Hospitals Sweeping Patients with Mental Illness into Criminal Justice System

Our 2019 investigative report, The ‘Unwanteds’: Looking for Help, Landing in Jail into trespass arrests at six Portland hospitals revealed that too often the hospitals resorted to having people arrested when they won’t leave. Many of those people were patients with mental health conditions who are seeking care or have been recently discharged. Almost always, the individual ended up in jail.

We will continue to keep pressure on hospitals across the state to comply with their discharge planning requirements and to serve all segments of their communities, including people who are homeless or who have behavioral healthcare needs.

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Press Release

• Report: Portland hospitals sweeping patients with mental illness into the criminal justice system (June 18, 2019)

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Media Coverage

• Editorial: Trespass Arrests at Portland Area Hospitals Criminalize Mental Illness, Homelessness (Street Roots, June 18, 2019)

• Report: Hospital Calls about ‘Unwanted’ People Trespassing Leads to Jail, Criminalizing Mental Illness (The Oregonian, June 18, 2019)

• When People with Mental Illnesses Go to the Hospital Sometimes They End Up in Jail (OPB News, June 18, 2019)

• Report: Portland Hospitals Criminalize Mental Illness when They Call Police (KATU News, June 18, 2019)

• Portland Hospitals Funnel Vulnerable Patients into Criminal Justice System, Report Finds (Portland Mercury, June 18, 2019)

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Related Reports

• One Year After “A Merry Go Round that Never Stops” (May 2018)

• “A Merry Go Round that Never Stops”: Mental Illness in the Multnomah County Detention Center (March 2017)