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How Alameda County addresses mental-health crisis response

Stephen Baxter

May 20, 2021 |

Santa Cruz Local |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Alameda and Santa Cruz counties have fielded their own mobile teams to respond to mental health crises as alternatives to police-only responses. Aimed at reducing conflicts with police, overuse of hospitals and jails, and involuntarily commitments for short-term emergency mental health care, the services' limited hours and resources mean that the police still handle the majority of such calls. Alameda's pilot, begun in July 2020, is able to provide help to about one-third of the four dozen monthly calls it gets. Santa Cruz's volume is higher. Impacts on involuntary commitments unclear.

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How to make space

Jimmy Thomson

May 19, 2021 |

Capital Daily |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Victoria, British Columbia

Canadian cities lack the housing supply to keep up with demand and zoning laws are partly to blame. Land is designated specifically for single-family homes, which is the least efficient use of space, generates the lowest tax revenue, and contributes to more traffic and fewer public transportation options. The zoning rules are meant to prevent one problem, overly dense cities and their attendant problems, but its unintended consequence is a market that's priced most people out of it.

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The FBI is supposed to track how police use force – years later, it's falling well short

Aaron Miguel Cantú

May 17, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Five years after the FBI started tracking how often police use force, the majority of police departments still fail to comply and the FBI refuses to release publicly what information it has collected. The policy was enacted in response to the realization that no one had definitive data on how often the police kill people, use teargas, or other incidents of force. What little data exists showed racial disparities in whom police use force against. But compliance was made voluntary and the FBI made public release of the data contingent on 80% of police departments complying, a goal it's nowhere near.

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Is new California police deadly force law making a difference?

Laurel Rosenhall Byrhonda Lyons

May 11, 2021 |

CalMatters |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

More than a year after taking effect, California's law restricting when police can use deadly force has had some effects on police accountability and training, but a number of flaws illustrate how long and difficult the process of change will be. The Act to Save Lives, which limits the use of deadly force to cases when it is needed to defend a life, has been cited by prosecutors in two homicide prosecutions. A number of police departments have followed the law's training dictates. But many others have been slow to roll out the training, and the state is not requiring officers to take it to stay certified.

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Failure to Thrive: NYC's $100 Million ‘Diversion Centers' for Mentally Ill Sit Empty or Barely Used

Greg B. Smith Reuven Blau

May 09, 2021 |

The City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Despite committing hundreds of millions of dollars to programs that make New York City's emergency response to mental health crises less punitive, a pattern of over-promising and under-delivering, plus pandemic snarls, kept the programs from getting off to an effective start. Two "diversion centers" where police could bring people in crisis, as alternatives to jail or hospital emergency rooms, either sit empty or have served only a tiny number of people. A program to send counselors with police on calls never got off the ground. In its place is a non-policing team that is having trouble recruiting EMTs.

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Addiction treatment drug buprenorphine easier to prescribe under Biden

Dave Miller Allison Frost

May 04, 2021 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Radio Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Bupreneophine (also known as Suboxone) is a highly effective medication to treat opioid use disorder and addiction. It is life-saving, both in reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and helping people function better as they get treatment for their disorder. But prescribing and dispensing it is in many ways more highly regulated than the prescribing and dispensing of opioids themselves. A researcher who surveyed pharmacies found that many refuse to dispense the medication out of fear of regulatory sanctions or because of misplaced moral objections to medication-assisted treatment.

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‘The fight has to change': Why Ferguson activists ditched police reform

Rebecca Rivas

May 03, 2021 |

Missouri Independent |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

Decades of advocacy for more effective civilian oversight of police-misconduct investigations in St. Louis finally resulted in a new oversight board created in the wake of the death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. But that board has been rendered a "total failure" because the police found ways to keep steering investigations to their secret, internal investigative office and preventing prosecutors from working independently on investigations. A new mayor and a sympathetic prosecuting attorney promise to fix the structural flaws that have let the police continue to investigate themselves.

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Shortage of paid caregivers keeps family members up at night, hoping for "something sustainable"

Tracy Samilton

April 30, 2021 |

Michigan Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Oregon

Michigan is struggling to retain direct care workers due to poor pay, lack of benefits, and challenging work environments and responsibilities. In Oregon, however, an organizing campaign that allowed voters to have a say in approving a new state agency, "which would train direct care workers, and negotiate contracts with their union," has helped direct care workers in the state obtain raises and benefits. Michigan is now hoping to follow their model.

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The climate solution adding millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere

Lisa Song James Temple

April 29, 2021 |

MIT Technology Review |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A decade after California established its forest offset program as a way to incentivize saving trees to store carbon, a new analysis shows that it might not be working. Loopholes in the program allow for people to claim credits for trees that aren’t delivering the carbon benefits they should and ultimately results in companies emitting more pollution than is being stored. While this program has provided economic benefits for several Indigenous tribes, some argue that “the program creates the false appearance of progress when in fact it makes the climate problem worse.”

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Why Participatory Planning Fails (and How to Fix It)

Arielle Milkman

April 28, 2021 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Participatory planning, or meetings conducted to gather input from communities, have proven to be ineffective. It turns out community engagement doesn’t always result in highlighting issues and improving the quality of life for those who are voicing their concerns. “Research shows that participatory planning addresses the needs of the older, whiter, and wealthier residents.”

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