Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The Path Forward: Decriminalizing addiction through diversion

    July 29, 2021 |

    Las Vegas Optic |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Alamosa, Colorado

    In Alamosa County, law enforcement officers who believe drug abuse is at the root of a person's criminal behavior can refer that person to treatment and other services, rather than arresting and jailing them. The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, used in multiple places around the country, has helped the county jail fewer people and send more into treatment. It also has caused a large drop in arrest warrants, because case workers help people make their appointments in court and elsewhere. Now, San Miguel County, N.M., is working to adopt LEAD, though it needs more treatment facilities.

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  • More Mini-Parks Mean Better Mental Health

    July 29, 2021 |

    Next Avenue |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    PHS LandCare, with support from the city, develops small vacant lots into mini-parks that bring people out of their homes and engage with their community. A 2018 study found that people living near LandCare lots reported a decrease in feelings of depression and a reduction in feelings of poor mental health. The city's role is important to the program’s success, especially in providing money to hire contractors to maintain the green spaces, especially local residents and formerly incarcerated people. Sites must be in low-income neighborhoods and near business areas, schools, and recreation centers.

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  • Leaving Behind Uniforms And Sirens, Summit County Sheriff Expands Crisis Response

    July 26, 2021 |

    KUNC |

    Radio |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Frisco, Colorado

    The Summit County, Colorado, sheriff's office runs SMART (Systemwide Mental Assessment Response), which pairs armed deputies with clinicians to respond to mental health crises. In 2020, the two teams took hundreds of calls but made only one arrest. Instead, most people are helped on the spot or referred to services that can help. The county plans to expand the service to 24/7 with two more teams, plus one mobile crisis until to handle suicide threats, staffed only by civilian mental health professionals. This report discusses the range of models used nationwide with and without police involvement.

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  • NYC is sending social workers instead of police to some 911 calls. Here's how it's going.

    July 23, 2021 |

    USA Today |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    A pilot project in three New York Police Department precincts of Harlem showed in its first month that it can divert some mental-health crises away from hospitalization and toward other forms of help. Teams of medics and social workers took about one-quarter of such calls, sometimes at NYPD invitation. They sent about half of the people in crisis to a hospital, significantly less often than the police do in such cases. The goal in replacing police is to avoid needless violence and arrests in non-violent, non-criminal emergencies.

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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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  • 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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  • Can ‘Bad Men' Ever Change?

    July 21, 2021 |

    The Cut |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.

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  • For girls with mothers in prison, a summer camp offers much-needed support

    July 21, 2021 |

    PBS NewsHour |

    Broadcast TV News |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Dallas, Texas

    For three days each summer, the Girls Embracing Mothers (GEM) camp near Dallas gives girls an escape from their daily reality of being denied a normal relationship with their incarcerated mothers. Founded by a lawyer whose own mother was incarcerated, GEM combines typical summer-camp fun with trust-building exercises. During camp and afterward, the girls become part of a community of peers who understand each other's trauma – which puts them at higher risk of dropping out of school, mental health problems, and homelessness – in a place where they need not feel shame for their mothers' status.

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  • Lummi Nation Creates a Community to Support Families

    July 21, 2021 |

    The Imprint |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Ferndale, Washington

    The Lummi Tribal council created Sche'lang'en Village to provide a supportive community for Native families that have been torn apart by the foster system, drugs, or domestic violence. The more than 30 families accepted to the low-cost housing project receive a host of services to help them recover and build better futures. A disproportionate number of Native children are taken from their families into foster care, which damages not only families but the Native culture.

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  • Mental health support in preschool may help lower sky-high expulsion rates

    July 20, 2021 |

    The 19th |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Arkansas

    Project PLAY, the third of Arkansas’ three-tiered mental health consultation system, has reduced high expulsion and suspension rates for children in child care settings. The program provides consultants who go into classrooms for several months of weekly visits to observe children and then work with staff and parents to address behavioral and mental health issues. The consultations can lead to earlier diagnoses of sensory disorders and increase the confidence and empowerment of child care providers. Lower expulsion rates have a long-term impact on children’s social, emotional, and educational development.

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