UNCONDITIONAL EDUCATION
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • Our Model
    • Our Leadership Team
    • Press
    • Contact Us
  • News + Resources
    • News You Can Use
    • Resources
  • Unconditional Education Book

Welcome

​Please scroll down to read our Unconditional Education blog posts.

​You can click the button below to learn more about our Unconditional Education and School Based Services!

OUR UE MODEL AND SERVICES

Coalescing Oakland’s Resources for Community Wellness over Police Presence

9/20/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am so heartened and excited by two new programs available to Oakland, especially as most of the students, families and schools that I work with (and I myself) reside in Oakland. 

Picture
One service by Alameda County’s Behavioral Health offices called CATT is a 2-person team, consisting of a licensed behavioral health clinician and an EMT who can be dispatched from 911, to answer calls that may benefit from assessment for services that include psychiatric settings but other community resources like housing shelters and substance use interventions too.  This service also strives to circumvent the use of police for mental health assessments, and the use of costly ambulance rides.

Picture
Another service is the MH First Oakland, a project from a regional organization called the Anti-Terror Police Project.  This is a community volunteer phone service that strives to “interrupt and eliminate the need for law enforcement in mental health crisis first response by providing mobile peer support, de-escalation assistance, and non-punitive and life-affirming interventions, therefore decriminalizing emotional and psychological crises and decreasing the stigma around mental health, substance use, and domestic violence, while also addressing their root causes: white supremacy, capitalism, and colonialism.”  

Both CATT and MH First Oakland are new programs that have launched in the past few weeks.  They have limited hours and are beginning to build up their staffing.  They both note that they will call for law enforcement under certain circumstances, so they do not eliminate police presence during a crisis.   
​
Even so, both these programs show growth towards creating structures to address the injustices in relying on law enforcement for mental health care.  The ongoing highlight of the abuses of power in law enforcement continually compels me to critically address the need for our clients and families to have alternate ways of dealing with a mental health crisis outside of calling 911.  It is not enough for clients to hope for a responder who can manage the least amount of harm in a critical situation, all the while running the risk of –  like the many instances of the past few years have shown –  an unjust death of a vulnerable person.  This rubs against the training I have received that we ask clients and supports to call 911 when “in crisis.”  Asking clients and families to call 911 covers my liability in addressing risk and aligns with the standard of care that may be expected in the field.  
Picture
Under that tension, I must give clients and their supporters more resources like CATT and MH First Oakland; practice calling 911 to request an officer with mental health responder training; have safety plans that include assessing whether a client or guardian would prefer to voluntarily go to a crisis stabilization program like Willow Rock or Children’s Hospital for assessment and help; and explore more hearty early interventions and natural community supports for clients and families.  Giving clients and families more options to choose from can validate lived experiences of threat from powerful, privileged arms of our society.  I am grateful to have the folks at CATT and MH First Oakland launch these new approaches for our clients and families.  I am looking forward to seeing how these public services can improve the standard of care in our field.

Picture
Blog Post Written By: Julie Kim, Assistant Director (SOAPS)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Authors:

    School Program Partnerships

    We're Hiring!

    Interested in joining our School Program Partnerships' Team​? Check out our open positions below!
    Teachers
    School Therapists
    Classroom Counselors

    Categories:

    All
    Academic Strand Updates
    All In! Snapshots
    Behavioral Strand Updates
    Clinical Strand Updates
    Program Highlights
    School Highlights
    Staff Guest Posts
    Staff Highlights

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.