Three Things To Read This Week
1. More Cities Launching Safety Ambassadors To “Assist Visitors And Residents, Build Relationships With Businesses And Keep The Area Clean And Safe.”
Youngstown, Ohio, Launches Downtown Ambassador Program. For The Business Journal Daily, Guy D'Astolfo reports on the recently launched team of safety ambassadors that “has begun walking downtown streets to assist visitors and residents, build relationships with businesses and keep the area clean and safe.” The safety ambassador team—in visible uniforms of “navy blue pants with polo jerseys, so that they are easily identifiable” by residents, business owners, and shoppers—will be on patrol during the week, “walking downtown streets to pick up litter, answer the questions of visitors, learn the needs of business owners and serve as the eyes and ears of police.”
City Councilman Julius Oliver, a champion for the safety ambassador team, explained to the newspaper that “the purpose of the ambassador program is to keep the area clean, safe and inviting….residents and visitors will know that there’s always somebody watching… ‘We heard the cry of businesses and the community, they want to feel safer…[this] will provide a visible and approachable presence downtown.”
“Cincinnati’s Downtown Ambassadors Add Visible Layer Of Safety Amid Rising Crime Concerns.” For Spectrum News 1, Javari Burnett reports on Cincinnati “city leaders leaning on more than just police patrols to maintain a sense of security… as concerns about public safety continue to rise in Cincinnati’s downtown core… [launching] a team of Downtown Ambassadors patrols the streets daily.” The team of 85 full-time ambassadors, and a summer expansion that added an additional 120 part-time ambassadors for “an added layer of that sense of security,” are uniformed in bright green shirts for easy visibility, “receive extensive training, including how to identify when to step in and when to call for police support” and are “tasked with everything from offering directions to de-escalating tense situations… to create a cleaner, safer, and more welcoming environment for residents, workers and visitors.”
The effort is already paying off, local businesses have reported to the city. One down jewelry store owner, Maria Lipps, explained to the news station that “the ambassadors make a visible and valuable difference… ‘these guys have walkie talkies and they are literally here within three to five minutes after a phone call. They really help just give a presence to that ‘We care about downtown Cincinnati and keeping this place safe.’”
Colorado Springs Launches “Clean And Safe” Ambassador Team “To Improve The Image And Quality Of Life In Downtown.” For The Colorado Springs Gazette, Brennen Kauffman reports on the new Clean And Safe team “clad in fluorescent yellow vests and backpacks” who patrol the streets of downtown Colorado Springs “on the lookout for lost tourists, businesses that need a hand or struggling residents.” The team has three core functions—safety patrols, cleanup, and homeless outreach—and is divided into separate units to handle each:
The safety patrol unit is composed of a dozen trained ambassadors who have “someone on the streets Wednesday through Sunday, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.” That team has also received a boost this summer with a pilot program that adds an additional safety team “running patrols 16 to 18 hours a day, more than double the number of hours they'd previously worked.” In just the first two weeks of operation, the team had already “stopped by businesses 278 times and assisted with 232 visitors.”
The clean team starts “their shift [on] Thursday morning” and helps to restore a sense of order downtown through everything from graffiti removal, to throwing away trash, to wrangling unused public scooters and bikes.
The homeless outreach team “can connect people with housing resources, health care providers or other resources depending on their need… Outreach can take several days [working with and providing resources to] homeless or unwell residents … before they trust them enough to talk about their larger needs.”
2. Momentum For Addiction Stabilization Centers Across The Country.
In Arkansas, Saline County Opens “First Standalone Detox And Addiction” Center. For The Saline Courier, Madison Basco reports on the county’s first addiction stabilization center “dedicated to helping and healing those struggling with addiction all throughout Arkansas.” The center, which is repurposing the buildings and grounds of an unused school, offers patients “a spa-like medical detox… [with design elements that] are intended to create a relaxing space where clients can focus on stress reduction” with therapists and other addiction experts in individual and group sessions. The facility also offers “transportation services [so] they can pick up clients from anywhere in the state of Arkansas and bring them to their facility.” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and Saline County Judge Matt Brumley, both champions of the new program, spoke at the grand opening of the new facility emphasizing the “importance of accessible, high-quality addiction treatment and the role of community support in recovery efforts… ‘this is about giving people access to help they didn’t have before. A place where they can do the work, heal, and build something better.’”
In Plattsburgh, New York “First Of Its Kind” Addiction Crisis Stabilization Center Opens. For WCAX, Alek LaShomb reports on the new “intensive stabilization crisis center for people experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis” that opened this month in Plattsburgh. Richelle Gregory, who oversees the addiction stabilization center, explained to the news station that this allows for a patient to “walk in and be met with immediate, trauma-informed support … [with] no emergency waiting room, no police custody… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” The center is working with first responders and health care professionals, like police officers, medics, and mobile crisis response teams, so that they route patients who are better served by the healthcare at the center in order “to help offload demand” from other facilities like emergency rooms and jails.
