Community members sit around tables in small groups to discuss what they want non-police crisis response (or care response) to look like in Cleveland on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Michael Zone Recreation Center.
Community members discuss what they want non-police crisis response (or care response) to look like in Cleveland on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Michael Zone Recreation Center. The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County plans to launch a care response pilot program later this year. Credit: Stephanie Casanova / Signal Cleveland

Residents want all Clevelanders, including those in marginalized communities, to feel safe calling the county’s non-police crisis response teams when the pilot program starts later this year. 

To build that trust, they suggested creating a community oversight board to hold the county accountable. They also want to make sure those working on response teams are properly trained to help people in the LGBTQ+ community, those who are formerly incarcerated and other underrepresented groups. 

These were some of the comments the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County (ADAMHS Board) heard in its final community feedback meeting Thursday. 

The board worked with the Cleveland Department of Public Health, R Strategy Group and Case Western Reserve University to gather community input. Case Western’s Community Innovation Network will create a report that R Strategy Group and the ADAMHS board will use to shape the non-police response (also called care response) program. 

Kenneth Joyner, an 11-year-old black boy, places a sticky note on a white sheet stuck to the wall. The sticky notes are community members' answers to the question written on the white paper, "How should we roll out this program and communicate about it in this community?"
Kenneth Joyner, 11, places a sticky note on a white sheet stuck to the wall. The sticky notes are community members’ answers to the question written on the white paper. “How should we roll out this program and communicate about it in this community?” Credit: Stephanie Casanova / Signal Cleveland

The program will include teams made up of a licensed behavioral health professional and a peer support specialist, who is someone with lived experience with mental health or substance use disorder who has been through training and certification. 

What is care response? Care response is a program where a mental health expert and often a paramedic respond to emergency mental health crisis calls. This program does not involve police at all.

FrontLine, which currently manages 988 calls and has a mobile crisis response team, will provide and manage the initial five teams that will serve two ZIP codes — 44105 and 44102 — later this year. The goal is to launch the program in late summer. 

Signal Cleveland asked a few community members who work and live in 44102, the Cudell, West Boulevard and Detroit Shoreway area, what they want a care response program to look like in their community.

‘It is desperately needed in this community’

Rachelle Milner stands in a meeting room, wearing a black and white polka dot sweater. She smiles and her curly hair sits just past her shoulders. Behind her, community members talk in small groups.
Rachelle Milner said it’s important that care response teams build trust with the communities they’re serving. Credit: Stephanie Casanova / Signal Cleveland

Rachelle Milner is the executive director of West Side Community House, which provides services and programs to youth, families and seniors. 

“If you have a mental health provider and a peer support person, that should build trust because the person would know someone that has been through what [they’re] going through is coming to see about [them]. So it’s that accessibility, it’s building trust and success for the program. 

“It is desperately needed in this community. We need the services … and it’s erasing the error of everybody goes to jail, everybody gets smacked on the top of their head and goes to jail. But rather they can get the help that they need. They can get the support that they need, and hopefully … [get] connected to mental health organizations.”

I want to know that there is direct community input and oversight

Gulnar Feerasta stands in the parking lot of the Michael Zone Recreation center. Their hair is dyed purple, and they wear glasses. Behind them is a sculpture entryway to a playground.
Gulnar Feerasta said a care response should center the people that are supposed to be served by the program. Credit: Stephanie Casanova / Signal Cleveland

Gulnar Feerasta is the managing director of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. 

“What I would love to see is some sort of mechanism for community oversight where this pilot, there’s accountability. It’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna track these metrics.’ I want to know that there is direct community input and oversight because those are the people, we are the people that the services are supposed to serve. How are you going to create something without centering the people that are supposed to be served?

“Accountability and transparency is extremely important. Especially when you’re working with historically underserved communities. Where there is a history of medical trauma and violence being perpetrated towards them. There’s already a lack of trust. There’s already significant disparities in not just equitable access, but also in terms of outcomes. And, you know, if you really want people to feel like they can pick up that phone and call for help, then there has to be intentional trust-building with the community.”

‘Including LGBTQ+ people is extremely important’

Alyssa Roberts stands in the parking lot of the Michael Zone Recreation Center. She's wearing a fuchsia pink sweater.
Alyssa Roberts said it’s important to include LGBTQ+ people in all aspects of planning a non-police crisis response program in Cleveland. Credit: Stephanie Casanova / Signal Cleveland

Alyssa Roberts is the program manager at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland. She wants the program to serve all people.

“I think that from top down, including LGBTQ+ people is extremely important. I think, especially with the ever-growing bills that are coming out like House Bill 68 [banning gender-affirming medical care for minors], and all of the ones to come that are specifically targeting trans and gender-diverse folks, it’s even more important to have their voices in the room as well. … I think it is extremely important because these are going to be the majority of people that are making these calls. 

“I think also making sure that people’s pronouns and chosen names are being placed of high importance and that the people picking up the phone and the people coming out are respecting that and using those pronouns and chosen names. And making sure that they have the training to be able to do that.”

A freelance reporter based in Arizona, Stephanie was the inaugural criminal justice reporter with Signal Cleveland until October 2024. She wrote about the criminal legal system, explaining the complexities and shedding light on injustices/inequities in the system and centering the experiences of justice-involved individuals, both victims and people who go through the criminal legal system and their families.