During an April 14 Eugene City Council meeting that ran past its initial allotted time of 10 p.m., community members came to express disappointment, anger and fear about what the future of Eugene looks like without Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, commonly known as CAHOOTS.
The council meeting included a public comment section in which dozens of community members spoke in support of the now-defunct CAHOOTS in Eugene.
Before the public comment section began, Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson laid out a timeline of the conclusion of CAHOOTS in Eugene. Knudson did so to “clarify that the city of Eugene did not initiate the discontinuation of CAHOOTS service within Eugene.”
According to Knudson, on March 25 the City of Eugene received a notification from White Bird that they would be reducing services and laying off staff effective April 7. As such, White Bird would be unable to fulfill their contractual obligation with the city to provide 24/7 mobile crisis services within city limits. Following this, the city agreed to a mutual contract termination on April 7, the same date layoffs would take effect, as White Bird would no longer be able to fulfill their end of the contract.
Knudson emphasized that “mobile crisis response, mobile crisis services do still exist in the city of Eugene” through the provision of Lane County’s mobile crisis services.
One of the community members that spoke that evening was 18-year-old Victoria Acosta, who shared her experience with CAHOOTS.
Acosta said that in her sophomore year of high school, she fled her home after an altercation with her father, and as she sat barefoot on her neighbors couch, a police officer told her that she should “go to church more.”
“It was only while at school I had and received proper crisis assistance from CAHOOTS and accurate emergency housing,” Acosta said. “I am truly disappointed in this city for not advocating and fighting more, and even more heartbroken for future little girls like me who will not have access to the help they so rightly deserve.”
Councilor Mike Clark, after the first 90 minutes of public comment, said the city is not at fault for CAHOOTS termination of operations in Eugene.
“Nobody at this table (gesturing to councilors) has voted to defund CAHOOTS. Nobody, none of us think it’s a good idea,” Clark said. “All of us voted to fund them fully in our last budget. We didn’t fire the White Bird; they quit.”
Another speaker that evening, Casey Spore, said she has heard that the council supports CAHOOTS, but “I think what people are asking is to do something. We are here hurting, scared, sad for our community and we are saying ‘do something.’”
Councilor Matt Keating said that he shares “a deep mourning for the loss of CAHOOTS,” and is “deeply saddened” by White Bird’s “dismal” retention rate of 20%. This means that 80% of White Bird’s workforce is leaving annually, playing a role in White Bird being unable to fulfill their contractual obligations with the city according to Keating.
Keating also said that White Bird is “apparently unwilling” to collect data that will allow it to obtain federal funding in the form of matching Medicaid dollars.
Nick Austin, a community member who works full-time at a Eugene homeless shelter, shared impassioned words with councilors about what he perceived as their inability to show leadership.
“Repeatedly in the most harrowing moments of my professional life, these outstanding, exemplary front-line workers we call CAHOOTS were there for me when no one else was,” Austin said. “And we are watching you stand here in front of the town you serve and pass the buck.”
