Tyesha Davis-Rhodes on Designating Mobile Crisis as First Response

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HEADLINES

ATLANTA - Atlanta’s PAD could be in jeopardy after new diversion center opens (Atlanta News - no transcript)

READ - AMSA’s letter of support for PAD to Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta’s city council.

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OREGON - Memo shows first statewide look at drug deflection (OPB.org)

In Oregon’s continuing effort to criminalize addiction, new data shows the state’s new “deflection” programs have an 85% walk-out rate (n=1424). This means that after hearing what is offered / threatened by the state to the near-arrested addicted person, the vast majority chose future jail time over services.

READ - Deflection Outcomes Memo (Oregon Criminal Justice Commission)

QUESTION - Is your state or county offering "diversion” or “deflection” as a parallel engagement strategy to mobile crisis teams? We’d like to know! We’re keen to hear if any of them have data to show success beyond harassment and criminalization. Send a note to the email address at the bottom of this newsletter.

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COLUMBUS - Franklin County pilot program responds to mental health crises without police (Columbus Dispatch)

Team manager Shawn Daniels - “When (George) Floyd happened, there was definitely a different reaction in the community at that time. They were saying, ‘Hey, we want a non-police response.’ So there were definitely some shifts in the ways that we wanted to be able to continue to provide (mental health) services to the community.”

The Community Mobile Team serves Franklin County and is made up of clinicians and peer support specialists. It aims to divert mental illness and addiction crises calls from law enforcement to trained professionals.

Dee Dill is a peer support specialist and a member of the Franklin County Community Mobile Team.

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BEND - Woman's suicide after repeated 911 calls reveals gaps in lauded crisis response system (The Source)

A 2021 Oregon law requires all counties to have mental illness crisis responders available around the clock. They are expected to handle mental illness calls without law enforcement anytime that it's safe for them to do so. In 2023, lawmakers dedicated another $118 million over two years to further expand mobile crisis response.

Oregon is one of at least 38 states shifting mental illness crisis response away from law enforcement for a few reasons. High-profile police responses that ended in arrests, injuries and deaths are one driver. So are lawsuits, including a complaint from Disability Rights Oregon against Washington County, which argues that failure to provide crisis mental illness services violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The US DOJ has made a similar argument in several other cities, including in Louisville, Kentucky, where investigators found police responded to nonviolent mental illness calls by using excessive force.

"Police are neither trained nor appropriate responders for someone who has broken their leg and calls 911 — and the same holds for someone having a mental health emergency," said Jake Cornett of Disability Rights Oregon.