Episode 26
Guests: Brenton Gicker & Chelsea Swift
Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW
Brenton Gicker and Chelsea Swift of CAHOOTS — Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets — describe how this 24/7 mobile crisis intervention program in Eugene, Oregon pairs a mental health worker and a medic to respond to crises that don't require police. They walk through what a typical shift looks like, how 911 calls are routed to their team, and why this model is both cost-effective and more humane — reducing arrests and using de-escalation over force. CAHOOTS offers a compelling, proven vision for what community-based crisis response can look like.
In this episode:
- How CAHOOTS works — a mental health crisis worker and medic responding together in a mobile unit
- How 911 calls are routed to CAHOOTS rather than police for certain situations
- The cost-effectiveness and humanitarian benefits of this model — fewer arrests, more de-escalation
- What a typical shift looks like for crisis workers in the field
- How Brenton and Chelsea each came to this work and expanded their roles to include medical training
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Music credit
"District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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