases and updates since our deflection program began. Data is
critical component to the work that we're doing, and one
of the reasons that rapid early investment in our counties
deflection program was so that we could begin collecting data
to better understand who we are serving with deflection, what
(01:46):
we know about them, and how we can improve the
systems that we've set up. Because this first quarterly release
is helping us to understand more clearly how this program
is benefiting our community, and we should be considering as
our next steps. We are among the first counties to
release data from our program because transparency is so important
(02:09):
and matters so much. We know being transparent and accountable
makes a difference, and we're committed to doing both of
these as we move forward. This work has taken a
laser focus by the Maltlama County Health Department. It has
taken leadership across a broad group of stakeholders, especially law
enforcement partners from our Sheriff to Portland and Gresham police bureaus,
(02:33):
our district attorney, and behavioral health specialists from providers like
Mhaao Turk House four D, and I really want to
thank Turkhouse for the work that they've done both here
in the community and for the fifty years of work
that they've led in Maryland on treatment and recovery and
deflection services. We have been tirelessly working to get the
(02:55):
program up and running because we knew that that was
the start of something very important. Deflection serves as a
cornerstone to our commitment to improving our behavioral health continuum
of care. My focus now is on considering how we
can expand services at the Coordinated Care Pathway Center to
make our continuum stronger. On behalf of the many people
(03:16):
who find support there, people who will be giving a
chance and a new beginning, people who will not go
to jail, but instead will meet people who will walk
alongside them on their journey to recovery. Expansion at the
Pathway Center is already underway in two key areas, so
first of all, later this spring, we are opening thirteen
(03:38):
sobering beds at the Pathway Center, and we will begin
offering a place for people to go instead of the
er when they need to sober up and connect to services.
Second from discussions at the House Bill four thousand and
two leadership Table, the Moltnoma County Health Department is developing
next steps around adding additional pathways into these services through providers,
(03:59):
outreach work, and first responders who regularly work with and
support people with substance use disorder or who would benefit
from pathways to treatment and recovery. Since the beginning, this
has been about helping people get access to treatment instead
of funneling them through the legal system with little support
for treating their substance use disorder. I'm grateful that the
(04:21):
State of Oregon added deflection as an idea and the
resources to support deflection specifically in this approach when they
passed House Spell four thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Heather Merostol is the director at Moulta MC County Behavioral
Health and explains how the county's Deflection program has operated
during the first quarter.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
We've learned a.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Lot since launching this new program last September, and what's
most important to understand is that this has added a
new treatment opportunity for members of our community who are
struggling with addiction that was not otherwise there previously. As
Scheravega Peterson said, the program is working as intended. It's
diverting people away from the legal system and into services
(05:00):
that support them in beginning their recovery journey. This program
is voluntary and it is supporting individuals who are choosing treatment.
We aren't just seeing one or two people take the
first step. We've seen hundreds embrace the support offered at
the Pathway Center. Through this Deflection program, we have connected
hundreds of community members to treatment and other supportive wrap
(05:21):
around services. We must also remind the community that the
journey to recovery is not a straight line. It often
takes people multiple times to achieve long term recovery, and
every engagement, every encounter, every referral, brings people one step
closer to recovery. We know that people that arresting people
does not treat addiction and mental health disorders. Deflection offers
(05:44):
a more effective way to treat these conditions by providing
a behavioral health pathway. We will continue to ask for
patients as we work to collect, analyze, and share data
about the program. Due to reporting timeframes, it takes up
to sixty days after a person initiates deflect to determine
the outcome of that deflection. Since the program opened, we
have been sharing data on the number of people referred
(06:07):
to deflection and the number of referrals being provided, but
given the sixty day period from initiation to completion, we're
sharing the first full set of completion data for the
first time, which is for September one through November thirtieth
of twenty twenty four. We will also be sharing referral
data from September one through December thirty one of twenty
(06:27):
twenty four. Law enforcement made two hundred and twenty one
referrals between September one and December thirty one. Of those referrals,
there were nine repeat referrals, which means two hundred and
twelve unique individuals were referred to deflection. Overall, of the
two hundred and twelve individuals offered deflection, one hundred and
(06:49):
forty one of those referrals, or sixty seven percent, resulted
in an initiated deflection. As mentioned, we now have three
full months of completion data between September one and November thirtieth.
In this window, nearly a quarter of deflections initiated were
considered successful. Fifty four percent of the deflections initiated were
(07:13):
considered not completed once we verified that clients did not
access the referrals within a thirty day period. Thirty one
deflections are still pending verification. As we have previously shared,
people who initiate deflection are often referred to numerous services. However,
the number one most common referral at thirty five percent,
(07:33):
was for withdrawal management, and the number two most common
referral at thirty one percent, was for outpatient treatment. This
means that sixty six percent of the referrals given were
for addiction support services. Of the more than a dozen
other types of referrals provided, the most commonly access service
was for housing, followed at twenty four percent, followed by
(07:55):
peer support services at twenty one percent, and the outpatient
access to treatment was at nineteen percent. We're also pleased
to share more information about the demographics of the people
we are serving. It's worth noting that law enforcement partners
make referrals and they may have more insights into the
demographics of who is being referred. But here are some
(08:15):
of the demographics worth Mentioning Nearly sixty percent of participants
referred to deflection were between the ages of twenty six
and forty. Fifty seven percent of those referred to deflection
identified as male, fifty four percent of people referred to
deflection identified as white, twenty three percent declined to answer
that question, and ten percent of those referred identified as
(08:37):
black or African American. Nearly eighty percent of participants listed
English as their first language, eighteen percent declined to answer,
and two percent identified as Spanish speaking. When asked about
drug used, thirty six percent declined to answer the question,
but twenty six percent said they use methanphetamine, followed by
twenty five percent who said they use fentanyl a large percentage.
