On Jan. 11, behind the official city ceremony launching Santa Rosa’s inRESPONSE mental health crisis response program, stood a circle of first responders entrusted to execute this new paradigm of community safety.
The ceremony’s elected officials and leaders of partner organizations spoke about the promise of the program. What does it mean to the team on the frontlines of first response?
Jennifer Vargas was born and raised in Santa Rosa. As part of the inRESPONSE team, she was driven to do the work because of her own experiences with mental health and gaps in the available services.
As a Latina, she learned the hard way that there were “not a lot of resources, especially if you are BIPOC.”
Speaking about the impact mental health had on her family, Vargas says that ease of use is important to effective care. “It was really hard to navigate, especially for my parents, who didn’t know English,” she says. “[F]or me this was very big, because it was not a program that existed before, and a lot of people need these resources. I know how it feels for those people who might not know that they have me to turn to.”
According to the City of Santa Rosa website, “The goal is for the inRESPONSE Team to handle all calls for service where mental health is the primary concern.”
Reports of a weapon channel any emergency call to the police. But, under the new approach to emergency response, mental health care is prioritized once police deem a situation safe.
Partnering with the City of Santa Rosa’s Homeless Outreach Services Team will not only provide mental health services to unsheltered people in crisis but also help people find more secure shelter.
All of these pieces fit together to reveal a radically different picture than what Americans are used to. According to a stat cited during the ceremony, in 2019 25% of those shot by police had mental health conditions. Too often they were in crisis.
Buckelew Programs, an inRESPONSE program partner, has been providing the city with cultural sensitivity and language services since working with the Mobile Support Team program that inRESPONSE supplants.
Liz Longfellow, like Vargas, a Buckelew Programs Community Navigator, says that those experiencing mental health crises who are unsheltered or who are behind the language barrier are at more risk of suffering and therefore in need of more support.
“Mental health issues touch most people’s lives. We need to shift away from there being a penalizing response [and toward a] more helpful and supporting response with the most vulnerable in our society,” Longfellow says.
InRESPONSE team member Stephany Lopez was scheduled to ride along with a paramedic and a HOST staffperson in the brand-new van on the first shift, just after the ceremony’s ribbon cutting.
As a veteran of the Mobile Support Team, Lopez previously rode with police. She says this will be different for the community.
“Our Latinx community doesn’t necessarily ask for support in mental health, it’s not something they are going to call police or 911 or necessarily understand the processes for,” says Lopez, who is Latina. “To have someone who is able to speak Spanish is really important, especially when they are right in crisis.”
When looking closely at the people doing the work of inRESPONSE, it is clear that this is good for the community, by the community.
