4 21-0017 Subject: MACRO Pilot Program Grant
From: Violence Prevention Department
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Awarding A Professional Services Agreement With Bay Area Community Services Inc. (BACS) In An Amount Not To Exceed One Million Six Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,600,000) For Implementation Of The Mobile Assistance Community Responders Of Oakland (MACRO) Pilot Program, From January 1, 2021 To June 30, 2022
Please do NOT partner with Bay Area Community Services for addressing violence. Organizations like the Alliance for Community Wellness and Mental Health First, founded by the Anti Police Terror Project, are organizations by and for the people, that truly keep people safe, who are more worthy of MACRO funding. BACS has a long and ugly history of misleading the public with statistics, and have not used their funding to successfully permanently house people. In a series of investigations on KPIX 5 in 2019, it was reported that BACS's apparent 82% success rate of permanently housing the unhoused, is actually the rate at which they put people into housing, regardless if they stay housed. They have been known to house people with roommates without the consent of clients, and housed a woman in a rat-infested garage with no access to a garage or kitchen. Furthermore, staff are known to intimidate clients when speaking out about the conditions in BACS shelters and housing programs. Whereas the Alliance for Community Wellness and MH First are community-based and have the trust of the people. I'd also like to echo Ronnie Boyd's proposal that the city needs more full-time first-responders who are not police. And that Oakland should be working with experts and discussing options with unions to figure out the best ways to implement these much needed services.
I am writing in opposition to using BACS to implement MACRO. It must be implemented by organizations who are part of the community they are serving. Oakland must support first responders who are not police in order to truly promote safety in Oakland.
I am a licensed clinical psychologist and past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility with 11 years of experience providing trauma informed crisis response services in the Bay Area. Any effective crisis response must be culturally relevant and rooted in community to ensure true resolution of a crisis, not just a temporary fix that leaves people in and out of emergency rooms, shelters, and jails. I am deeply concerned about how the selection process for implementation of MACRO unfolded - excluding and dismissing community input from the start. I urge council members to include community representatives in selecting a group that will implement MACRO principles. Any mobile crisis response needs to be informed and accountable to most impacted and vulnerable people. There are community organizations that already do this work, including APTP MHFirst, and Alliance for Community Wellness (La Familia), and these organizations have representation and deep relationships with most impacted and vulnerable communities. Their input should be taken seriously.
I'm writing you to urge you to not partner with BACS, but to partner with organizations that have shown proven results in addressing violence like the Allliance for Community Wellness and MHFirst, founded by the Anti Police Terror Project. We need them to put into practice the MACRO principles.As a reminder, MACRO is a set of principles and not a program. Not only does the city need to partner with community based organizations, the city needs more full-time first-responders who are not police. Oakland should be working with experts and discussing options with unions to figure out the best ways to implement these much needed services.
If we're going to do reimagine public safety, we need to do it right and that means MACRO needs to be community led. We have said time and time again that we need real community-led solutions. We need first responders who are not police. I am against BACS which has a horrible track record. I urge the city to work with organizations and experts grounded in community -- Alliance for Community Wellness, MH First & APTP, etc.
Please do NOT partner with Bay Area Community Services for addressing violence. Organizations like the Alliance for Community Wellness and Mental Health First, founded by the Anti Police Terror Project, are organizations by and for the people, that truly keep people safe, who are more worthy of MACRO funding. BACS has a long and ugly history of misleading the public with statistics, and have not used their funding to successfully permanently house people. In a series of investigations on KPIX 5 in 2019, it was reported that BACS's apparent 82% success rate of permanently housing the unhoused, is actually the rate at which they put people into housing, regardless if they stay housed. They have been known to house people with roommates without the consent of clients, and housed a woman in a rat-infested garage with no access to a garage or kitchen. Furthermore, staff are known to intimidate clients when speaking out about the conditions in BACS shelters and housing programs. Whereas the Alliance for Community Wellness and MH First are community-based and have the trust of the people. I'd also like to echo Ronnie Boyd's proposal that the city needs more full-time first-responders who are not police. And that Oakland should be working with experts and discussing options with unions to figure out the best ways to implement these much needed services.
I am writing in opposition to using BACS to implement MACRO. It must be implemented by organizations who are part of the community they are serving. Oakland must support first responders who are not police in order to truly promote safety in Oakland.
I am a licensed clinical psychologist and past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility with 11 years of experience providing trauma informed crisis response services in the Bay Area. Any effective crisis response must be culturally relevant and rooted in community to ensure true resolution of a crisis, not just a temporary fix that leaves people in and out of emergency rooms, shelters, and jails. I am deeply concerned about how the selection process for implementation of MACRO unfolded - excluding and dismissing community input from the start. I urge council members to include community representatives in selecting a group that will implement MACRO principles. Any mobile crisis response needs to be informed and accountable to most impacted and vulnerable people. There are community organizations that already do this work, including APTP MHFirst, and Alliance for Community Wellness (La Familia), and these organizations have representation and deep relationships with most impacted and vulnerable communities. Their input should be taken seriously.
I'm writing you to urge you to not partner with BACS, but to partner with organizations that have shown proven results in addressing violence like the Allliance for Community Wellness and MHFirst, founded by the Anti Police Terror Project. We need them to put into practice the MACRO principles.As a reminder, MACRO is a set of principles and not a program. Not only does the city need to partner with community based organizations, the city needs more full-time first-responders who are not police. Oakland should be working with experts and discussing options with unions to figure out the best ways to implement these much needed services.
If we're going to do reimagine public safety, we need to do it right and that means MACRO needs to be community led. We have said time and time again that we need real community-led solutions. We need first responders who are not police. I am against BACS which has a horrible track record. I urge the city to work with organizations and experts grounded in community -- Alliance for Community Wellness, MH First & APTP, etc.
Fund our community-based organizations to do this work, NOT BACS.