(09:01):
Sixty two percent of participants reported having pre existing medical conditions,
most of which were dental health conditions at twenty six percent,
followed by physical health conditions at fourteen percent, and then
mental health conditions at twelve percent. An overwhelming majority eighty
percent of participants said that they had recently visited an
(09:22):
emergency department. Almost forty five percent of participants indicated that
they were living unsheltered, and seventy five percent sheltered or
unsheltered were experiencing homelessness. Nearly forty percent of participants said
that they needed food assistance. As mentioned, we've learned a
lot from implementing this new program. The first quarter presented
(09:44):
unique challenges and opportunities. The program was launched quickly and
started with a field based approach before the Pathway Center
could open. Programmatic shifts were common in the early weeks
of operations, including a pivot from field based to a
center based approach. Since September one, we've been able to
offer deflection as an option to every referral we receive
(10:04):
from law enforcement, and we have some key takeaways from
the past few months. We're adding new deflection referral partners
to make the program more accessible and are exploring new
options for referrals. The leadership team is also considering a
potential expansion of the eligibility criteria, as the bar for
being referred to deflection is still rather high. We need
(10:27):
more transportation options and are currently piloting other transportation options
to the Pathway Center, both in Portland and in East County,
and we're also exploring additional transportation options from the Pathway Center,
including non emergency transport available on site and leveraging other
county and city transportation resources. We're making program adjustments and
(10:50):
hoping by the end of year one to incorporate more outreach,
increase follow up, and create more pathways to services. In
the spring, will also adding thirteen sobering beds at the
Pathway Center, which will make a difference in who we're
able to see. We plan to fine tune data because
we want to gain more insights into why individuals who
(11:11):
may be eligible are not offered deflection. We also want
to look at downstream involvement with the criminal justice system
for those who do receive deflection. The work will involve
developing new processes for collecting additional data from partners and
determining how to share available data across the deflection system.
The Deflection Leadership Team, community providers, and Molomakain Health Department
(11:35):
continue to be engaged in conversations on how to improve
the program to ensure positive recovery outcomes and reduce involvement
in the criminal justice system for individuals who are deflected.
The last thing I want to offer is that we're
pleased with the collaboration between county and law enforcement partners.
We believe that everyone has come to the table to
make sure this program is making a difference, and we
(11:57):
also want to thank the numerous service providers who have
open their doors to participants in deflection, whether it's securing shelter, housing,
food access, or other basic needs or treatment. Together, we
are surrounding people who are in deflection with services that
support every facet of their life so that they are
set up for recovery success.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Brian Hughes's Commander of Import and Police Bureau's Central praising
with a review of how the Deflection program is working
for their officers.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
We recognize that many of the challenges we face substance use,
mental health crisis, and chronic homelessness cannot be solved through
enforcement alone. While law enforcement plays a crucial role in
maintaining public safety, we also understand that real, lasting change
happens when people get connected to treatment, support, and resources
(12:45):
that address the root causes of their struggles. Deflection is
an important tool in this effort. When officers encounter individuals
and crisis, this program allows us to direct them towards
services rather than the criminal justice system. It's about recognizing
that not every situation requires an arrest, and that in
many cases, treatment and intervention can be more effective in
(13:07):
reducing harm and improving lives. This approach not only benefits
the individuals involved, but also strengthens our community as a
whole by reducing the cycle of crisis and recidivism. That said,
we acknowledge that our current use of deflection is not
where we want it to be. Like many aspects of
our work, staffing challenges have impacted our ability to fully
(13:28):
utilize this tool. Our officers are balancing high call volumes
and urgent public safety needs, which means that opportunities for
proactive engagement, including referrals to deflection, can sometimes be limited. However,
we remain committed to improving how we implement this program.
We are working to identify solutions, whether through partnerships, additional training,
(13:48):
or strategic resource allocation, to ensure that when officers have
the opportunity to connect individuals to treatment, they can do
so effectively. The bottom line is this, we all want
to see people succes. We want individuals struggling with addiction
and mental health issues to get the help they need
before they become entangled in the criminal justice system. Deflection
(14:10):
provides that pathway, and as we move forward, we will
continue working to make it a more accessible and effective
tool for both our officers and the community.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
That's an update on Maulton mccauty's deflection program. They'll provide
updata data on a quarterly basis.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
Hey, what's up. It's Mike Chase here with Stacy LYNNUI
or Ky Little three Monties with Stacey and Mike for
our Helping Hands initiative, which you can find out more
about at K one of three dot com and the
Helping Hands Block Stacey Lynn. It's ALS Northwest.
Speaker 7 (14:37):
It is and coming up on March twelfth. Speaking in
March is the end of the fifty to fifty Raffle,
which we are doing with ALS Northwest to help raise money,
and Cassie is here to talk about that.
Speaker 8 (14:51):
Thank you both for having.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
Me on now. We've been talking about this on the
radio all month and we're trying to get people to
get out of their comfort zone and realize how gene
this is. We both know people who've been touched by LS.
We know what a tough road that is for families
and for individuals who are dealing with it with a diagnosis.
A couple of people I know just recently got diagnosed
with it, so it's tough what you do at ALS
(15:13):
Northwest is so so key to helping grease the skids
for people who are entering a new phase of their life,
the difficulties they're in, the hope, the resources, all that,
the fifty to fifty raffle. When you buy your tickets,
the jackpot goes up, and then when we finally draw it,
half of it goes to whoever bought the right ticket
and the other half goes to you guys. So the
(15:33):
more that's in the jackpot, the more of a win
win it is for everybody.
Speaker 8 (15:37):
Exactly my key. Yes, absolutely, we're encouraging anybody and everybody.
It's a win, it's a win win for everyone involved.
You know, whoever gets that lucky ticket gets to walk
away with fifty percent, and fifty percent gets to go
to ALS Northwest. And as you said, Mike, we're a
nonprofit organization that's here to support the ALS community throughout
(16:00):
Oregon and Southwest Washington, and so it's you know, fifty
percent of those those proceeds go directly to impacting the
ALS community here locally.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
What I love is it ratchets up like the more
tickets you get.
Speaker 9 (16:14):
So if you buy five tickets, would be ten dollars
four hundred tickets.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
For one hundred bucks, you get four hundred tickets. They
can just really up your chances.
