CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) is a community policing initiative in Eugene, Oregon, launched in 1989, to provide a community-based public safety system for 911 calls involving mental illness, homelessness, and addiction. This three-hour program discusses how a CAHOOTS type program can be implemented in Rhode Island.
If you would like to support a funding stream for implementing a CAHOOTS type program in RI, ask your Congressman from Rhode Island to support H.R.7961, introduced in August 2020 and known as the CAHOOTS Act. This bill would allow state Medicaid programs to cover certain community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance-use disorder crisis outside of a facility setting. The bill also provides an enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) for such services, as well as specified funds for state planning and evaluation grants.
Contact your representative and show your support:
– David Cicilline – (202) 225-4911
– Jim Langevin – (202) 225-2735
Day 1
00:00 Introduction by Laura Harrington
02:00 Introduction by Tim Back
03:45 White Bird Clinic Philosophy
06:55 Responding in Pairs
11:30 Funding
15:15 Services Include …
21:50 Dispatch Interface
24:05 Public Safety Workflow
25:10 Calls for Service
27:35 Emergency Room Diversion
29:25 Jail Diversion
31:15 Patient Advocacy
32:45 Worker Safety
43:35 Creative Solutions for Housing Crisis
45:40 Mobile Crisis Program Counseling
47:35 Q&A
Here are the slides of the presentation …
Day 2
00:00 Greetings
00:35 Why not embed CAHOOTS within the Police/Fire Departments?
06:35 Approaching Interactions
18:15 Uniforms and Appearance
29:15 Suicide Severity Risk Scale
34:40 Documentation
43:55 Q&A
Day 3
00:00 Greetings
00:55 Patient Privacy
02:55 Call for Service Triage
07:30 Call Documentation
09:20 Screening Tools and Key Considerations in Assessment
16:55 Funding Streams
20:25 Social Determinants of Health and ER Diversion
24:05 Implementation
42:30 Q&A
Related Articles:
– Community-Based Emergency First Responders: Explained
– This City Stopped Sending Police to Every 911 Call