AgdaPkt 2021.01.25 Amended Joint SA PFA

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From: MIDPEN ACLU Advocacy Chair To: GRP -City Council; Council -Diane Howard; MGR -Melissa Stevenson Diaz; MGR -Deanna La Croix; Council-Giselle Hale; PD Dan Mulholland Subject: ACLU Mid -Peninsula Response to Proposed Mental Health Pilot MOU Date: Sunday, January 24, 2021 10:11:23 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders. January 24, 2021 To City Council, Mayor Howard, Vice Mayor Hale, Manager Diaz, and Chief Mulholland, We have reviewed the MOU for the Mental Health Pilot Program and ask that you take the following steps to support our community. 1. 2. 3. Partner with San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) to establish a non -law enforcement model for mental health crises. As cited by multiple mental health organizations, The Justice Collaborative Institute and our community, mental health crisis teams should be independent of law enforcement. Law enforcement acting as the primary responder to mental health crises leads to overutilization of emergency departments, unnecessary arrests and incarceration, and the risk of confrontation leading to deadly force. Mental health-related calls make up a significant portion of 911 calls and are a grossly ineffective use of law enforcement resources. By relieving these service calls from the police department, police officers can focus on work more appropriate to the department's mission and purview. The behavioral health community expects new services to learn from successful programs. The well-established CAHOOTS program reported that a mere 2% of service calls in 2019 required calling for police backup. We recommend the pilot program builds in the metrics, which when met, will result in a response without use of force. For example, after a call for service is appropriately assessed and triaged, the mental health professional can see the client without the police officer entering the residence, to eventually, not being a part of the response team. Review the recently proposed Santa Clara County Community Mobile Response (CMR) Program (listed as MHSA Innovation #15 Project). After addressing the current needs through a racial equity and social justice lens, Santa Clara County has elected to develop a non -law enforcement crisis response team consisting of mental health peer support workers, people with lived experience, social workers/clinicians, and emergency