Speaker 9 (16:24):
And you know, I mean, think of all the eggs
you could buy exactly.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
You know, you know what my fondest hope is, you guys,
is that somebody will plunk down some last minute dough
as we head into the final stretch here again in
the deadline March twelfth, scoop up as many tickets as
they can make the jackpot go higher, and then when
they win, they take their fifty percent that they wont
(16:50):
and they just give it right back to Als Northwest.
That's what I would hope, That's what I would love
to see because I know, as we all do firsthand,
how how difficult this diagnosis can be.
Speaker 8 (17:03):
It's it's an incredibly difficult diagnosis is bulk of you know,
and have said, you know, people people get this diagnosis
and they don't really know where to turn. You know,
it's a it's a long road to get to an
als diagnosis. It usually takes about a year on average
for people. And we know how hard it is to
get in to see specialists and just making doctor's appointments
(17:25):
is hard these days, so we're really here as a
resource to people immediately when they've been diagnosed. We can
go out to their home and social worker or care
coordinators sit down with the person and their family to
really talk about what this diagnosis means for their life,
how it impacts their family, how it impacts, you know,
(17:47):
every facet of their moving forward. Are really able to
support that person and walk through kind of navigating their
next steps throughout their entire diagnosis.
Speaker 9 (17:59):
And I love about ALS Northwest is the community that
you create because my brother is undiagnosed at this point,
but he thought the doctor's thought at one point he
had ALS.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
He was muscle weakness.
Speaker 10 (18:14):
All the tests that you go through, all the fear
that you go through when you do get that diagnosis,
to have somebody to connect you with others who have
been through it, who are going through.
Speaker 9 (18:27):
It is such a huge part of getting through that.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
I didn't know that other when when did that happen.
Speaker 9 (18:36):
My older brother. Still it's ongoing. They still don't know
what's wrong with.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
Them, and you're probably rocked even if you don't know.
But I imagine if you did get the diagnosis like
that's a whole new world that you're entering right there,
and that's what we're trying to support. All we're asking
for from you is to buy some of these tickets
before March twelfth, get into the raffle, drive up the
jackpot so that everybody wins. Where do we go to
(19:01):
get the tickets between now in March twelfth, Cassie, what's
the best way to do this? Our blog K ONEO
three dot com has a link, but there are other
ways too.
Speaker 8 (19:08):
Yeah, the blog is a great way to get to
the link. You can also visit alsnorthwest dot org and
we have information on our web great about the fifty
to fifty Raffle. We're also posting it all over our
Facebook page, Instagram page, So definitely give ALS Northwest a
follow on those channels and you'll learn more about the
fifty gift Raffle, but also other things that we have
(19:30):
going on. Stacey, you mentioned, you know, community, and that
is such a big part of what we do at
ALS Northwest is we really bring together community, whether it's
support groups for people who are living with the diagnosis,
to their family members, friends, their their larger network. But
we also host a variety of different events throughout the year,
(19:52):
including our walk Als events that are actually all across
the state of Oregon and in Southwest Washington coming up
this spring, and it's a great way for people to
come together. I'm really sorry to hear Stacy about your
brother and all that he's going through. It's it's really difficult,
you know, leading up to the diagnosis or potentially even
(20:15):
just that kind of unknown of you know, really sure
what to expect. And we're here. We're here for people
who are at any part of that experience, and we
want to make sure that people at the end of
the day are not alone living with us.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
Well put, you know, Stacy and I would go door
to door to make people more aware of this fifty
to fifty raffle between now in March twelfth, we would
go you know, bother you at work, cubicle to cubicle
and tap you on the head and say, hey, you
want to buy some tickets? You want to buy some tickets.
We know how important this is. Driving up that jackpot
is all important between now and March twelfth, And normally
(20:52):
we support each organization is part of Helping Hands for
one month at a time, but with the deadline being
March twelfth. We will not stop talking about this until
the last minute. For you, Cassie. We will keep talking
about this on K one o three, on our socials
and we want to get that jackpot to go up
and again. Go to our blog, the Helping Hands blog
at K oneo three dot com and the Stacey in
Mic section. There's a link there you can learn about
(21:13):
how to be a participant. You can you can buy
your tickets and you can help move the needle for this.
It's very important.
Speaker 8 (21:20):
Yeah, well, we really appreciate all of your support. You know,
iHeart has been a phenomenal partner and K one o
three we're so appreciative. And you know, als is still
considered a rare disease. Most of the time, we have
to let people know, Hey, it's Louke Grigg's disease. Remember
the ice bucket challenge that happened several years ago. But
(21:43):
I find that when we talk about it in the community,
most people have sub connection, and so I think it's
really important to spread awareness and make sure that people
understand this is the diagnosis that does not have a cure.
We are still working to find what causes this disease.
We're still trying to understand how to how to treat it,
(22:05):
how to slow the progression, and ultimately how to end
this disease once overall, and between now and then, you know,
we're here to ensure that people are not living alone
with this diagnosis, have resources, have a community of support,
and have just the information and community that they need
(22:27):
to live as well as possible while while living with this.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I was going to show you my cat, Solo Kitty
had an ALS Northwest fifty to fifty sandwich board on him,
but he somehow he got it off, so I.
Speaker 6 (22:43):
Can't show it to you now, Cassie. Cassie, please tell everybody,
all the families that you talk to, you know, the volunteers,
everyone who's making this happen at ALS Northwest, please tell
them that we are behind them one hundred percent and
we will keep talking about this. And people need to
buy their tickets. They just have to. We've got to
(23:03):
drive that jackpot up. We've got to make this work,
and we really appreciate what you're doing there and happy
to support it as part of Stacey Mike's helping hands
our blog again at K one oh three dot com.
It's a website. You would go to a computer and
you would go to the website and you would click
on it with a mouse and you would see Stacey
and Mike and there'd be a dropdown menu and you'd go, oh,
that's what they were talking about. I'm going to make
(23:23):
a donation and maybe win half the jackpot in the
ALS Northwest fifty to fifty jackpot between now and March twelfth.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We make it real.
Speaker 8 (23:33):
We make it really easy, Mike. On the website, you
can click on the buttons. It's very very simple. You
do have to be in the state of Oregon when
you purchase a ticket, but to win, you can be
living anywhere. And I think, as Stacey said, you can
buy up up to four hundred tickets, four hundred chances
to win, and fifty percent of this goes directly to
(23:57):
people living with ALS and their families throughout Oregon Washington.
