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In CAHOOTS in Oregon

Taylor Perse

September 04, 2020 |

Voices of Monterey Bay |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Oregon's CAHOOTS program has succeeded in replacing police on many mental-health crisis calls over its 30-year history because it is integrated in a larger system of services, including law enforcement. CAHOOTS' crisis workers, who cover the cities of Eugene and Springfield with three vans taking dozens of calls for help a day, come to their jobs with expertise as EMTs, nurses, or social workers. Then they spend 500 hours of training in crisis management and de-escalation, learning to offer help without forcing it, and without the threat of arrest except in the few cases when police backup is needed.

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Where Calling the Police Isn't the Only Option

Sarah Holder Kara Harris

September 03, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

As the "defund-the-police" campaign sparks interest in alternatives to police-only responses to crises involving mental illness or similar problems, cities as disparate as Eugene, Oregon, and Stockholm serve as exemplars of ways to handle thousands of calls per year without involving the police. Like Eugene's CAHOOTS program, Stockholm's Psykiatrisk Akut Mobilitet (PAM) sends mental health and medical professionals to help people suffering mental crises. Now Oakland, Portland, Denver, New York, and other cities are exploring how to customize such programs to their own communities' needs.

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Minnesota COVID-19 outreach focuses on vulnerable communities of color

Joey Peters

September 02, 2020 |

Sahan Journal |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

To extend aid to the Minnesotans most vulnerable to the coronavirus, state and local health departments, backed by $4 million in state funding and by community groups' on-the-ground help, conducted an extensive campaign of culturally appropriate outreach to offer free COVID-19 tests and healthcare advice. The efforts have included one-on-one contacts, email blasts to free-school-lunch recipients, and TV and radio ads on media targeting Black, Latinx, immigrant, and refugee populations. Immigrant communities and people of color have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic.

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Rural California Transit Agency Reinvents Itself During COVID

Carl Smith

August 31, 2020 |

Governing |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

The coronavirus pandemic drastically reduced the ridership of the Monterey-Salinas Transit District, so the system shifted services to help the mostly rural community it serves. Despite cash-flow problems, unused drivers and vehicles helped Meals on Wheels deliver 8,000 meals to seniors and persons with disabilities, wi-fi-enabled commuter buses parked in rural areas to provide hot spots for students, and the system donated unused vehicles to groups serving veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and at-risk youth. The system continues to adjust to rapidly changing circumstances.

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The Navajo Nation and White Mountain Apache Tribe chase down a virus

Kalen Goodluck

August 28, 2020 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona

The White Mountain Apache and the Navajo Nation are using contact tracing to not just slow the spread of coronavirus but to "completely contain" it in their communities, and they are already seeing success from their aggressive efforts. The tribes originally had some of the highest numbers of cases, but according to a local epidemiologist and physician at Whiteriver Indian Hospital, they have now “seen a significant decline in cases on the reservation at the same time that things were on fire for the rest of the state."

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How to Design a Street for Hands-Off Play

Elissaveta M. Brandon

August 25, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Harlem, New York

PLAY NYC, a nonprofit in New York, is reviving a historic pop-up playground concept, which started over two decades ago, in order to increase children's access to playgrounds and physical activity. The concept is simple—take over a street, build, and design an interactive playground, and follow social distancing guidelines, but every street and community comes with its own set of challenges. Most of the play streets offer "no -touch obstacle course, exercise activities, and learning experiences" across low-income neighborhoods in New York.

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Community gatherings offer healing for emotional wounds after disasters

Megan Cattel

August 25, 2020 |

Center for Public Integrity |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Rosa, California

Wildfires cause anxiety and other mental-health problems, but Sonoma County's Latino people can get help from a convivencia: a community gathering hosted by one of the nonprofit health and community centers in the area. To connect with people who may distrust or be blocked from using government-funded mental health care, or who may distrust mental health care altogether, the support-group therapy comes in the guise of a social gathering. Some sessions may focus as well on domestic violence or other social problems.

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Pandemic pushes expansion of 'hospital-at-home' treatment

Linda A. Johnson

August 20, 2020 |

Associated Press |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ipswich, Massachusetts

Although offering at-home care has been a practice for some time, the coronavirus pandemic has helped prompt more health insurance companies to allow health care workers to implement the practice at a larger scale. Treating patients in their homes doesn't just reduce the caseload for doctors in hospitals but also has been shown to have positive effects on the patient's overall health and well-being. Since the change in health insurance police, "interest in the programs has skyrocketed."

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Protecting Chicago's Homeless Population During Covid-19

Katie Scarlett Brandt

August 19, 2020 |

Chicago Health |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Over 100 organizations in Chicago that focus on helping those who are experiencing homelessness are now working together to provide COVID-19 testing and increase housing capacity throughout the city. Although testing teams have been visiting shelters to administer COVID tests, new facilities have been created to increase bed capacity and those with underlying medical conditions have been provided individual hotel rooms, the enhanced resources aren't necessarily reaching everyone.

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Pandemic Thwarts In-Person Census Outreach, But Santa Barbara County Response Rates Rally

Giana Magnoli

August 19, 2020 |

Noozhawk |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Goleta, California

Althought the coronavirus pandemic thwarted the planned efforts originally intended to increase census participation in the city of Goleta, California, county census workers have found ways to still successfully reach community members. From door-to-door visits and car parades to lawn signs and educational campaigns, the city's efforts have "resulted in the highest local self-response so far."

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