[BoulderCouncilHotline] Questions about proposed CART program

[Benjamin, Matthew]

Dear Community Members, Staff and Council Colleagues,


I greatly appreciate Councilmember Speer’s thoughtful Hotline.

I wanted to ask staff a few questions and point out some concerns I have that may help steer our conversation tomorrow before we get into too much detail.


  *   Why are we limiting the scope and modifying the criteria of the CART program?
     *   This Council was very clear that we wanted to copy/mimic the successful programs in Denver (STAR) and Eugene (CAHOOTS). So why are we changing many of the known characteristics of these programs for our CART program?
        *   Example:
           *   “Criteria for CART pilot dispatch include circumstances that do not involve crime…”
              *   There are several technical crimes that CART should be responding to including but not limited to:
                 *   Trespassing
                 *   Use of Blanket outside to keep someone warm
                 *   Alcohol, Marijuana, and other drug use in public
                 *   Etc…
        *   Instead of the “not involve crime” criteria I would suggest moving to a “include circumstances that involve low level crime” as a more impactful criterion.
           *   There is a plethora of lower-level crimes that would see improved outcomes without the intervention of police.
        *   If we more closely mimic the STAR and CAHOOTS programs, we could more efficiently implement the CART program and leverage their best practices and training tools.
     *   Hours of Operation
        *   Other than financial and/or staff resources, are there any other reasons why CARTs proposed hours of operation are 9am-7pm? I believe that that the STAR program operates from 6am-10pm. Do our calls/responses to crisis intervention align with the proposed hours of operation?
  *   The language we use matters
     *   I see much, if not all the focused response of the CART teams being centered around issues created by and/or exacerbated by public health needs and poverty. I would like to see this be what our focused root causes are rather than the elimination of crime. It elevates the work from criminalization to recovery/treatment.

  *   Folding case management into the CART program
     *   I generally like this comprehensive linkage of routing people from their time of crisis to longer term support. I am concerned that launching the CART program with this built in may add complexities and pull resources from the core of a crisis intervention program.
     *   Perhaps we fold in the case management linkage after some time when we have a better sense of what we are doing and can see how well or not we are doing at the foundational crisis intervention aspect of the program.
     *   I feel that this level of case management is more squarely in the jurisdiction of the county. Is the county prepared to support the CART program with resources to link this level of case management?
  *   Using 911
     *   One well known issue with STAR is the use of 911. Many folks are apprehensive to call 911 for what they feel is a non-emergency. It may be worth considering an alternative/complimentary number for people to use other than 911. People may feel better call this alternative number for issues involving someone pooping in the park, doing drugs by the creek, etc…I don’t think we should do this as part of the launch, just flagging it as this is an issue the STAR program is working through, we may want to address this down the road.




I would like us to cast a wide net with the adoption of CART and let the data and knowledge gained from this program help further refine the program.


With gratitude,

Matt
**********

Matt Benjamin
Boulder City Council Member
(303) 453-9896
Pronouns: he/him/his

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