Speaker 9 (24:01):
No, I thank you for what you're doing.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
Ket I was going to say, I'm currently ensconsed in
a secret bunker in Bogatah, but so I can't buy
any tickets, but I bought some before I left, so
I'm good to go. Okay, Okay, why not both It's
lovely this summer year. Cassie, thank you so much. We
appreciate you joining us today.
Speaker 8 (24:20):
Oh, thank you so much for having me. We are
so appreciative over here at als Northwest, and we really
need all the support that we can get. We don't
receive any government funding, no state funding. Every single dollar
that comes in is from donors, from grant funders, and
from our community of support. So we are so grateful
for anybody and everybody who buys a ticket or buys
(24:43):
four hundred or you know, hey, buy as many as
you want. And we really appreciate the time on the
show today and and just your helping us. Bread awareness
means a lot.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Oregod State University is working to increase awareness of off
the coast and the role they play in the marine ecosystem.
They have designed a shark license plate. Tata Chapel is
founder of o Issues Big Fish Lab. Tata, what's the
plate look like?
Speaker 11 (25:11):
So? The new shark plate that we have has three
species of sharks that we onto our coast here, the
salmon shark, the blue shark, and the thusher shark.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Who designed the plate?
Speaker 11 (25:21):
The plate was designed by an undergraduate student here at
Oregon State named Natalie Donado, and she is our resident artist,
has been designing a bunch of artwork for the lab
and then took on this challenge of making a really
cool and engaging plate for folks.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Now, the money raised from the plate will fund the
Big Fish Lab at OSU. Tell us about the Big
Fish Lab.
Speaker 11 (25:42):
The Big Ish Lab is a research lab at Oregon
State and we largely focus on big marine predators, so
sharks and big things like tuna's and swordfish, and the
research we do is understanding what these animals are doing
off of our coast. And so we have fifteen species
of sharks that are are known to swim off the
(26:02):
coast of Oregon, and so our lab is trying to
understand where these animals are going and where they're coming from,
and the role that they play and really keeping the
you know, the ecosystems and the economies of our coastal communities,
you know, vibrant.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
How difficult is it to study sharks, especially in the Pacific,
where you know, weather oftentimes is not your friend.
Speaker 11 (26:23):
We're the first really shark focused lab in the Pacific Northwest,
and I think there's a reason for that. It is
one of the most challenging environments to get out and
do this research. So it is it's really tricky. Any
any day you look out on the ocean, it might
be dead flat or it might be forty foot waves.
So the research we do is it's challenging. And that's
(26:46):
why this plate is really important because it can help
us with really our footprints about where we're able to
go in the safety of us getting out, with the
size of vessels and things we're able to take.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
It's a great looking plate. Is that a great white
kind of featured in the front.
Speaker 11 (27:01):
The shark that we have featured in the front is
actually a salmon shark and it is a relative of
the white shark, and it really is species for organ
since you know, we have so many fishers and communities
that are really focused their dependents either you know, culturally
or recreationally on salmon, and we thought the salmon shark
really represents the interactions of sharks and the ecosystems and
(27:24):
the people. So that's what's front and center on that plate.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Many of us know sharks from you know, what we
see in Hollywood movies, right Shark Week. What what do
you think we should know about sharks?
Speaker 11 (27:34):
I think sharks have had a wrap because, as we
all know, fear cells and so Hollywood has really, you know,
promoted that fear of sharks as being these mindless predators.
But what we are really trying to do in the
Big Fish Lab is to help folks understand that they're
actually incredibly critical to the health of our systems. And
so the same way that align on this Serengeti is,
(27:56):
you know, this iconic predator that everybody thinks is important,
sharks fill that same role in our coastal ecosystems. And
so that's what we really hope to change, the idea
that you know that they're not this mindless predator out
in the water. They're actually a really critical part of
our ecosystems, and they're complex, and they have behaviors in
(28:16):
sociality and all these things that we know we might
not necessarily assigned to a shark, but in reality is
what makes them really impressive.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
So what needs to happen to get the new shark
license plate into circulation.
Speaker 11 (28:29):
So for us to put the shark plate into production,
we need to sell three thousand of the vouchers. So
if folks go to our website, you can buy one
of those vouchers. You pay forty dollars and then we
will send you a voucher and as soon as the
plate comes into production, then you take that to the
DMV and they'll hand you your shark plate. So as
soon as we have three thousand people signed up, these
(28:50):
plates will go into production.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Terrific. Anything else you'd like to add.
Speaker 11 (28:53):
The real goal of this license plate is to, I think,
understand and appreciate the role that these predators play in
our eco systems. And so you talk to somebody from
Morgan and they say, oh, we have sharks off the coast.
They know we have whales, they know we have mountain lions,
they know we have bears, but not many people know
that we have sharks off of our coasts.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
So the hope is.
Speaker 11 (29:12):
That by seeing a car drive down the road with
the shark license plate, it starts to get into the
mindset of folks that we have vibrant and really healthy
ecosystems in the ocean as well as on land.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Thanks Taylor, that's Tata Chapel with Oshu. He's helping to
lead the effort to create a shark license plate for Oregon.
You can find out more information on how to buy
one of those forty dollars vouchers online at oshu's Marine
research website. Thanks for listening to Local Voices, I'm brad Ford.
You can hear past episodes on the iHeartRadio app under
(29:43):
the podcast tab. Local Voices is a public affairs presentation
from iHeartRadio
Welcome to local voices. I'm brad Ford. Mulla mccounty has
given the first quarterly update on its deflection program ALS
Northwest fifty to fifty Raffle fundraiser continues to raise money
in support of ALS patients, their families and research into
the disease and how you can put a shark on
your car. Mulla mccauty's drug deflection program is six months old.
