Overview:
The PSR evaluation examines the overall effectiveness of the Portland Street Response (PSR) program, provides suggestions for program refinement and adaptation, and provides recommendations for sustaining and institutionalizing PSR as a permanent and co-equal branch of the first response system in Portland.
The PSR is comprehensive, community-centered, and includes feedback from a variety of stakeholders and sources including people experiencing homelessness, other community members, PSR staff, and other first responders. An overarching principle of this evaluation is an appreciation for the complexity of the issue, which demands a dynamic and nimble approach that emphasizes relationship building and deep understanding of the program context.
Key findings pertaining to the Year Two evaluation period (April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023):
- 3.5% reduction in total calls traditionally responded to by police.
- 19% reduction in police response on non-emergency welfare checks and dispatches coded as “unwanted persons” calls.
- 3% reduction in fire department activity on behavioral health calls, illegal burn calls, and non-emergency medical calls.
- Only 187 clients (2.5% of all calls) required transport to hospital. Most treated on scene.
- PSR clients rated PSR 4.8 on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best.
PSR responded to 7,418 calls in the second year of the program with only one call (a co-response with police) resulting in an arrest. The PSR team made 894 referrals during the initial contact, and the team’s community health workers and peer support specialists made another 216 referrals in 1,518 follow-up visits with clients for everything from housing and financial benefits to medical treatment and pet care. The team also helped 10 people find permanent housing during the second year of the program.