How Alameda County addresses mental-health crisis response

Stephen Baxter

May 20, 2021 |

Santa Cruz Local |

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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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Philly mothers of gun violence victims work to solve their children's murders

Jo Piazza

May 20, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia police fail to solve most of the city's growing number of homicides, in part because of the no-snitching street code, a byproduct of the community's lack of trust in police. But the streets do sometimes talk when the mothers of murder victims do their own detective work. A number of cases were solved because mothers turned their grief into a resolve to hunt down evidence that they turned over to the police. Their work grows out of the many support groups they have formed to help each other, and from a YouTube channel that helps them draw attention to unsolved murders.

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Baltimore's top cop in demand as cities seek consent decree advice; some locally criticize cost, pace of reform here

Jessica Anderson

May 20, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Police Department was the last agency to enter into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice during the Trump administration. This is a process by which a troubled police department submits to federal oversight as a way to reform its practices and culture. Now that the Biden administration has signaled a willingness to use this tool more, police are looking to Baltimore as a model. A federal monitor cites multiple signs of progress in Baltimore. But local activists are frustrated with the slow pace of change and high costs of federal monitoring.

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Recipes For A Revolution: Albergo Etico and the empowerment of those with disabilities

Laura Saracino

May 18, 2021 |

Roar News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Italy

Albergo Etico prepares people with disabilities for work in the hotel industry, using training based on the Montessori method. The "download" method helps people learn job skills at their own pace, translating lessons for people with various cognitive abilities. Training begins with their families, doing household chores in their own home. Trainees now work in eight Italian cities, plus three other countries. The investment pays off both economically and socially, as trainees gain autonomy and self-sufficiency.

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‘How to Report a Hate Crime' booklets empower Asian Americans amid rise in discrimination

Bianca Hillier

May 18, 2021 |

The World |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Worried for her Korean-immigrant parents' safety during rising anti-Asian hate crimes, a Los Angeles woman wrote and printed a booklet, "How to Report a Hate Crime." The booklet, now in nine languages and distributed across the U.S., gives instructions on what to do and where to call for help when reporting a hate crime. The target audience is elderly Asian Americans, who tend to be reluctant to report such crimes and who rely more on printed materials than online information. So far, donations have paid for 60,000 reprints. The booklets are available for free downloads at hatecrimebook.com.

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From LA jail, two inmates pioneer care for mentally ill peers

Francine Kiefer

May 18, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

At the Los Angeles County Jail, two men incarcerated on pending murder charges created a homegrown approach to improving the care and conditions of confinement for people with serious mental illness. Their approach is simple: showing love and care for people whose illness makes them feel like outcasts. By helping fellow incarcerated men attend counseling and other programs, and by tending to their personal needs, the initiative has contributed to a significant drop in people harming themselves. Fewer restraints are needed, and the pods where the program operates are notably cleaner and calmer than before.

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Minneapolis Lawyers Uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act

Elizabeth Amon

May 17, 2021 |

The Imprint |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

The 43-year-old Indian Child Welfare Act continues to make a "profound" difference to Native American families and tribes, despite being under frequent legal attacks. The law limits the placement of Native children in non-Native foster or adoptive homes, to preserve families and Native culture. Helping parents stabilize their families is preferred over removing children. Native children are still removed from their families and culture at disproportionately high rates. But a review of 40 cases handled by the ICWA Law Center in Minnesota showed "clear benefit for the children it is designed to protect."

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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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Santa Barbara County Looks to Yolo County for Criminal Justice Reform

Katherine Swartz

May 16, 2021 |

Santa Barbara Independent |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Woodland, California

By turning over its criminal justice data to Measures for Justice, a nonprofit developer that turns raw data into publicly available reports, the Yolo County district attorney has a much better grasp on the work that it has been doing. Better data mean better-informed decisions about criminal justice reforms. The investment in the new system is prompting policy changes because of racial disparities showing up in the numbers. And that is prompting many other DAs to clamor for the same kind of system.

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Police banned from participating in NYC Pride events and march through 2025

Meredith Deliso

May 15, 2021 |

ABC News (American Broadcasting Company) |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

NYC Pride, which commemorates a LGBTQ+ uprising against police harassment and brutality, banned police participation in its events. About 200 NYPD members from the Gay Officers Action League typically participate in the pride march. However, since police presence for some LGBTQ+ people, including people of color and trans people, causes fears of violence rather than security, private companies will provide first response and security and volunteers will be trained in de-escalation tactics. The NYPD will be at least a block away and only intervene if necessary. The policy will be reviewed again in 2025.

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