(00:28):
People who are caught with illegal drugs and have no
other offenses can have the option of going into deflection
instead of jail. Data from the first quarter gives a
picture of how the program's evolving. Bulla mccounty chair Jessica
Vega Peterson says transparency has been important.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
One year ago, at this time, the Oregon Legislature hadn't
even passed how to Spell four thousand and two to
change our drug laws. Six months ago, there were zero
deflection programs in the state of Oregon, and Moltnomon County
was on a very fast track to open mobile refrection
election on September first and a facility where law enforcement
(01:03):
would take those being deflected. By mid October, four months ago,
we were just opening our deflection center and beginning to
welcome clients. Today, we offer our community the first comprehensive
data data that includes program performance metrics for the first time,
including completion and demographic data. This follows several smaller data
(01:26):
releases and updates since our deflection program began. Data is
critical component to the work that we're doing, and one
of the reasons that rapid early investment in our counties
deflection program was so that we could begin collecting data
to better understand who we are serving with deflection, what
(01:46):
we know about them, and how we can improve the
systems that we've set up. Because this first quarterly release
is helping us to understand more clearly how this program
is benefiting our community, and we should be considering as
our next steps. We are among the first counties to
release data from our program because transparency is so important
(02:09):
and matters so much. We know being transparent and accountable
makes a difference, and we're committed to doing both of
these as we move forward. This work has taken a
laser focus by the Maltlama County Health Department. It has
taken leadership across a broad group of stakeholders, especially law
enforcement partners from our Sheriff to Portland and Gresham police bureaus,
(02:33):
our district attorney, and behavioral health specialists from providers like
Mhaao Turk House four D, and I really want to
thank Turkhouse for the work that they've done both here
in the community and for the fifty years of work
that they've led in Maryland on treatment and recovery and
deflection services. We have been tirelessly working to get the
(02:55):
program up and running because we knew that that was
the start of something very important. Deflection serves as a
cornerstone to our commitment to improving our behavioral health continuum
of care. My focus now is on considering how we
can expand services at the Coordinated Care Pathway Center to
make our continuum stronger. On behalf of the many people
(03:16):
who find support there, people who will be giving a
chance and a new beginning, people who will not go
to jail, but instead will meet people who will walk
alongside them on their journey to recovery. Expansion at the
Pathway Center is already underway in two key areas, so
first of all, later this spring, we are opening thirteen
(03:38):
sobering beds at the Pathway Center, and we will begin
offering a place for people to go instead of the
er when they need to sober up and connect to services.
Second from discussions at the House Bill four thousand and
two leadership Table, the Moltnoma County Health Department is developing
next steps around adding additional pathways into these services through providers,
(03:59):
outreach work, and first responders who regularly work with and
support people with substance use disorder or who would benefit
from pathways to treatment and recovery. Since the beginning, this
has been about helping people get access to treatment instead
of funneling them through the legal system with little support
for treating their substance use disorder. I'm grateful that the
(04:21):
State of Oregon added deflection as an idea and the
resources to support deflection specifically in this approach when they
passed House Spell four thousand and two.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Heather Merostol is the director at Moulta MC County Behavioral
Health and explains how the county's Deflection program has operated
during the first quarter.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
We've learned a.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Lot since launching this new program last September, and what's
most important to understand is that this has added a
new treatment opportunity for members of our community who are
struggling with addiction that was not otherwise there previously. As
Scheravega Peterson said, the program is working as intended. It's
diverting people away from the legal system and into services
(05:00):
that support them in beginning their recovery journey. This program
is voluntary and it is supporting individuals who are choosing treatment.
We aren't just seeing one or two people take the
first step. We've seen hundreds embrace the support offered at
the Pathway Center. Through this Deflection program, we have connected
hundreds of community members to treatment and other supportive wrap
(05:21):
around services. We must also remind the community that the
journey to recovery is not a straight line. It often
takes people multiple times to achieve long term recovery, and
every engagement, every encounter, every referral, brings people one step
closer to recovery. We know that people that arresting people
does not treat addiction and mental health disorders. Deflection offers
(05:44):
a more effective way to treat these conditions by providing
a behavioral health pathway. We will continue to ask for
patients as we work to collect, analyze, and share data
about the program. Due to reporting timeframes, it takes up
to sixty days after a person initiates deflect to determine
the outcome of that deflection. Since the program opened, we
have been sharing data on the number of people referred
(06:07):
to deflection and the number of referrals being provided, but
given the sixty day period from initiation to completion, we're
sharing the first full set of completion data for the
first time, which is for September one through November thirtieth
of twenty twenty four. We will also be sharing referral
data from September one through December thirty one of twenty
(06:27):
twenty four. Law enforcement made two hundred and twenty one
referrals between September one and December thirty one. Of those referrals,
there were nine repeat referrals, which means two hundred and
twelve unique individuals were referred to deflection. Overall, of the
two hundred and twelve individuals offered deflection, one hundred and
(06:49):
forty one of those referrals, or sixty seven percent, resulted
in an initiated deflection. As mentioned, we now have three
full months of completion data between September one and November thirtieth.
In this window, nearly a quarter of deflections initiated were
considered successful. Fifty four percent of the deflections initiated were
(07:13):
considered not completed once we verified that clients did not
access the referrals within a thirty day period. Thirty one
deflections are still pending verification. As we have previously shared,
people who initiate deflection are often referred to numerous services. However,
the number one most common referral at thirty five percent,
(07:33):
was for withdrawal management, and the number two most common
referral at thirty one percent, was for outpatient treatment. This
means that sixty six percent of the referrals given were
for addiction support services. Of the more than a dozen
other types of referrals provided, the most commonly access service
was for housing, followed at twenty four percent, followed by
(07:55):
peer support services at twenty one percent, and the outpatient
access to treatment was at nineteen percent. We're also pleased
to share more information about the demographics of the people
we are serving. It's worth noting that law enforcement partners
make referrals and they may have more insights into the
demographics of who is being referred. But here are some
(08:15):
of the demographics worth Mentioning Nearly sixty percent of participants
referred to deflection were between the ages of twenty six
and forty. Fifty seven percent of those referred to deflection
identified as male, fifty four percent of people referred to
deflection identified as white, twenty three percent declined to answer
that question, and ten percent of those referred identified as
(08:37):
black or African American. Nearly eighty percent of participants listed
English as their first language, eighteen percent declined to answer,
and two percent identified as Spanish speaking. When asked about
drug used, thirty six percent declined to answer the question,
but twenty six percent said they use methanphetamine, followed by
twenty five percent who said they use fentanyl a large percentage.
