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Cops, crisis calls and conflict over who should help

David Kroman Sara Bernard

January 28, 2021 |

Crosscut |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Seattle Police Department's crisis response team answers some of the city's many 911 calls for people in distress, pairing police trained in handling such calls with mental health professionals. The aim is to counter the default policing approach to problems that usually involve mental illness or substance abuse, which is to control people. It doesn't always work, due to the complexity of the calls, the nature of policing, and the department's limited resources devoted to the program. But, when it works, it can help rather than escalate situations, and avoid the ultimate failure, the use of excessive force.

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A Heavy Blow: The Pandemic's Impact on Domestic Violence

Kuma Roberts Kolby Webster

January 25, 2021 |

KOSU |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Oklahoma

Domestic Violence Intervention Services supports domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. Services include counseling, legal advocacy, and group meetings among others. A texting service allows people to subtly connect to advocates, which was crucial during COVID-19 lockdowns and certified interpreters are available. Services are tailored to special populations, like immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ survivors, individuals who are incarcerated, and rural populations. An intensive year-long intervention program works with convicted offenders to develop coping mechanisms and tools to change behaviors.

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The Free Hotline That's Saving Women's Lives by Disarming Dangerous Men

Christina Noriega

January 22, 2021 |

Medium |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Bogotá

The Calm Hotline takes calls from men in Bogotá, Colombia, in an effort to address the root causes of domestic violence: a culture of machismo. Four psychologists take emergency calls – about 700 calls came in the service's first month – and works to refer the callers to an eight-week "gender transformation program" that will attempt to change men's toxic attitudes that can lead to violence. The program is patterned on a counseling hotline in the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja that was associated with a steep decline in domestic violence.

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In Eugene, Oregon, civilian response workers—not police—are dispatched to nonviolent crises

Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil

January 19, 2021 |

The Christian Century |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Eugene's well-established CAHOOTS program for replacing police as first responders to certain types of 911 calls has become a model for multiple cities as they seek to replicate its success in an era of questioning the role of police. While it saves its city money and replaces arrests and possible violence with social and health services for people needing housing or mental health care, or suffering from addiction, CAHOOTS is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of programs responding to these challenges. Communities' differences will dictate what works best for them.

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Albuquerque's vision for non-police first responders comes down to earth

Ted Alcorn

January 17, 2021 |

New Mexico In Depth |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Albuquerque, New Mexico

In response to the 2020 policing protests, Albuquerque was among the first cities to embrace a major change in handling mental-health-crisis calls to 911. But its new Community Safety Department has foundered in its first year, a victim of inadequate planning and resources. The plan to send unarmed first responders on such calls, to reduce the risk of a violent over-reaction by the police, depended on reassigning city workers from other agencies, none of whom were mental health professionals. City councilors have sent the planners back to rethink the latest in a history of failed responses.

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Criminalizing Mental Illness, Part 2

Andrew Stelzer Sarah Shourd

January 14, 2021 |

KALW |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles County's Office of Diversion and Reentry has moved about 6,000 people out of jails and into programs providing mental health care, drug treatment, housing, and job training at a cost that is about one-fifth that of incarcerating people with mental illness. Like Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS program, ODR provides an alternative to the default model in the U.S. of incarcerating people with such health problems. L.A. County is now shifting as much as $500 million from policing to supportive services because programs like ODR and CAHOOTS fall far short of the actual need.

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At Teen Lifeline, teens help in ways only they can

Jordan Elder

January 11, 2021 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

A hotline staffed by teenagers for teenagers has been providing peer-to-peer support and counseling services in Arizona for years but has played an even bigger role during the coronavirus pandemic. The group quickly pivoted to reduced staffing shifts to limit exposure to the virus and implemented longer hours for texting services. Not only have calls to the hotline increased, so has the number of those who want to volunteer.

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In Brattleboro, a new kind of police patrol pushes treatment, not jail

Paul Cuno-Booth

January 02, 2021 |

Sentinel Source (The Keene Sentinel) |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Brattleboro, Vermont

Police officers paired with substance abuse counselors go onto Brattleboro's streets to offer no-strings-attached help to people using drugs. Without using arrests or other coercion, the Project CARE "recovery coaches" have connected dozens of people to rehab and other needed services since the program began in July 2018. Modeled on bigger, successful programs in Gloucester and Brockton, Massachusetts, CARE's effect on overdoses is unknown and the involvement of police is seen by some as a drawback. But the outreach has let the community know help is available for the asking – even from cops.

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An Alternative to Police That Police Can Get Behind

Rowan Moore Gerety

December 28, 2020 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

A street-level view of White Bird Clinic's CAHOOTS program in Eugene explains its appeal as a cost-saving, humane alternative to sending the police to 911 calls concerning mostly minor problems involving homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse. From the decades-old program's countercultural beginnings to today's 24/7 presence, the private agency's publicly funded teams of a medic and crisis worker have helped keep problems from escalating into violence and jail time. But a number of factors call into question how scalable this approach would be in larger, more diverse cities.

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Addressing the mental health plights of Swiss migrants

Svet Lustig

December 22, 2020 |

Geneva Solutions |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Switzerland

In parts of Switzerland and Sweden, mental health care professionals are working to implement culturally appropriate psychiatry services that better addresses the needs of migrant populations. Although acquiring funding for these specialized services can be a challenge, the approach has come to be a model throughout Europe and participants have reported positive feedback.

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