UO hosts CAHOOTS discussion April 10

from the UO Sociology Department, Eugene Springfield Fire, White Bird, and staff reports

With the announcement Monday that CAHOOTS will no longer be available in Eugene, the beloved local street crisis response service faces seemingly insurmountable challenges.

A CAHOOTS Town Hall will be held April 10, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall Room 180, University of Oregon.

Learn about new research on CAHOOTS’ positive impacts, find out what challenges CAHOOTS faces, and participate in a question and answer session. Presenters include:

• Nathan Burton and Dr. Rori Rohlfs, University of Oregon Department of Data Science: How many calls can CAHOOTS divert from the Eugene Police Department?
• Alese “Dandy” Colehour, Portland State University School of Social Work: What impact is CAHOOTS having on our community?
• CAHOOTS, Current challenges

CAHOOTS—Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets—has been working alongside police in our community since 1989 and has recently become a national model for alternative mobile crisis response. However, the city of Eugene and White Bird Clinic announced April 7 that while the CAHOOTS program will continue in Springfield from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., CAHOOTS services will no longer be available in Eugene.

Eugene community members in need of mobile crisis services can contact Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County by calling or texting 988, calling the 24/7 Lane County Crisis Line at 541-682-1001, or by calling 911 (operators will route calls to Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County as appropriate).

However, MCS-LC will not offer some of the essential public safety services formerly handled by CAHOOTS, such as welfare checks, transportation, and housing crises.

The White Bird Crisis Hotline is currently also operating at reduced hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“White Bird remains committed to working with its partners and the community to explore all possible solutions to restore and strengthen CAHOOTS for the long term,” said White Bird’s Interim Executive Director Amée Markwardt. “We recognize the impact these changes have on both our staff and the people who rely on CAHOOTS in times of crisis. White Bird will continue advocating for investment in mental health services and crisis response to ensure that those in need receive the care and support they deserve. This is a time for our community to come together to find sustainable funding solutions that allow essential programs like CAHOOTS to thrive.”

As one of Lane County’s primary social service providers for more than 50 years, White Bird Clinic operates seven additional programs that deliver comprehensive integrated services, and these will continue operating Monday through Friday during their usual hours. These include:

• White Bird Medical Clinic
• White Bird Dental Clinic
• Harm Reduction and Treatment Center
• Chrysalis Behavioral Health Outpatient Services
• White Bird Clinic Mental Health Counseling
• Navigation Empowerment Services Team (NEST)
• Helping Out Our Teens in Schools (HOOTS)

The joint press release April 7 said the city of Eugene and White Bird “remain open to mutual partnership in the future as the community’s needs and crisis response system continue to evolve.”

Former Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis has called CAHOOTS “a victim of their own success,” as others have pointed to conflicts with Eugene public safety officials, federal legislation funding competing services, and efforts to break the union.

Eric Howanietz wrote April 7 in Solidarity News, “But as CAHOOTS undermined not only American law enforcement models of emergency response and nonprofit control of community organizations by unionizing, CAHOOTS’ legacy itself may have become a target. Workers are very worried about what shape the organization will take, as many of the employees who helped develop policy, procedure, and mission are laid off. Though the community has come to depend on the services it provides, the larger battle for community control of emergency response and crisis intervention may be at stake.”

With a large part of CAHOOTS’ union employees effectively purged, Eric wrote, “only the community can hold White Bird accountable for union-busting. For many, the worst fear is that if funding levels are restored, CAHOOTS will have lost community trust and newly-hired employees will effectively be scabs.” 

Free street and lot parking for the CAHOOTS Town Hall April 10 is available after 6 p.m. near 14th and Kincaid.