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Here's What Happens When Social Workers, Not Police, Respond To Mental Health Crises

Christina Jedra

March 01, 2021 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Honolulu could benefit from adopting the approach to mental-health crisis calls to 911 that Eugene, Oregon, uses. But it would need to make big changes first in its critical infrastructure. Eugene's CAHOOTS program sends counselors and medics on 17% of the calls coming to its city's 911 center, saving millions on police, ambulances, and emergency room visits. Non-police responders de-escalate potential conflicts and get people the help they need without arrest or violence. Honolulu is primed to examine this approach, as many cities have done, but it's not a simple matter to start it.

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One Relationship at a Time: Restorative Justice Initiatives in West Harlem are Rewriting Legacies of Violence and Mass Incarceration

Ellida Parker Cheryn Hong

February 26, 2021 |

Columbia Daily Spectator |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The largest police raid in New York City history did little to resolve a decades-long conflict between residents of two Harlem housing projects, nor did it address the underlying problems causing violence in the community. So two community groups, supported by grants from the Manhattan district attorney, have deployed intervention teams to de-escalate and mediate disputes. They also provide an array of services to give young people alternatives to fighting and to assist people who were arrested in the raids as they emerge from prison.

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Cops and Hippies

David Byrne

February 26, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

The CAHOOTS program, which sends medics and counselors on certain 911 calls instead of the police, has become a national model in the wake of 2020's criminal-justice protests. But its roots reach back half a century, when a free medical clinic serving the hippie counterculture emerged as a public-health response to drug, mental health, and other non-violent emergencies. CAHOOTS has grown into a 24/7 service that saves Eugene millions in policing and medical spending, and saves many on the streets from unnecessarily punitive interactions with the police.

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How does Portland's Street Response Team compare with a similar program in Denver?

Dan Haggerty

February 24, 2021 |

KGW-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Although Eugene, Oregon's long-running, successful CAHOOTS program serves as one model for the new Portland Street Response, a more relevant model can be found in Denver's STAR program. Like CAHOOTS, STAR responds to mental-health and other crisis calls with medics and counselors rather than police officers. But Denver's size, demographics, and homelessness make it much more analogous to Portland. In STAR's first six months, it handled nearly 750 calls without a single arrest. Both STAR and PSR are starting small, so more resources are needed if the pilot projects succeed.

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DIY-style school helps educate Indian migrants facing eviction

Rina Chandran

February 19, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: India, Delhi

Evictions can have devastating effects on a student’s access to education, forcing some to drop out of school. In Delhi, a city in India, a school was built by students, community members, and volunteers using locally-sourced materials. The community had been forcibly removed from their homes, and the students were left without a school.

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Instead of Eviction, Landlords and Tenants Talk It Out

Emily Nonko

February 19, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia's Eviction Diversion Program has helped keep more than 400 landlord-tenant disputes out of eviction court proceedings, mainly by using volunteer mediators to work out mutually agreeable plans for tenants to get caught up on their rent payments. The program started in 2020 as a way to keep people housed during the pandemic. By giving landlords and tenants a place to talk out their issues without the expense and repercussions of going to court, and by connecting tenants with rent-assistance aid, the program's launch was successful enough to win an extension throughout 2021.

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Integration Starts in the Village

Teresa Di Mauro Heydar Isayev

February 18, 2021 |

Transitions Online |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Georgia

Ethnic Azeri students face disproportionate barriers in achieving university education compared to Georgians. One of those reasons is due to language barriers. Isolated from Georgian society, it's not uncommon for Azeri communities to not speak Georgian fluently. The center has now expanded into a network of multiple centers. One center serves as many as 160 children. It’s working. Some of the centers had a 100% success rate in helping Azeri students enter college.

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Gun violence crisis: With revenge & retaliation on the rise, how police are responding

Kimberly King

February 17, 2021 |

WLOS-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

Asheville, North Carolina, police hope to model a violence-intervention program on one in Buffalo, New York, in which police use "custom notifications" to identify people prone to violence. Those notified are given a choice between arrest or assistance in redirecting their lives, with help from social services providers. Buffalo's program is credited with a 24% decline in gun violence in 2019, before the pandemic put it on hold and shootings rose again.

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Durham, NC Just Finished Erasing $2.7 Million In Traffic Debt

Cinnamon Janzer

February 17, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

The DEAR program (Durham Expunction and Restoration) put 11,084 drivers back on the road legally and waived $2.7 million in fines in a purge of old cases that had revoked driving privileges for unpaid fines and fees. The two-year amnesty program, part of a national movement, took aim at the often racially disparate enforcement of state laws that burden the formerly incarcerated and others with unaffordable monetary penalties. Deprived of the right to drive, people either miss out on work and educational opportunities, or risk more traffic tickets, arrests, and fines.

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Support growing for ‘Pay to Stay' legislation to help curb some evictions

Conor Morris Taylor Haggerty

February 15, 2021 |

ideastream |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Toledo, Ohio

A 'pay to stay' law in Toledo and Yellow Springs, Ohio, is enabling renters to stay in their homes if they can cover any late rental payments in full. Current Ohio law allows a landlord to file for an eviction even if a tenant is just one day late on rent. The new legislation provides protection to tenants but the law differs from city to city. Housing advocates are pushing for the same law in Lakewood, South Euclid, and Cleveland Heights.

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