FOLLOWUP: City’s CARE Responders set the date for West Seattle service to begin

3:55 PM: The city’s been mentioning for a while that its CARE Community Crisis Responders would expand service to the Southwest Precinct area (West Seattle and South Park) as soon as they were staffed up; Mayor Bruce Harrell mentioned it in his State of the City speech earlier this week, too. And now they’ve set the date: As announced today, March 10th will be the first day of CARE Responders’ service here (which is a few months past the “end of 2024” the mayor announced last year). As explained in the city announcement, the responders “will assist Seattle Police Department patrol officers on 9-1-1 crisis calls that are non-violent and non-life-threatening. CCRs will be dispatched via the Seattle CARE Department 9-1-1 Communications Center, for 9-1-1 call events with a nexus to behavioral health (mental illness/substance use) and/or homelessness.” The team has been in service for about a year and a half and reports to CARE Chief Amy Barden, who also is accountable for the 911 Center, through which the Community Crisis Responders are dispatched, as are police. The city has 27 CCRs, and three are supervisors who also are Mental Health Professionals. We have a question out to the city about whether they’ll be physically based on this side of the river, in addition to responding to incidents here.

5:28 PM: CARE Department spokesperson Sean Blackwell replied:

Seattle CARE Department (CARE) Community Crisis Responders are currently headquartered at Seattle Municipal Tower and have additional office spaces at the Seattle CARE Department 9-1-1 Communications Center (located at SPD West Precinct) and the University of Washington Police Department (UWPD).

CARE is in the process of procuring additional office spaces in South Seattle (South Precinct), West Seattle (Southwest Precinct), North Seattle (North Precinct) and in the Capitol Hill/Central District (East Precinct).

Skipalapondo February 21, 2025 (7:41 pm)

Happy to hear it! I’m excited to see the good that the CARE Responders can do for Seattle once they’re fully staffed.

Donna February 22, 2025 (4:23 am)

This is great for lots of reasons. Resources like this are able to spend a lot more time with individuals in crisis than police officers can so there’s a greater chance of linking people to services that aid in recovery. I’m really happy my tax dollars are going to this. We know it’s an evidence based practice.

Mike February 22, 2025 (7:02 am)

Very Good News.

Resident February 22, 2025 (7:31 am)

Wonderful news, any action is positive. We won’t get it right every time but with trying many things, again and again – something will click and we can have hope for all these people who are suffering.

Paula Amell February 22, 2025 (7:36 am)

My son is a care responder. I am so proud of him and the work they are doing!

Amy Barden February 26, 2025 (12:50 pm)

We are so lucky to have him, Paula!

Deb Barker February 22, 2025 (10:08 am)

It is about time that West Seattle is able to benefit from Seattle’s CARE units. This is an exemplary program and so very needed on all fronts. However, nothing will change much UNLESS the WA Legislature passes HB 1816 which would legitimize the CARE responders as a first response department consistent with SPD and SFD. 1816 would allow a more swift data driven evidence based expansion of the unit which would then benefit West Seattle, Please let Rep, Fitzgibbon and Rep.Thomas know that you would like to see HB1816 enacted ASAP.

Blake February 22, 2025 (12:50 pm)

Thanks for the heads up! Going to look into this bill. Was unfamiliar before.
My two cents February 22, 2025 (12:57 pm)

Care to address the concerns from labor since this basically exempts CARE from collective bargaining?
- Labor Activist February 22, 2025 (2:22 pm)
  
  SPOG was kicked out of the MLKCLC because they don’t function as a union. Their current efforts are aimed at undermining the CARE team in hopes they will be disbanded. Unions exist to even the power balance between workers and employers with potentially abusive policies. SPOG’s opposition has nothing to do with any of that, and is about protecting their power at the expense of the citizens they claim to want to serve and protect. The bill moves us past the road block SPOG is creating to actually having non-lethal responses to non-violent calls. It does not stop the CARE team from collectively bargaining on their own, should they choose to join a union (one of the public serive social workers’ unions would make more sense than police) or form their own.
Amy Barden February 27, 2025 (1:38 pm)

Thank you, Deb!

George February 22, 2025 (2:53 pm)

I too am glad that tax dollars are being spent on this. It will help the community and hopefully allow the police more time to fight crime.

Amy Barden February 27, 2025 (1:55 pm)

Exactly! In Seattle 911, we still struggle to get police to Priority 1 calls (urgent threat to life) in under 11 minutes. Thank you, George!

Mike February 22, 2025 (10:41 pm)

You think there is a need for this kind of service in our community…. give something else up. We the taxpayers/homeowners are not the city’s personal piggy bank. Everybody has wants that they think are needs but someone has to be the adult and make those tough decisions when it comes to living within your means. This Care Department is set to receive an annual budget of 26.5 million. This may not sound like much but these costs escalate year after year and someone is going to be left servicing this debt. You want this…..give something else up!

Nolan February 23, 2025 (12:06 am)

Eliminating SPD’s overtime budget in 2024 would’ve paid for the CARE department twice.
- Mike February 23, 2025 (7:23 am)
  
  Good Morning Nolan
  
  In a perfect world I would agree with you but the reality is that overtime is the bread and butter of the SPD and this practice is not going to fade away no matter how many new officers are added to the roles. It’s expensive to live good in this city and everyone wants a bigger slice of the pie and overtime is how it’s made possible. One man’s opinion. Again, you want it….cut something else out.
- Gary February 23, 2025 (10:20 am)
  
  With the shortage of officers, the unknown in your statement is how much overtime was used for calls that CARE teams would’ve responded to instead.
Amy Barden February 27, 2025 (1:46 pm)

Hi Mike, To clarify, my CARE dept budget is almost entirely dedicated to run Seattle 911 (and we are operating more efficiently since being removed from SPD). The CARE responder portion is about $2 million, which is currently covered by congressional earmarks. We did a financial analysis of the first 700 calls responded to last year and found that each response cost approximately half what it would have versus dispatching SPD — and, we got the same or better results. I shared with the Council last fall that if you take away the CARE responders, I still have to dispatch someone to the crisis call and I’m going to spend twice as much to do it.I deplore financial waste and truly appreciate that you appear to as well. We can do much better, and when we actually start breaking cycles of crimes and crises we will see real change. Best, Amy

Mike February 24, 2025 (4:01 am)

The overtime is the bread and butter of the SPD and my expectation is we will have overtime costs associated with this new Care Department expansion. The 26.5 million dollar budget is just the beginning and will increase every year.

k February 24, 2025 (8:16 am)

CARE is designed to make use of existing funds. By diverting non-violent service calls from SPD to CARE, it alleviates overtime as well as the staffing shortage at SPD, within the existing funding for emergency response, because we’re just moving calls (and resources for them) from one column to the other. Yes, overtime is bread and butter for SPD, which is why they’re fighting so hard against the existence of CARE (while simultaneously bemoaning how overworked they are).
- Amy Barden February 27, 2025 (1:52 pm)
  
  Hi k — Just want to share that CARE has actually been overwhelmingly embraced by the rank and file of SPD. Sometimes the strategy used to bargain represents a different perspective, but it is just the way bargaining is done (which I don’t love!). During the pilot phase of the CARE response, they were asked for by SPD 88% of the time. Officers don’t want to go to these calls, and I hear this in Seattle and all around the country. I will keep advocating that we need to be able to dispatch the best first response to each call, period. There is a moral imperative to the work, AND it is more financially efficient. Thank you for your support! Amy

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