San Antonio Sa Clubhouse Participate In National Initiative To Accelerate Learning About Alternative Dispatch Programs To Improve Emergency

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

September 1, 2021

CONTACT: Tahlar Rowe, San Antonio Clubhouse
tahlar@saclubhouse.org | (832) 781-1829

Rosana Galaviz
Office: (210) 207-5785
rosana.galaviz@sanantonio.gov

September 1, 2021 — The City of San Antonio, represented by staff from the Mayor’s Office, City Council Districts 1, 4, and 7, and the San Antonio Clubhouse, participated in an eight-week learning initiative to explore alternative dispatch programs designed to improve emergency response, prevent police violence and strengthen public safety and health. Alternative dispatch programs operate by having civilians—such as mental health and social service professionals—respond to select calls for service in cases where they can better address the issue with their specialized training than traditional enforcement.

The initiative, which concluded in June, was led by What Works Cities, a Bloomberg Philanthropies national initiative that helps cities confront urgent challenges through data- and evidence-based decision-making. Local government and community leaders from 13 cities took part in a policy “sprint” developed in partnership with the longest running alternative dispatch program in the country, the CAHOOTS program of the White Bird Clinic in Eugene, OR. In addition to sharing experiences from their own cities during virtual weekly convenings, participants learned from other leading experts and practitioners in the field including the Portland Street Response in Portland, OR and the Support Team Assisted Response program (STAR) in Denver, CO.

“Community partners like the San Antonio Clubhouse are the experts out in the field building relationships and earning the trust needed to transform the way we respond to emergencies,” commented Councilwoman Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia, “I’m grateful to count on their expertise and that of other organizations throughout our local community and the country who are willing to share best-practices as we all navigate and explore innovative approaches to promoting public safety and health. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution so I look forward to working alongside my council colleagues to develop more effective ways of meeting the needs of our most vulnerable residents.”

Evidence-based strategies for cities looking to innovate around public safety approaches to non-violent 911 calls for more appropriate care and better outcomes for residents were explored during this program.

Fountain House, based in New York City, has been working closely with San Antonio and clubhouse affiliates throughout the country as part of their national policy and advocacy work to advocate for and implement a community-led care response model. The Fountain House team presented to the What Works Cities program participants about the care response model, and their policy report From Harm to Health, advocating for centering racial equity and lived experience in developing a care response.

By partnering with trusted community service providers and partners, cities are reimagining emergency response by incorporating pre-existing knowledge and expertise from the community to work in coordination with traditional first responders, like police and fire departments. The goal is to deploy right-fit resources, close gaps in comprehensive care and free up time for officers to respond to calls within their expertise.

Programs that deploy peer specialists, public health professionals and crisis workers to situations involving mental health—referred to as alternative dispatch programs—provide an emerging solution that can save lives and provide critical services to those in need.

“As we look at the recommendations the [San Antonio] city staff make to address mental health response calls, it's important to remember what has been learned as participants in this program and through decades of experience at the community-level,” states Eric Estrada, Executive Director of the San Antonio Clubhouse. “We need to integrate community-based peers wherever possible, because peers will bring a level of fluency that only comes from lived experience, better serving the person during their moment of crisis and after for a continuum of care that should be integral to any new response model.”

A press conference will be held today in the San Antonio City Hall Media Briefing Room at 12:00 p.m. CT to discuss the city’s involvement in the “Compassionate Emergency Response: Exploring Innovative Local Approaches to Public Safety” initiative.

More information on the program can be found at https://whatworkscities.medium.com/exploring-innovative-emergency-responses-with-cahoots-499c5b8920c8.

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.