CAHOOTS (crisis response)

CAHOOTS
Formation1989; 35 years ago (1989)

CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) is a mental-health-crisis intervention program in Eugene, Oregon, which has handled some lower-risk emergency calls involving mental illness and homelessness since 1989.[1] This makes it the earliest, or one of the earliest, Mobile Crisis Teams.

In most American cities, police have been responding to such calls and at least 25% of people killed in police encounters had been suffering from serious mental illness.[1][2][3] Many cities in the US and elsewhere have been considering and implementing implementing something like CAHOOTS.[3] In 2015, Stockholm a similar concept was considered a success.[3] In early 2020, Denver started a similar program.[4] After the George Floyd protests that year, several hundred cities in the US interested in implementing similar programs requested information from CAHOOTS.[5]

In 2021, the US enacted legislation to cover 85% of the expenses for three years for Mobile Crisis Teams, directing $1 billion to the effort.[6] By the end of the year, many cities were starting such programs, such as Minneapolis' Behavioral Crisis Response.[7] By 2024, most US states had multiple cities implementing such programs, or had them available state-wide.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ a b Villafranca, Omar (23 October 2019). "An alternative to police: Mental health team responds to emergencies in Oregon". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  2. ^ Elinson, Zusha (2018-11-24). "When Mental-Health Experts, Not Police, Are the First Responders". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  3. ^ a b c Samuel, Sigal (2019-07-01). "Calling the cops on someone with mental illness can go terribly wrong. Here's a better idea". Vox. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  4. ^ "Denver successfully sent mental health professionals, not police, to hundreds of calls". USA Today.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ https://apnews.com/article/health-police-government-and-politics-mental-health-coronavirus-f8931f4907b46b49dfb4dea651d7e1e7
  7. ^ Henry, Allen (February 27, 2024). "Minneapolis city leaders tout success of behavioral crisis unit". WCCO News. CBS. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  8. ^ https://mark43.com/crisis-response-directory/>
  9. ^ https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/06/13/mental-health-summit-highlights-growth-of-mobile-crisis-teams/
  10. ^ https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/promoting-988-and-911-coordination-ensure-timely-and-appropriate-mental-health-crisis