Recently at a large public safety oriented conference, my partner and I gave a presentation about how our public safety integrated mobile medical/mental health service, CAHOOTS was saving millions of dollars each year with emergency department and jail diversion. With a medic and a crisis intervention worker, our teams are able to offer support and service to a vast array of people, including those whose primary issues are chronic mental illness, substance abuse and lack of shelter. By doing this, we take much of the social service piece off the plate of law enforcement and EMS personnel leaving them free to handle true emergencies. Our agency has been doing this work in Eugene (OR) since the 80s and in Springfield (OR) for several years now. We've built strong relationships with our public safety partners which is key to a service like ours being successful. The other element essential for success, which we spent the majority of our presentation talking about is relationships with other social service organizations. We walked through how to do a Community Needs Assessment.
Community Needs
Every community is unique. What a large Metropolitan area like Phoenix needs is going to be different than what a small town in rural Tennessee needs or a village in Alaska. Community needs are colored by the climate, the economy and the priorities of the people. Some places have robust services, organized through public and non-profit agencies and others have mostly informal, social supports, like supper served to anyone on Aunt Maude's front porch. Whichever camp a community falls into, the first thing that needs to be done is to list what services exist currently and where there are gaps.
In our handout, we listed several areas for consideration, including: Shelter/Housing, Mental Health, Substance Use, Medical, Case Management, Day Services, Transportation and Special Populations. In our community, we have a variety of partnerships with agencies who provide services in these categories, as well as having diverse services through our parent agency, White Bird Clinic. Under special populations, we discussed Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)/Sexual Assault victims, veterans, seniors and youth. Each of these populations have unique needs and can create special challenges. As this is a juvenile justice column, let's look at youth.
Special Populations-Youth
Serving those under 18 years old presents unique challenges. These kids come to our attention with a variety of backgrounds. Some are runaways. Some are throwaways. Some have loving, healthy homes. Each community has rules around what age youth can live on their own and seek services without guardian knowledge/consent. Schools have a wide range of supportive professionals from counselors (most are more academic than mental health) to school resource officers (SRO). What we have found in our community is that youth need many of the same services that adults need but in a youth-focused way. Here are a few areas and how we've addressed them.
Shelter/Housing: Looking Glass's Station 7 is a guardian driven, mediation focused shelter which allows youth to stay while working on family conflict, support and reunification. St. Vincent de Paul's Hosea House is an education-focused girl's shelter allowing young women to live there while they finish school. Egan Warming Center's Youth Site provides a place for juveniles to get a hot meal and sleep when the temperature drops below 29 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mental Health: Several agencies, such as Looking Glass and The Child Center (TCC) offer youth-specific counselors. TCC also offers family counseling, Intensive Community Treatment Services (ICTS) and classes in collaborative problem solving. Looking Glass and TCC, in partnership with Jasper Mountain run the county's youth-specific mobile crisis team. The Child and Adolescent Crisis Response Program offers a 24/7 crisis line, go-out teams and access to crisis respite placements for youth under 18.
Activities: Although this doesn't fall squarely into any of the categories, keeping youth busy is a huge need in many communities. Willamalane offers transportation and activities to many of the surrounding areas during school breaks. The Downtown Youth Initiative offers support and activities to juveniles hanging out in the downtown core. Downtown patrol officers also work closely with these youth connecting them with services and providing adult support and guidance. The Eugene Public Library prides itself on not only being a place you can get books, but being a community hub including for youth. Their newly expanded teen section offers a safe, warm, staffed space for youth to be.
Again, every community is unique and what needs a community has is largely dependent on what priorities exist. Partnerships are the key to any community successfully navigated the services that people need. Assessing who is already doing what or how partnerships can be formed will help meet needs and stretch funding. Have regular meetings where services get together to talk about mutual clients and working relationships. Be creative, but don't reinvent the wheel. If possible, have a social service like CAHOOTS which helps navigate, bridge the gaps and connect people with the resources that exist. Take the burden off the police and fire department. It's cheaper, more effective and trauma-informed. Our communities deserve it.
Michelle Perin
Michelle Perin has been a freelance writer since 2000. In December 2010, she earned her Master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana State University.