In California, A Lauded Addiction Stabilization Center Expands. For Inland Empire Community News, Manny Sandoval reports on Cedar House, an addiction stabilization center with locations in both San Bernardino County and Riverside County, which just “secured a $30 million grant that will fund a new two-story facility” expanding available treatment beds. The center, which provides addiction treatment to both men and women, “30% to 40% [of whom] are experiencing homelessness,” has “delivered more than 53,968 hours of care for high-intensity [patients] and 8,777 hours for [patients] in lower-level programs… [and has received a] 97% overall satisfaction rate among patients… [with] more than 90% of individuals transitioned into long-term recovery programs.”
Jake Strommen, the outreach coordinator at the center, explained to the newspaper that their success rate is due to the center’s wraparound approach to addiction:“Every treatment plan is individualized, residents receive three meals a day, group therapy sessions, one-on-one counseling, and access to licensed vocational nurses and nurse practitioners who oversee medical needs and medications.”
“Withdrawal management is a cornerstone… with staff trained to guide patients through the dangers of detox, especially alcohol withdrawal, which can be fatal if not monitored properly.”
“Programs extend beyond residential care… [staff] provides medication-assisted treatment, perinatal services… sober living… outpatient programs, overdose prevention training, and alumni support. Roughly 30% to 40% of its medical population is unhoused, many using the center as a primary residence after living in cars or being displaced from family.”
“Central to Cedar House’s approach is the Matrix Model, a 16-week evidence-based outpatient program that blends group counseling, relapse prevention, family education, and 12-Step facilitation. Developed in response to the cocaine epidemic, it remains one of the most effective treatments for stimulant addictions.”
3. Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs Open Doors “To Help Break The Cycle Of Violent Crime.”
Mobile, Alabama Intervention Program “To Help Break The Cycle Of Violent Crime While Helping Victims Heal.” For Fox10, Daeshen Smith reports on Mobile’s new hospital-based violence intervention program, called HALO—”a collaboration between the city, University Hospital and the Mobile County Health Department.” As physicians are providing the medical care the patient needs, the program also deploys a “violence intervention specialist … [to] gunshot victims right there in the hospital… to learn more about the situation [and] prevent things from escalating… [to] make sure they don’t become either another victim or a perpetrator of this type of violence.” Ashley Williams, who oversees the team in the hospital, explained to the news channel. As the patient recovers, the intervention specialists “identify any other needs the victims have including financial needs and help with transportation to and from follow up appointments… ‘there’s the emotional component from sometimes dealing with PTSD, and depression so it’s extremely important this isn’t a one-time what can we do to help you. This is a journey.’”
In Atlanta, “Less Than 3% Of [Hospital Intervention] Participants Have Come Back Into The Hospital With A Violent Injury.” For 11Alive News, Aisha Howard, Akilah Winters, Gabriella Nunez, and Darrell Pryor report on Atlanta’s hospital-based violence intervention program, called IVVY, now two years old, where “doctors do more than treat trauma victims; they are on an [a] mission to prevent violence before it begins… addressing crime as a public health crisis.”
Dr. Randi Smith, a trauma surgeon at Grady's Marcus Trauma Center who helps to oversee the hospital-based violence intervention program in the city, explained that the program “provides critical support for gun violence victims ages 14 to 34… by employing a bedside-clinic-community model… ‘In lots of places, people are just patched up and sent right back out into the neighborhoods and circumstances that led to the injuries in the first place… we are understanding the root causes … [and are] focused on addressing those social drivers of health that impact how patients do when they leave the hospital.” In the last two years, IVYY physicians have “worked with more than 650 participants and their families, providing food, housing assistance, and mental health support.” Dr. Smith added that the program is already showing promising results with “less than 3% of participants have come back into the hospital with a violent injury this year.”In Austin, New Hospital Program Helping “Prevent [Gun Violence] Victims From Being Reinjured Or Committing A Violence Themselves.” For The Austin American-Statesman, Nicole Villalpando reports on Travis County’s hospital-based violence intervention program that launched just last year and has already “served more than 350 people.” When a patient arrives in the emergency room “who has come in with evidence of violence — either a gun shot, a stab wound or signs of abuse,” a clinician with the violence intervention program “gets notified by nurses or doctors” to connect them to “wraparound services, mentorship, job training, trauma recovery services [,] housing, food security, employment and community support” that help provide “a path toward a different life… preventing the victim from being reinjured or committing a violence-based crime themselves.”
