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The US police department that decided to hire social workers

Josh Wood

September 19, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alexandria, Kentucky

When Alexandria, Kentucky's police chief realized how many of his officers' calls were for mental health crises or minor interpersonal disputes, and then how many of these unresolved problems resulted in repeat 911 calls, he hired a social worker to follow up with people to offer health and social services after the police leave. Now the department's two staff social workers do that work, costing less than hiring more police and reducing repeat calls. Alexandria is a small town, but now its approach is being copied in nearby Louisville.

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In Place of Police: The Oregon Experiment

Krithika Varagur

September 18, 2020 |

New York Review of Books |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

CAHOOTS fields teams of mental-health first responders as a cost-effective and more humane alternative to sending the police to 911 calls for crises and even mundane problems concerning mental health, drugs and alcohol, domestic disputes, homelessness, and potential suicides. Weeks of observing their work illustrates the carefully circumscribed role they play in defusing the immediate crisis without necessarily solving the underlying problem entirely. Responding repeatedly to the same people's problems builds trust, but its ultimate success depends on a broader network of health and social services.

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Police have shot people experiencing a mental health crisis. Who should you call instead?

Grace Hauck

September 18, 2020 |

USA Today |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Daniel Prude's death in police custody illustrates a common flaw in how police respond to mental health crises, but reform advocates disagree on whether to improve police training or bypass police almost entirely. Mental health crises make up a large share of police calls, jailings, and fatal police shootings. Most police training on mental health responses is limited to 4-12 hours. Some departments put at least some officers through crisis intervention training. But critics of police-focused responses prefer non-police response teams, in use in a few cities.

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Mental Health And Police Violence: How Crisis Intervention Teams Are Failing

Eric Westervelt

September 18, 2020 |

NPR |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Rochester, New York

More than 2,700 police departments in the U.S. have crisis intervention teams aimed at responding to mental health crises with fewer arrests and less violence, but the death of Daniel Prude in Rochester police custody offers clear lessons in the shortcomings and misuse of the CIT model. A lack of adequate mental health services across the country, coupled with superficial training of the police, too often means a police response to a crisis will not de-escalate the situation or lead to meaningful help for the person in crisis. A recent study found CITs have not shown they will lower violence.

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The LEAD Program Faces a Reckoning for Centering Police

Helen Redmond

September 17, 2020 |

Filter |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The LEAD program (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion), which was launched in Seattle in 2011 and is used in such cities as Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, provides intensive case management and services to people who come in contact with police and qualify to have their low-level cases bypass the criminal justice system. LEAD has been shown to lower recidivism by half and to make it more likely that people with drug and mental health, and other problems can find housing and jobs more easily. But this critical analysis argues that the police should not serve as gatekeepers.

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Camp Resilience, a local life-changer for vets

Roberta Baker

September 17, 2020 |

The Laconia Daily Sun |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Gilford, New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, a healing and bonding program is offering veterans and first responders experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder ways to cope with their stressors. From social interactions to equine therapy, participants have reported that the program has had a positive impact on their wellbeing.

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In a career born in her own grief, violence recovery specialist works at a Chicago hospital in a city under siege

Annie Sweeney

September 16, 2020 |

Chicago Tribune |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Since the 2018 opening of a trauma-care center near the neighborhoods most affected by Chicago's gun violence, the University of Chicago Medical Center's Violence Recovery Program has helped survivors and victims' families to address the emotional harm that can go untreated when only physical harm is treated. Part of a growing field nationwide, hospital-based violence intervention, the program's nine specialists counsel people through the immediate shock of a gun injury or death. Then they address longer-term needs for services. The goals are both humanitarian and pragmatic, to head off more violence.

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The Non-Partisan “Pro-Voice” Abortion Space

Rikha Sharma Rani

September 15, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

An organization founded in Oakland, CA is bringing non-partisan abortion counseling to those who feel isolated by platforms that are designated as either pro-life or pro-choice. The goal of the organization, which is staffed with trained volunteers from across the country, is to help "people process their experiences around abortion without any preconceived notions about what that should look like."

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As call for police reform grows here, some look to Oregon for possible answers

Beth Adams

September 15, 2020 |

City Newspaper (Rochester) |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Protests over police officers' conduct in the death of Daniel Prude prompted Rochester, N.Y., officials to look to Eugene's CAHOOTS program for an alternative model in responding to mental health crises. But CAHOOTS officials caution that their longstanding practice of dispatching mental health counselors as first responders, in place of police, has resulted in a safer, more caring response only because the agency is part of a broader system of social services. CAHOOTS teams are on call 24/7, replacing police on up to 8% of 911 calls and calling for police backup a fraction of the time.

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Drink. Drive. Lose your job with BCSO: Sheriff says it's that simple.

Dillon Collier

September 15, 2020 |

KSAT-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, Texas

After two dozen of his deputies were arrested in 2018, many of them for drunken driving, the Bexar County sheriff imposed stricter rules, firing people for DWI offenses and barring them from future employment at the agency. He also began offering alcohol abuse treatment, to address the problem before it turns into an arrest. Since the start of 2020, only one deputy has been arrested on DWI charges.

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