QuickTake:

Current and former employees of White Bird Clinic’s CAHOOTS program want to bring the mobile crisis service back to Eugene. The service, which continues in Springfield, ended April 7 in Eugene.

With the end of a decades-long service in Eugene that responded to people in mental health crises, community members and former employees are looking for a way to bring CAHOOTS back to the city. 

CAHOOTS, a mobile crisis service, ended April 7 in Eugene after more than three decades in the city, citing financial reasons. It marks the end of a long era in Eugene’s efforts to reach out to people in crisis with alternatives to a jail cell or an emergency room. 

The two-person teams — an emergency medical technical and mental health crisis worker — have helped thousands since 1989, when White Bird Clinic started CAHOOTS. The program, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, garnered national acclaim for its innovative approach. White Bird Clinic still operates CAHOOTS in Springfield through a separate contract.

In Eugene, former White Bird Clinic employees who worked in the CAHOOTS program are in the early stages of looking for a way to restore the service — but without the clinic’s involvement. About 200 people attended a town hall on Thursday evening in Eugene to hear about CAHOOTS and how it has helped the city. 

Michelle Perin, an emergency medical technician and licensed clinical social worker, was among about 20 people laid off when the CAHOOTS program ended in Eugene. She told the audience to remember the people on the streets who will reach out for help and find the program no longer exists.

“I would just ask you to think about that for a minute,” she said.

Perin and others said the work is just beginning, but if CAHOOTS returns to Eugene, it would be independent from White Bird Clinic. 

“We realize the challenge now is in finding an exit ramp so that CAHOOTS’ future is no longer tied to White Bird’s future,” she said, earning applause. 

Amée Markwardt, White Bird Clinic’s interim executive director, did not speak at the town hall or respond to messages from Lookout Eugene-Springfield for comment. In an earlier statement when the service ended in Eugene, Markwardt said White Bird Clinic remains committed to “working with its partners and the community to explore all possible solutions to restore and strengthen CAHOOTS for the long term.” 

Those who remain at White Bird Clinic and offer services in Springfield remain hopeful for a restoration in Eugene. 

“I still really, really believe in the program, and I’m committed to seeing it through,” Laurel Lisovskis, a crisis worker for CAHOOTS in Springfield, said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “My commitment is to do everything I can to get our program back in Eugene and right now that really doesn’t look like it’s going to happen with White Bird since it just has severed its contract with the city.”

The group also heard some of the numbers and results of CAHOOTS.

Every year, CAHOOTS diverts people away from hospitals, jails or traditional emergency responders like police and ambulance services, said Alese “Dandy” Colehour, a Portland State University master’s student in social work who accumulated and analyzed the program’s data.  

In 2024, CAHOOTS received 16,605 calls, and out of those, 64% of the people served were diverted from other services. For example, 11% intended to go to the hospital and CAHOOTS resolved the situation. Nearly 5% of the calls involved people who were diverted from possible arrest, with CAHOOTS aiding in de-escalation.

Other help available 

The departure of CAHOOTS does not mean the end of mobile crisis services in Eugene. Eugene residents needing crisis services can get help through Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County, a countywide service. 

Eugene Springfield Fire Chief Mike Caven, who did not speak at the event, said in an interview that the mobile crisis team and other services will help. 

“There will be gaps with CAHOOTS not being here that we’ll need to sort out over time,” he said. “But for those critical, life-threatening or significant issues, the safety net is still here.”

Perin also spoke about the CAHOOTS model and how it’s different from law enforcement. 

The remaining crisis workers in Springfield do not use force. Instead, they talk with people and build trust, listening to them in their moment of crisis. Sometimes they can help them access services, like a bed in a homeless shelter. If they cannot, the crisis workers will tell them with compassion and sit with them while they process that information.

And when they leave, it’s with a word of encouragement.

“We can sit with them and we can say if you wake up at 2 a.m. and it’s cold and dark and you’re alone, you can call us and we’ll be there for you,” Perin said.  

How to get help 

Eugene and other Lane County residents in need of mobile crisis services can contact Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County (MCS-LC) by calling or texting 988 or calling the 24/7 Lane County Crisis Line at 541-682-1001. If you call 911, operators will route calls to Lane County’s mobile crisis services if necessary. 

Springfield residents can call the county service. They also can contact CAHOOTS at 541-726-3714, which is available seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, go here: https://whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots/

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.