Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, or CAHOOTS, was abruptly halted on Monday, April 7, cancelling essential services and laying off staff. The abrupt closure not only is negatively impacting our community, but also services that emergency responders can tend to.
This service provided essential healthcare and on-site assistance, taking on significant responsibilities that would have gone to the Eugene police department. In 2024 alone, there were 16,800 recorded requests for service, averaging 46 calls a day, through the program.
Currently, CAHOOTS is still operating in Springfield and the Helping Out Our Teens in Schools (HOOTS) program and the White Bird Local crisis line are still operating, but no vans are operational in Eugene.
On April 10, CAHOOTS hosted a town hall to discuss the program’s financial challenges and research that showed some of the normative successes; however, they did not anticipate the program would abruptly stop beforehand.
Nonetheless, the town hall shed light on the program’s importance in our community.
Nathan Burton, a recent University of Oregon graduate studying data science, presented research on diversion rates and predictive models, highlighting the major milestones the program has reached.
Burton started his presentation with, “I believe this is a terrible mistake, because it means walking away from one of the most effective and passionate methods in our country.”
Diversion rates measure the redirection of a call that would have gone to the police; Burton mentions that CAHOOTS responds to mental health crises, homelessness, drug use, found syringes, emergency transportation calls, public assistance and welfare checks.
CAHOOTS’ early intervention on non-police calls had also significantly reduced the need for EPD intervention on disorderly subjects, suspicious subjects, disputes and unmet social needs. This model remains effective in lowering response times for emergencies, and preventing future calls – making our community safer.
CAHOOTS and the EPD have a 46% diversion of overlapping mandates according to Burton’s presentation, showing that with sufficient funding, the program can successfully cover welfare checks, suicidal subjects, traffic hazards, intoxicated subjects and disoriented subjects.
Burton concluded, “Some people ask, ‘How can we afford CAHOOTS?’ But I think we should ask ‘How can we afford to lose CAHOOTS?’”
Alese “Dandy” Colehour, a Portland State University graduate student pursuing a master’s of social work, completed an extensive community survey, examining public perceptions of CAHOOTS.
According to Colehour’s findings, there was overwhelming support in favor of CAHOOTS, with 94% of respondents agreeing that the program was an essential part of public safety in Eugene Sprinfield, 78% of EPD/SPD/ESF respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that the program had benefited their department and 98% of EPD/SPD respondents saying that they agree or strongly agree that the program was effective at preventing suicide.
“When I worked for ESF, CAHOOTS had a willing attitude to do things we and the EPD couldn’t,” Colehour said. Colehour also shared important testimonies through the presentation.
“Everyone who calls 911 doesn’t need a fire truck, ambulance and five firefighters and paramedics. Sometimes they need a ride or connection to a service. Sometimes they just need someone to talk to.”
Michelle Perin-Callahan, an EMT and licensed clinical social worker, reflected on her service to the CAHOOTS program, which had ended earlier that week.
“We do preventative (care), but we are also losing a low-barrier critical medical service within the community,” Perin stressed. The loss of the integrated healthcare model would mean losing resources used to treat both mental and physical health needs, something which you can’t separate in moments of emergency.
She reflected on the 36-year relationship between the program and the City of Eugene. She mentioned the importance of transparency, accountability, community and relationship building within the model, which had made it successful.
“Trust is not given, it’s earned,” Perin closed, “And CAHOOTS has earned that trust.”
From the experience and research presented by the different community members, there is a clear need for CAHOOTS within the community, and the community is receptive to the services provided. The abrupt closure will have devastating impacts on our community, and to our emergency response system.
Steve Scarich • Apr 22, 2025 at 10:44 am
Total numbers of calls actually tells us little about CAHOOTS effectiveness. A deeper dive into overall mental and physical health, crime, health outcomes, housing outcomes is the only way to see if CAHOOTS is ‘worth the money’. For example, if they respond to the same person, having the same issue, time after time, without resolution, that is not success. Success is tracking if a ‘client’ actually successfully received mental health or medical treatment, found permanent housing, stayed out of jail, etc. These kinds of numbers are difficult, but not impossible to obtain. Portland has recently created a database where clients for these type of services can be tracked (via ID number) over time, to see how they’re doing. Otherwise you just get these gross numbers, overwhelming support from a community that knows that things are not really get better, but is in denial about real solutions. CAHOOTS is a long term social service ‘success story’ with no real data to back up that story. It finally got so expensive (partly due to staff getting paid real wages), that it imploded due to its massive financial weight.