Cleveland communities see need for care response

New research spells out Clevelanders’ complex feelings about crisis response, first responders, and public safety

The people most likely to interact with emergency responders should have a say in the county’s developing care response program, say local advocates and researchers. A new report from Policy Matters Ohio and REACH (Responding with Empathy Access and Community Healing) highlights the voices of Northeast Ohioans who have interacted with first responders in and around Cleveland.

The report’s findings are complex, says co-author Piet van Lier. “Nearly half of survey participants rated their previous interactions with emergency responders as ‘Positive’ or ‘Very positive,’ but when given a chance to describe those encounters in detail, they reveal diverse experiences. An effective care response program has to account for that diversity from the start, and has to include mechanisms for ongoing community input and influence.”

The survey gathered insights from a targeted population, not a random sampling, said co-author Bree Easterling. “We made a conscious decision to center the experiences of people who are directly impacted by the current system for response to behavioral and mental health crises — those who have the most at stake in decisions about that system’s future.” Grounding our research in communities closest to the issue strengthens our research by incorporating the unique expertise of people with lived experience.

The report includes four policy recommendations, drawn from survey participants’ responses. “As the county and city roll out this pilot program, they should be planning for the future,” said co-author Cori Schleiffer. “That plan should include deep engagement with and accountability to community members; appropriate, ongoing training for care response teams and call-takers; a transition to interoperability with our 911 system; and clear, practical criteria and protocols for care response.”

The report represents the second phase of a survey project begun in 2022. A report on the findings from Phase I of the project is available here.