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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 County, 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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Five Days Without Cops: Could Brooklyn Policing Experiment be a ‘Model for the Future'?

Yoav Gonen Eileen Grench

January 03, 2021 |

The City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

For 50 hours over five days, police and community members collaborated on the Brownsville Safety Alliance pilot project, which kept police officers away from a longtime crime hotspot so that community members could provide for police-free public safety. During the experiment, no one in the neighborhood called 911 to report a serious crime. Criminologists caution that the test does not prove that police can step away permanently. But residents say that after longstanding friction over policing, they and the police struck a new tone of cooperation in community-led crime prevention that they hope can continue.

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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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After Abusive Ex Left Her for Dead with Stabbing, a Trauma Center Helped Ohio Woman Reclaim Her Life

Jeff Truesdell

December 24, 2020 |

People |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

A network of trauma recovery centers nationwide helps victims of violence and survivors of murder victims by focusing on their emotional, medical, and financial needs first. What started as a single healing center run by San Francisco's health department in 2001 went statewide in California in 2013 and since then has expanded to 35 centers in multiple states, including at Cleveland's Circle Health Services. The concept, promoted by California-based Alliance for Safety and Justice, stands in contrast with policies that respond primarily to victimization with punishment of those who committed crimes.

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Homicides dropped after Philly gangs signed a 1974 peace pact. What can we learn from the org that brokered the truce?

Layla A. Jones

December 14, 2020 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The House of Umoja in West Philadelphia, created in the late 1960s in response to high rates of gang violence, succeeded in helping thousands of young men through a residential treatment program, mediating disputes peacefully, and brokering a gang truce credited with lowering Philadelphia violence in the 1970s. The program was based on Afrocentric customs and family structure (its name means unity in Swahili). The grandson of the founders is now trying to revive the home as part of the city's multiple anti-violence initiatives.

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La lutte contre les violences domestiques change des vies au Burundi

Clarisse Shaka Naira Davlashyan

December 10, 2020 |

Euronews |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Burundi

Abatangamuco est un groupe d’hommes burundais qui utilisent les représentations théâtrales, les témoignages personnels, et les consultations individuelles pour changer les idées culturelles sur les violences domestiques. Avec plus de 8 000 hommes dans neuf provinces, le mouvement s'appuie sur les relations communautaires et les gouvernements locaux.

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Indianapolis has poured millions into grant funding to fight crime. Has it worked?

Amelia Pak-Harvey

November 24, 2020 |

IndyStar (The Indianapolis Star) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Indianapolis, Indiana

By one measure, a record number of homicides in 2020, Indianapolis' decision to pump $13 million into two crime-prevention grant programs looks like a failure. But program advocates and researchers say that may not be the most accurate measure. Data show that multiple community-based projects are steering young people away from crime and toward jobs. It's difficult to untangle crime's multiple causes and the effects these programs have had over the past six years, and whether homicides would have been even worse but for the efforts.

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In Denver, Unarmed Mental Health Workers Respond To Hundreds Of 911 Calls Instead Of Police

Leigh Paterson

November 17, 2020 |

KUNC |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Since Denver launched its Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program in June, it has handled more than 600 calls for help with a mental health clinician and a paramedic instead of sending police officers. Modeled on Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS program, STAR is based on the notion that low-level emergencies involving mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse do not require police responses, and in fact can more often end peacefully by removing police from the equation. STAR started small, with one van on duty during weekday hours. Police support the move, and often call in STAR for assistance.

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‘I Want Them to See That Someone Cares About Them'

J. Brian Charles

November 14, 2020 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

The Violence Intervention Program at the University of Maryland Medical Center's Shock Trauma Center helps people meet basic needs after they have suffered a gunshot injury. Along with clothing, transportation vouchers, and toothbrushes, the program's social workers also provide talk therapy. The goal is to keep victims of violence from becoming victims again, and the approach is to build trust by giving the help without strings attached. Many people return for the help, and the therapy.

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