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  • Eugene, Oregon, Police Chief: Sending Unarmed Crisis Specialists On Mental Health Calls Saves Lives

    July 22, 2021 |

    WBUR |

    Radio Talk Show |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

    The police chief in Eugene, Ore., home of the CAHOOTS program, which other communities see as the model for finding alternatives to policing, supports the program because it saves lives and saves the city money. Sending unarmed medics and social workers on calls involving behavioral health problems, mental health crises, and substance-use psychotic episodes automatically de-escalates many situations because of the lack of a police presence.

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  • NYC's Non-Police Mental Health Pilot Increasing Rate of Those Getting Aid, Data Show

    July 22, 2021 |

    WNBC-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    Under 3 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    In its first month as a pilot project in a part of Harlem, New York's Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) handled one-quarter of 911 calls for mental health crises. Despite fears of danger to the teams of social workers and paramedics, police backup was needed only seven times out of 110 cases. More people accepted help from the non-police teams than in the past from teams of police and paramedics. And that help depended half as often on hospital visits. People got helped on the scene or went to community centers for services. The city plans to expand the program.

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  • How Mental Health First Responders in an Oregon City 'De-escalate' Conflict and Save Lives

    July 15, 2021 |

    People |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

    CAHOOTS has become a national model because of its uncommon partnership with the Eugene Police Department. The police chief says CAHOOTS' unarmed first responders to mental health crises can de-escalate crises before crimes occur or someone gets hurt. That's the idea behind the decades-old agency that takes calls where police can sometimes cause worse outcomes. The crisis intervention workers and medics treat people on the scene or transport them to places where they can get the help they need. Police are available but rarely needed for safety on those calls.

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  • He's 11. By his mom's count, he's had 30+ interactions with armed officers at school.

    July 12, 2021 |

    Chalkbeat |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

    Denver's school board responded to the 2020 racial justice protests by removing the police officers who were stationed in certain middle and high schools. But the police or the district's growing force of armed guards get called thousands of times per year to the schools, including "child in crisis" calls. Their response can escalate tensions and unnecessarily criminalize behavioral problems that could be helped through other means. The schools are exploring ways to use the money they saved on "school resource officers" to improve counseling services and give teachers realistic alternatives.

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  • Push on to boost mental health support for first responders

    July 09, 2021 |

    Arizona Daily Star |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

    The Peer Support Team at Northwest Fire District connects firefighters with a trained peer support specialist to talk confidentially about mental health. The program also connects firefighters in need with additional resources like therapy and counseling. In an effort to change the mindset most first responders have toward mental health, there are currently 50 trained peer support specialists throughout the state and more than 1,000 across the country.

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  • Police response to mentally ill people is under scrutiny. Denver may offer way forward.

    July 04, 2021 |

    NBC News |

    Broadcast TV News |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Denver

    As the nation’s largest city to embrace an alternative approach to responding to 911 calls in non-violent personal crises, Denver finished the first year of its pilot program having never needed police backup when its medics and social workers handled problems on the streets. About a third of calls to STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) came from police who saw STAR as a better responder to certain calls. In about 40% of calls, people in mental health or substance use crises received the services they needed without involving arrests or conflicts with police.

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  • How a Richmond nonprofit is breaking barriers to mental health access among youth

    June 24, 2021 |

    WTVR-TV |

    Broadcast TV News |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Richmond, Virginia

    ChildSavers is a Richmond-based nonprofit offering students access to mental health services. The organization has group therapy sessions specifically focused on race and race-based stressors, along with telehealth and outpatient services.

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  • How Does Treating Gun Violence As A Public Health Crisis Work? One Bronx Program Offers A Potential Flagship Model

    June 21, 2021 |

    Gothamist |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Stand Up to Violence is the only street-outreach gun-violence-prevention program in New York that centers its work in hospitals. Street outreach is a policing alternative that uses former gang members and formerly incarcerated people to intervene before arguments turn deadly. Hospital-based intervention work puts counselors and mediators at gunshot victims' bedside to start the intervention, and offers of services, at the earliest stage. In a four-year span, the areas covered by Stand Up, based at Jacobi Medical Center, saw many fewer shootings and instances where victims got shot again.

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  • Crisis counselors are being hailed as police alternatives. It's too heavy a burden, some say.

    June 16, 2021 |

    The Washington Post |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Montgomery County, Maryland

    Montgomery County's longtime crisis response center illustrates the pitfalls of embracing a policing alternative without proper resources or thinking through the implications. The racial-justice protests of 2020 inspired many more cities and counties to explore mobile crisis response teams instead of police, to minimize violence and get people needed help instead of incarceration. While Montgomery County's team often deescalates crises and can either provide care or refer people to needed services, it lacks the staff to respond effectively. And the system of mental health care is too thin for the need.

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  • Reshaping mental health crisis response in Santa Cruz County

    June 11, 2021 |

    Santa Cruz Local |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Santa Cruz, California

    The nationwide 988 call system for suicide prevention and mental health crises will go live in July 2022, with federal funding available for certain local crisis response programs. Santa Cruz and Alameda counties already offer a variety of police and non-police teams that will either benefit from the new system or must adapt to the changes coming. Most of the non-police responses in the area operate only during daytime hours, and in the case of Santa Cruz's Mobile Emergency Response Team are not well known by the public. When police are the default responders, people may not get the care they need.

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