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

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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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  • 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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  • 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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  • How Mental Health First Responders in an Oregon City 'De-escalate' Conflict and Save Lives

    July 15, 2021 |

    People |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

    CAHOOTS has become a national model because of its uncommon partnership with the Eugene Police Department. The police chief says CAHOOTS' unarmed first responders to mental health crises can de-escalate crises before crimes occur or someone gets hurt. That's the idea behind the decades-old agency that takes calls where police can sometimes cause worse outcomes. The crisis intervention workers and medics treat people on the scene or transport them to places where they can get the help they need. Police are available but rarely needed for safety on those calls.

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  • St. Paul recruitment program aims to diversify police ranks

    July 06, 2021 |

    Minnesota Star Tribune |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, St. Paul, Minnesota

    To boost diversity in its ranks as part of its outreach to improve community relations, the St. Paul Police Department created a two-year apprenticeship program that makes law enforcement careers more accessible by clearing the financial and educational barriers that stand in the way. Eight program graduates now serve on the force and two dozen more are about to enter the next police academy. Nearly all are people of color and low-income, and nearly half are women. The program pays a stipend while students work in the community and take classes, with counseling and mentoring services.

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  • Police response to mentally ill people is under scrutiny. Denver may offer way forward.

    July 04, 2021 |

    NBC News |

    Broadcast TV News |

    3-5 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Denver

    As the nation’s largest city to embrace an alternative approach to responding to 911 calls in non-violent personal crises, Denver finished the first year of its pilot program having never needed police backup when its medics and social workers handled problems on the streets. About a third of calls to STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) came from police who saw STAR as a better responder to certain calls. In about 40% of calls, people in mental health or substance use crises received the services they needed without involving arrests or conflicts with police.

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  • School district grows leaders from within to battle housing pressure in hiring

    June 30, 2021 |

    Jackson Hole News & Guide |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Jackson, Wyoming

    In order to develop the next generation of school administrative leaders, the Teton County School District created a leadership development program. The aim of the program is to create a pool of candidates who will become the next principals, curriculum exports and mentors. A sort of pipeline. The two year program includes a capstone, internships, and lessons. Five years since its inception, 36 people have graduated, half of those entered leadership roles in the district.

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  • The career where it helps to have a criminal past

    June 29, 2021 |

    BBC |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    All people between the ages of 14 and 21 in Washington, D.C., who are placed on probation for criminal convictions get assigned a probation officer, social worker, and a "credible messenger" – a mentor, usually with his or her own criminal past, who is paid by the city Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to help ensure a successful probationary period. The cost is far lower than youth detention and is associated with a much lower rate of re-offending. The work is so intense that the highly trained messengers often need their own counseling to cope with the stress of turning lives around.

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  • Food insecurity linked to gun violence. In St. Louis, Black farmers work on a solution

    June 27, 2021 |

    The Kansas City Star |

    Multi-Media |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

    Black, urban farmers have formed a grassroots "ecosystem" to grow and distribute fresh, affordable produce in St. Louis neighborhoods where food insecurity and gun violence go hand in hand. Heru Urban Farming is a startup businesses and CSA growing vegetables in vacant lots that it then sells by subscription and gives away to families in need. Along with a new farmers market and a mobile produce vendor, the "food justice" activists and entrepreneurs are meeting a nutritional need where quality supermarkets don't exist and corner stores typically sell packaged, processed foods.

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  • How Does Treating Gun Violence As A Public Health Crisis Work? One Bronx Program Offers A Potential Flagship Model

    June 21, 2021 |

    Gothamist |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Stand Up to Violence is the only street-outreach gun-violence-prevention program in New York that centers its work in hospitals. Street outreach is a policing alternative that uses former gang members and formerly incarcerated people to intervene before arguments turn deadly. Hospital-based intervention work puts counselors and mediators at gunshot victims' bedside to start the intervention, and offers of services, at the earliest stage. In a four-year span, the areas covered by Stand Up, based at Jacobi Medical Center, saw many fewer shootings and instances where victims got shot again.

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