(09:01):
Sixty two percent of participants reported having pre existing medical conditions,
most of which were dental health conditions at twenty six percent,
followed by physical health conditions at fourteen percent, and then
mental health conditions at twelve percent. An overwhelming majority eighty
percent of participants said that they had recently visited an
(09:22):
emergency department. Almost forty five percent of participants indicated that
they were living unsheltered, and seventy five percent sheltered or
unsheltered were experiencing homelessness. Nearly forty percent of participants said
that they needed food assistance. As mentioned, we've learned a
lot from implementing this new program. The first quarter presented
(09:44):
unique challenges and opportunities. The program was launched quickly and
started with a field based approach before the Pathway Center
could open. Programmatic shifts were common in the early weeks
of operations, including a pivot from field based to a
center based approach. Since September one, we've been able to
offer deflection as an option to every referral we receive
(10:04):
from law enforcement, and we have some key takeaways from
the past few months. We're adding new deflection referral partners
to make the program more accessible and are exploring new
options for referrals. The leadership team is also considering a
potential expansion of the eligibility criteria, as the bar for
being referred to deflection is still rather high. We need
(10:27):
more transportation options and are currently piloting other transportation options
to the Pathway Center, both in Portland and in East County,
and we're also exploring additional transportation options from the Pathway Center,
including non emergency transport available on site and leveraging other
county and city transportation resources. We're making program adjustments and
(10:50):
hoping by the end of year one to incorporate more outreach,
increase follow up, and create more pathways to services. In
the spring, will also adding thirteen sobering beds at the
Pathway Center, which will make a difference in who we're
able to see. We plan to fine tune data because
we want to gain more insights into why individuals who
(11:11):
may be eligible are not offered deflection. We also want
to look at downstream involvement with the criminal justice system
for those who do receive deflection. The work will involve
developing new processes for collecting additional data from partners and
determining how to share available data across the deflection system.
The Deflection Leadership Team, community providers, and Molomakain Health Department
(11:35):
continue to be engaged in conversations on how to improve
the program to ensure positive recovery outcomes and reduce involvement
in the criminal justice system for individuals who are deflected.
The last thing I want to offer is that we're
pleased with the collaboration between county and law enforcement partners.
We believe that everyone has come to the table to
make sure this program is making a difference, and we
(11:57):
also want to thank the numerous service providers who have
open their doors to participants in deflection, whether it's securing shelter, housing,
food access, or other basic needs or treatment. Together, we
are surrounding people who are in deflection with services that
support every facet of their life so that they are
set up for recovery success.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Brian Hughes's Commander of Import and Police Bureau's Central praising
with a review of how the Deflection program is working
for their officers.
Speaker 5 (12:25):
We recognize that many of the challenges we face substance use,
mental health crisis, and chronic homelessness cannot be solved through
enforcement alone. While law enforcement plays a crucial role in
maintaining public safety, we also understand that real, lasting change
happens when people get connected to treatment, support, and resources
(12:45):
that address the root causes of their struggles. Deflection is
an important tool in this effort. When officers encounter individuals
and crisis, this program allows us to direct them towards
services rather than the criminal justice system. It's about recognizing
that not every situation requires an arrest, and that in
many cases, treatment and intervention can be more effective in
(13:07):
reducing harm and improving lives. This approach not only benefits
the individuals involved, but also strengthens our community as a
whole by reducing the cycle of crisis and recidivism. That said,
we acknowledge that our current use of deflection is not
where we want it to be. Like many aspects of
our work, staffing challenges have impacted our ability to fully
(13:28):
utilize this tool. Our officers are balancing high call volumes
and urgent public safety needs, which means that opportunities for
proactive engagement, including referrals to deflection, can sometimes be limited. However,
we remain committed to improving how we implement this program.
We are working to identify solutions, whether through partnerships, additional training,
(13:48):
or strategic resource allocation, to ensure that when officers have
the opportunity to connect individuals to treatment, they can do
so effectively. The bottom line is this, we all want
to see people succes. We want individuals struggling with addiction
and mental health issues to get the help they need
before they become entangled in the criminal justice system. Deflection
(14:10):
provides that pathway, and as we move forward, we will
continue working to make it a more accessible and effective
tool for both our officers and the community.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
That's an update on Maulton mccauty's deflection program. They'll provide
updata data on a quarterly basis.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
Hey, what's up. It's Mike Chase here with Stacy LYNNUI
or Ky Little three Monties with Stacey and Mike for
our Helping Hands initiative, which you can find out more
about at K one of three dot com and the
Helping Hands Block Stacey Lynn. It's ALS Northwest.
Speaker 7 (14:37):
It is and coming up on March twelfth. Speaking in
March is the end of the fifty to fifty Raffle,
which we are doing with ALS Northwest to help raise money,
and Cassie is here to talk about that.
Speaker 8 (14:51):
Thank you both for having.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
Me on now. We've been talking about this on the
radio all month and we're trying to get people to
get out of their comfort zone and realize how gene
this is. We both know people who've been touched by LS.
We know what a tough road that is for families
and for individuals who are dealing with it with a diagnosis.
A couple of people I know just recently got diagnosed
with it, so it's tough what you do at ALS
(15:13):
Northwest is so so key to helping grease the skids
for people who are entering a new phase of their life,
the difficulties they're in, the hope, the resources, all that,
the fifty to fifty raffle. When you buy your tickets,
the jackpot goes up, and then when we finally draw it,
half of it goes to whoever bought the right ticket
and the other half goes to you guys. So the
(15:33):
more that's in the jackpot, the more of a win
win it is for everybody.
Speaker 8 (15:37):
Exactly my key. Yes, absolutely, we're encouraging anybody and everybody.
It's a win, it's a win win for everyone involved.
You know, whoever gets that lucky ticket gets to walk
away with fifty percent, and fifty percent gets to go
to ALS Northwest. And as you said, Mike, we're a
nonprofit organization that's here to support the ALS community throughout
(16:00):
Oregon and Southwest Washington, and so it's you know, fifty
percent of those those proceeds go directly to impacting the
ALS community here locally.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
What I love is it ratchets up like the more
tickets you get.
