QuickTake:

In April, the nationally acclaimed CAHOOTS program, which offered an alternative to police response for people in crisis, ended in Eugene. Now, city officials are looking for ways to bridge gaps in service and take the burden off police and fire responders.

Eugene leaders are planning a new service in the city that would take the pressure off paramedics and police officers who respond to people suffering from mental health or drug addiction crises. 

The people in crisis would fit a certain criteria: They need a connection to a shelter, recovery services or other help — not an ambulance trip to the hospital or a ride in a police car to jail. 

The plan comes after Eugene conducted an analysis of its needs after CAHOOTS stopped operating in Eugene in April, citing financial reasons and ending its more than three decades of operation. Through CAHOOTS, two-person teams helped thousands in the city navigate through crises and access alternative services other than a hospital emergency room or jail cell.

Since CAHOOTS ended service in Eugene, city police and fire officials said, the number of calls from people in crisis has not increased. But what has changed, they said, is that first responders, including police officers and paramedics, now must handle calls — or spend more time on calls — that in the past they could hand off to CAHOOTS. 

Thursday, city officials said they plan to request proposals from potential providers, a formal step needed before Eugene can contract with a provider. 

Eugene Springfield Fire Chief Michael Caven said first responders now need to assist people experiencing challenges, including homelessness and chronic mental health needs, and help them navigate to the appropriate service.

For example, Eugene-Springfield fire crews responding to an individual in the past could notify CAHOOTS when they realized the person needed connection to social services, not a hospital, freeing up engines for the next call. 

“In the absence of CAHOOTS, that option does not exist in the same manner,” the report said.

At times, police cars need to take people to shelters or other services. But a service like CAHOOTS would be a better fit, the officials said, for those kinds of calls.

“My patrol officers every single day are responding to things or hearing about things, or having something on their call screen that they can’t get to, that they think is a nice fit,” Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said. 

Caven said the landscape for crisis response has changed over the years, as more providers and programs are available. For example, Lane County operates a mobile crisis service people can contact for help. 

But, he added: “There’s more stability in the system if we’re not relying on one single resource to do everything that’s out there.”

Under the CAHOOTS model, two-person teams — an emergency medical technical and mental health crisis worker — responded to calls. That work started in 1989, when White Bird Clinic began CAHOOTS. 

The program, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, received national attention for its then-innovative approach as an alternative to law enforcement. White Bird Clinic still operates CAHOOTS in Springfield through a separate contract.

The city plans to put out a request for proposals for a peer navigation model that can conduct welfare checks, offer shelter support and provide transportation services to shelters, clinics and appointments. Caven said he couldn’t provide a date for when the request for proposals will go out. 

“Our goal is to get it done in a reasonable amount of time,” he said. “But public contracting is not always fast.”

City officials set aside $500,000 for a service that would provide replacement services for a CAHOOTS alternative when it set the budget. The final dollar amount for the contract is not set yet, but it will be at least that much.

The new service may come through former CAHOOTS workers in Eugene who are organizing and hoping to get involved in the work. After CAHOOTS ended in Eugene, former White Bird Clinic employees who worked in the program founded Willamette Valley Crisis Care, which has the goal of continuing the program’s work and helping people experiencing trauma. 

Jacob Trewe, the group’s treasurer, said the group intends to apply when the request for proposals is advertised. The former employees have decades of combined experience and are “eager to come to work,” Trewe said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

Caven, the fire chief, said the goal is to help people in a way that leads to a reduced demand for the service.

“You kind of want to put yourself out of business,” he said.

County crisis service 

In Lane County, mobile crisis teams operate and help people through most of the county, including Eugene. There’s one exception: The Western Lane Crisis Response serves a primarily coastal area that includes Florence and extends to the Douglas County border. 

The county’s mobile crisis teams serve people in acute crisis situations, but also help people with other needs, said Olivia McClelland, Lane County’s behavioral health clinical services manager.

That includes people who need nonemergency transportation to access services. 

“We take people to treatment facilities,” McClelland said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “We take people to housing. We take people to urgent care. We take people to a variety of places.”

Since it started in August 2024, the county’s service has been dispatched to more than 4,500 calls. In October, the county’s service was dispatched to 468 calls and served 264 individuals. 

The service also does follow-ups with clients within 72 hours; those follow-ups always are voluntary.

Regardless of the level of care needed, McClelland said, there’s plenty of work to go around among different organizations, including the city’s planned program.

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. The line is available for calls around the clock, and crisis teams operate from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 to 11 p.m.

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/

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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 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.