Three Things To Read This Weekend
1) Our new poll finds broad bipartisan support for Quick Response Teams that deploy experts trained to prevent overdose deaths.
Earlier this year, Safer Cities covered a program out of Huntington, West Virginia that is drawing positive attention for helping to reduce opioid overdose deaths in the state with “by far the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate.” Known as the “Quick Response Team,” Huntington’s program deploys “a paramedic, a counselor, a law enforcement official, and a faith-based organization member” within 72 hours of an overdose to contact both the person involved and their family in order to monitor their health status and connect them with treatment services. Experts say that the QRT program has played a critical role in a decline in overdose deaths in the city and county.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said that the program “should be developed as a model, not just for the state of West Virginia, but for the entire country.” To gauge whether voters agree with Dr. Gupta, Safer Cities surveyed 1,249 voters nationally in partnership with Data For Progress. We found:
80% of voters support the creation of a Quick Response Team where they live. This robust support spans party, race, gender, age, and educational attainment.
2) Houston reduced homelessness by 60% over the past decade. What you need to know:
Writing for the New York Times, Michael Kimmelman and Lucy Tompkins explain:
“During the last decade, Houston, the nation’s fourth most populous city, has moved more than 25,000 homeless people directly into apartments and houses. The overwhelming majority of them have remained housed after two years. Houston has gotten this far by teaming with county agencies and persuading scores of local service providers, corporations and charitable nonprofits — organizations that often bicker and compete with one another — to row in unison. Together, they’ve gone all in on “housing first,” a practice, supported by decades of research, that moves the most vulnerable people straight from the streets into apartments, not into shelters, and without first requiring them to wean themselves off drugs or complete a 12-step program or find God or a job.”
Danielle McClean, writing for Smart Cities Dive, highlights that Houston’s housing-first approach has “decreased the area’s homeless population by roughly 63% since 2011”; a “82% reduction in family homelessness; a 69% reduction in chronic homelessness”; and “has effectively ended veteran homelessness.” Marc Eichenbaum, who heads the city’s effort, told McClean that the strategy “has quickly become a model for other cities” and that Houston officials are currently advising leaders “from Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Austin, and Spokane.”
For The Nation, Ned Resnikoff urges city leaders in California to turn to Texas for inspiration, contrasting the optimism that drove Houston’s success with the “cynicism regarding Housing First policies [in] cities [like] Los Angeles and Sacramento [that] have returned to a policing-first strategy, trying to fight homelessness by making it illegal to camp in certain areas.” Here’s an unflattering chart comparing homelessness population trends in Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco that Resnikoff uses to make his point:
3) “The Biden administration is going to continue to talk about community violence intervention, put our money where our mouth is, and definitely keep the foot on the gas pedal.”
That’s what White House policy advisor Stefanie Feldman told Politico’s Myah Ward this week in an article spotlighting a White House-led initiative that provided financial support, as well as training and technical assistance, to community violence intervention programs around the country. Feldman said the Biden Administration believes “these programs are a critical piece of the puzzle in saving lives and reducing gun violence.” Politico’s Ward explained that President Biden agrees with proponents of community violence intervention that “these programs [, which] often connect former gang members and other high-risk individuals with mental health care and other social services[,]” are “vital for reducing recidivism rates and improving health and socioeconomic outcomes.” Ward’s full piece is worth your time.