Speaker 9 (16:14):
So if you buy five tickets, would be ten dollars
four hundred tickets.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
For one hundred bucks, you get four hundred tickets. They
can just really up your chances.
Speaker 9 (16:24):
And you know, I mean, think of all the eggs
you could buy exactly.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
You know, you know what my fondest hope is, you guys,
is that somebody will plunk down some last minute dough
as we head into the final stretch here again in
the deadline March twelfth, scoop up as many tickets as
they can make the jackpot go higher, and then when
they win, they take their fifty percent that they wont
(16:50):
and they just give it right back to Als Northwest.
That's what I would hope, That's what I would love
to see because I know, as we all do firsthand,
how how difficult this diagnosis can be.
Speaker 8 (17:03):
It's it's an incredibly difficult diagnosis is bulk of you know,
and have said, you know, people people get this diagnosis
and they don't really know where to turn. You know,
it's a it's a long road to get to an
als diagnosis. It usually takes about a year on average
for people. And we know how hard it is to
get in to see specialists and just making doctor's appointments
(17:25):
is hard these days, so we're really here as a
resource to people immediately when they've been diagnosed. We can
go out to their home and social worker or care
coordinators sit down with the person and their family to
really talk about what this diagnosis means for their life,
how it impacts their family, how it impacts, you know,
(17:47):
every facet of their moving forward. Are really able to
support that person and walk through kind of navigating their
next steps throughout their entire diagnosis.
Speaker 9 (17:59):
And I love about ALS Northwest is the community that
you create because my brother is undiagnosed at this point,
but he thought the doctor's thought at one point he
had ALS.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
He was muscle weakness.
Speaker 10 (18:14):
All the tests that you go through, all the fear
that you go through when you do get that diagnosis,
to have somebody to connect you with others who have
been through it, who are going through.
Speaker 9 (18:27):
It is such a huge part of getting through that.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
I didn't know that other when when did that happen.
Speaker 9 (18:36):
My older brother. Still it's ongoing. They still don't know
what's wrong with.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
Them, and you're probably rocked even if you don't know.
But I imagine if you did get the diagnosis like
that's a whole new world that you're entering right there,
and that's what we're trying to support. All we're asking
for from you is to buy some of these tickets
before March twelfth, get into the raffle, drive up the
jackpot so that everybody wins. Where do we go to
(19:01):
get the tickets between now in March twelfth, Cassie, what's
the best way to do this? Our blog K ONEO
three dot com has a link, but there are other
ways too.
Speaker 8 (19:08):
Yeah, the blog is a great way to get to
the link. You can also visit alsnorthwest dot org and
we have information on our web great about the fifty
to fifty Raffle. We're also posting it all over our
Facebook page, Instagram page, So definitely give ALS Northwest a
follow on those channels and you'll learn more about the
fifty gift Raffle, but also other things that we have
(19:30):
going on. Stacey, you mentioned, you know, community, and that
is such a big part of what we do at
ALS Northwest is we really bring together community, whether it's
support groups for people who are living with the diagnosis,
to their family members, friends, their their larger network. But
we also host a variety of different events throughout the year,
(19:52):
including our walk Als events that are actually all across
the state of Oregon and in Southwest Washington coming up
this spring, and it's a great way for people to
come together. I'm really sorry to hear Stacy about your
brother and all that he's going through. It's it's really difficult,
you know, leading up to the diagnosis or potentially even
(20:15):
just that kind of unknown of you know, really sure
what to expect. And we're here. We're here for people
who are at any part of that experience, and we
want to make sure that people at the end of
the day are not alone living with us.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
Well put, you know, Stacy and I would go door
to door to make people more aware of this fifty
to fifty raffle between now in March twelfth, we would
go you know, bother you at work, cubicle to cubicle
and tap you on the head and say, hey, you
want to buy some tickets? You want to buy some tickets.
We know how important this is. Driving up that jackpot
is all important between now and March twelfth, And normally
(20:52):
we support each organization is part of Helping Hands for
one month at a time, but with the deadline being
March twelfth. We will not stop talking about this until
the last minute. For you, Cassie. We will keep talking
about this on K one o three, on our socials
and we want to get that jackpot to go up
and again. Go to our blog, the Helping Hands blog
at K oneo three dot com and the Stacey in
Mic section. There's a link there you can learn about
(21:13):
how to be a participant. You can you can buy
your tickets and you can help move the needle for this.
It's very important.
Speaker 8 (21:20):
Yeah, well, we really appreciate all of your support. You know,
iHeart has been a phenomenal partner and K one o
three we're so appreciative. And you know, als is still
considered a rare disease. Most of the time, we have
to let people know, Hey, it's Louke Grigg's disease. Remember
the ice bucket challenge that happened several years ago. But
(21:43):
I find that when we talk about it in the community,
most people have sub connection, and so I think it's
really important to spread awareness and make sure that people
understand this is the diagnosis that does not have a cure.
We are still working to find what causes this disease.
We're still trying to understand how to how to treat it,
(22:05):
how to slow the progression, and ultimately how to end
this disease once overall, and between now and then, you know,
we're here to ensure that people are not living alone
with this diagnosis, have resources, have a community of support,
and have just the information and community that they need
(22:27):
to live as well as possible while while living with this.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I was going to show you my cat, Solo Kitty
had an ALS Northwest fifty to fifty sandwich board on him,
but he somehow he got it off, so I.
Speaker 6 (22:43):
Can't show it to you now, Cassie. Cassie, please tell everybody,
all the families that you talk to, you know, the volunteers,
everyone who's making this happen at ALS Northwest, please tell
them that we are behind them one hundred percent and
we will keep talking about this. And people need to
buy their tickets. They just have to. We've got to
(23:03):
drive that jackpot up. We've got to make this work,
and we really appreciate what you're doing there and happy
to support it as part of Stacey Mike's helping hands
our blog again at K one oh three dot com.
