Portland has a long and constant history of locking people up
Below is a list of both private and publicly-funded facilities in the Portland, Oregon metro area (Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties) whose function is detention. We estimate over 2,500,000 Oregonians have been locked up in the institutions listed. Expand the list to include facilities simular to those below for the entire state, 1860-2025, and our […]
Willamette National Cemetery ceremony honors unclaimed veterans
The New Era Newspaper – November 5, 2025 The Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs honored nine individuals – eight veterans and one dependent family member – in an interment ceremony Oct. 22 at Willamette National Cemetery in Happy Valley. The cremated remains, which had been stored for decades in the Oregon State Hospital after going […]
Columbia River Mental Health Services suspends operations
Columbia River Mental Health Services announced in March 2025 it was suspending most operations due to financial difficulties. For some amount of time, about 5000 people with mental illness and addiction were left without medical and social services and without guidance as to where to get services. PRESIDENT – Dimitry Makhanov, OneDigital VICE PRESIDENT – […]
Oregon’s Peer Run Respite Grants – updated February 2025
Peer respite has been an ideal in Portland since at least the opening of Outside In in 1968 to help teens who were “tripping” to “mellow out.” But government funders were wary if not in oppositional, so efforts always ended quickly. Peer respite is a fairly simple idea – a residential home designated as a […]
Task Force on Alcohol Pricing and Addiction Services
Updated July 29, 2024 During the 2023 Legislative Session, the Oregon Legislative Assembly passed House Bill 3610, which was then signed by the Governor. This bill initiated the creation of the Task Force on Alcohol Pricing and Addiction Services. The House Bill specifies that task force members shall: Study alcohol addiction and alcohol addiction prevention; Distribution of […]
Oregon Health Authority fails to show results after spending millions, audit finds
Oregon Health Authority fails to show results after spending millions, audit finds – Oregon Capital Chronicle, August 12, 2024 Oregon Health Authority auditors call for stronger oversight of behavioral health incentive programs and better outreach to communities Starting in 2021, Oregon lawmakers gave tens of millions of dollars in funding to the Oregon Health Authority […]
End of the Oregon Trail – Suicides 1894-1974
End of the Oregon Trail – Suicides 1894-1974 (PDF) Rare monograph on the history of suicide in Oregon by OHSU researchers James Shore and Betty Arvidson, published in July 1977.
Juror criticizes Portland’s request to throw out negligence verdict after police shooting
From OPB.org, July 11 2024 In May, attorneys for the city of Portland asked a judge to throw out a jury verdict that held the city liable for a Portland police officer’s fatal shooting of a man suffering from a mental health crisis. The filing has prompted one juror in the case to go public. […]
Oregon Substance Use Disorder Financial Analysis – 2023
Oregon Health Authority Substance Use Disorder Financial Analysis (PDF – full report) Oregon Health Authority Substance Use Disorder Financial Analysis (PDF – Presentation) SUMMARY – In a budget note in HB 5006 (2021 regular session), the Oregon State Legislature directed the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to analyze the adequacy of behavioral health structures in the […]