It's a website. You would go to a computer and
you would go to the website and you would click
on it with a mouse and you would see Stacey
and Mike and there'd be a dropdown menu and you'd go, oh,
that's what they were talking about. I'm going to make
(23:23):
a donation and maybe win half the jackpot in the
ALS Northwest fifty to fifty jackpot between now and March twelfth.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
We make it real.
Speaker 8 (23:33):
We make it really easy, Mike. On the website, you
can click on the buttons. It's very very simple. You
do have to be in the state of Oregon when
you purchase a ticket, but to win, you can be
living anywhere. And I think, as Stacey said, you can
buy up up to four hundred tickets, four hundred chances
to win, and fifty percent of this goes directly to
(23:57):
people living with ALS and their families throughout Oregon Washington.
Speaker 9 (24:01):
No, I thank you for what you're doing.
Speaker 6 (24:03):
Ket I was going to say, I'm currently ensconsed in
a secret bunker in Bogatah, but so I can't buy
any tickets, but I bought some before I left, so
I'm good to go. Okay, Okay, why not both It's
lovely this summer year. Cassie, thank you so much. We
appreciate you joining us today.
Speaker 8 (24:20):
Oh, thank you so much for having me. We are
so appreciative over here at als Northwest, and we really
need all the support that we can get. We don't
receive any government funding, no state funding. Every single dollar
that comes in is from donors, from grant funders, and
from our community of support. So we are so grateful
for anybody and everybody who buys a ticket or buys
(24:43):
four hundred or you know, hey, buy as many as
you want. And we really appreciate the time on the
show today and and just your helping us. Bread awareness
means a lot.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Oregod State University is working to increase awareness of off
the coast and the role they play in the marine ecosystem.
They have designed a shark license plate. Tata Chapel is
founder of o Issues Big Fish Lab. Tata, what's the
plate look like?
Speaker 11 (25:11):
So? The new shark plate that we have has three
species of sharks that we onto our coast here, the
salmon shark, the blue shark, and the thusher shark.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Who designed the plate?
Speaker 11 (25:21):
The plate was designed by an undergraduate student here at
Oregon State named Natalie Donado, and she is our resident artist,
has been designing a bunch of artwork for the lab
and then took on this challenge of making a really
cool and engaging plate for folks.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Now, the money raised from the plate will fund the
Big Fish Lab at OSU. Tell us about the Big
Fish Lab.
Speaker 11 (25:42):
The Big Ish Lab is a research lab at Oregon
State and we largely focus on big marine predators, so
sharks and big things like tuna's and swordfish, and the
research we do is understanding what these animals are doing
off of our coast. And so we have fifteen species
of sharks that are are known to swim off the
(26:02):
coast of Oregon, and so our lab is trying to
understand where these animals are going and where they're coming from,
and the role that they play and really keeping the
you know, the ecosystems and the economies of our coastal communities,
you know, vibrant.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
How difficult is it to study sharks, especially in the Pacific,
where you know, weather oftentimes is not your friend.
Speaker 11 (26:23):
We're the first really shark focused lab in the Pacific Northwest,
and I think there's a reason for that. It is
one of the most challenging environments to get out and
do this research. So it is it's really tricky. Any
any day you look out on the ocean, it might
be dead flat or it might be forty foot waves.
So the research we do is it's challenging. And that's
(26:46):
why this plate is really important because it can help
us with really our footprints about where we're able to
go in the safety of us getting out, with the
size of vessels and things we're able to take.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
It's a great looking plate. Is that a great white
kind of featured in the front.
Speaker 11 (27:01):
The shark that we have featured in the front is
actually a salmon shark and it is a relative of
the white shark, and it really is species for organ
since you know, we have so many fishers and communities
that are really focused their dependents either you know, culturally
or recreationally on salmon, and we thought the salmon shark
really represents the interactions of sharks and the ecosystems and
(27:24):
the people. So that's what's front and center on that plate.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Many of us know sharks from you know, what we
see in Hollywood movies, right Shark Week. What what do
you think we should know about sharks?
Speaker 11 (27:34):
I think sharks have had a wrap because, as we
all know, fear cells and so Hollywood has really, you know,
promoted that fear of sharks as being these mindless predators.
But what we are really trying to do in the
Big Fish Lab is to help folks understand that they're
actually incredibly critical to the health of our systems. And
so the same way that align on this Serengeti is,
(27:56):
you know, this iconic predator that everybody thinks is important,
sharks fill that same role in our coastal ecosystems. And
so that's what we really hope to change, the idea
that you know that they're not this mindless predator out
in the water. They're actually a really critical part of
our ecosystems, and they're complex, and they have behaviors in
(28:16):
sociality and all these things that we know we might
not necessarily assigned to a shark, but in reality is
what makes them really impressive.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
So what needs to happen to get the new shark
license plate into circulation.
Speaker 11 (28:29):
So for us to put the shark plate into production,
we need to sell three thousand of the vouchers. So
if folks go to our website, you can buy one
of those vouchers. You pay forty dollars and then we
will send you a voucher and as soon as the
plate comes into production, then you take that to the
DMV and they'll hand you your shark plate. So as
soon as we have three thousand people signed up, these
(28:50):
plates will go into production.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Terrific. Anything else you'd like to add.
Speaker 11 (28:53):
The real goal of this license plate is to, I think,
understand and appreciate the role that these predators play in
our eco systems. And so you talk to somebody from
Morgan and they say, oh, we have sharks off the coast.
They know we have whales, they know we have mountain lions,
they know we have bears, but not many people know
that we have sharks off of our coasts.
Speaker 6 (29:11):
So the hope is.
Speaker 11 (29:12):
That by seeing a car drive down the road with
the shark license plate, it starts to get into the
mindset of folks that we have vibrant and really healthy
ecosystems in the ocean as well as on land.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Thanks Taylor, that's Tata Chapel with Oshu. He's helping to
lead the effort to create a shark license plate for Oregon.
You can find out more information on how to buy
one of those forty dollars vouchers online at oshu's Marine
research website. Thanks for listening to Local Voices, I'm brad Ford.
You can hear past episodes on the iHeartRadio app under
(29:43):
the podcast tab. Local Voices is a public affairs presentation
from iHeartRadio
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