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From YouTube: Ways & Means Hearing FY24 Budget: Boston Public Health Commission: Mental Health and Recovery
Description
Ways & Means Hearing-Dockets # 0760-0768, FY24 Budget: Boston Public Health Commission
A
A
A
B
C
E
B
Good
afternoon
greeting
will
come
for
my
gavel
to
begin
for
the
record.
My
name
is
Tanya
Financial
Anderson,
the
district
7
City
councilor
I'm,
the
chair
of
Boston
city
council
committee
on
ways
and
means
this
hearing
is
being
recorded
as
being
live
streamed
at
boston.gov
for
slash,
City,
Dash,
Council,
TV
and
broadcast
on
Xfinity
channel
8,
RCN,
channel
82
and
files
channel
964..
The
council's
budget
review
process
will
Encompass
a
series
of
public
hearings
beginning
in
April
and
running
through
June.
B
We
strongly
encourage
residents
to
take
a
moment
to
engage
in
this
process
and
by
giving
testimony
for
the
record,
you
can
do
this
in
several
ways,
one
by
attending
one
of
our
hearings
and
give
public
testimony.
We
will
take
public
testimony
at
the
end
of
each
departmental
hearing,
rather
I
keep
reading
that,
but
instead
in
this
hearing
just
to
respect
the
constituents
time
we'll
take
public
testimony
in
between
round
one
and
round
two,
and
also
at
three
hearings
dedicated
to
public
testimony.
The
full
hearing
schedule
is
on
our
website.
B
Boston.Gov
forward
slash
Council
Dash
budget,
our
scheduled
hearings,
educated
public
testimony,
are
Tuesday
May,
2nd
at
2
pm,
Tuesday
May,
9th
at
6,
PM,
Thursday,
May
18th
at
2PM,
or
virtual
testimony.
You
can
sign
up
using
our
online
form
on
our
Council
budget
review
website
or
by
emailing
the
committee
atcccc.wm
at
boston.gov,
when
you
are
called
to
testify.
Please
state
your
name,
affiliation
and
or
residence
and
limit
your
comments
to
a
few
minutes
to
ensure
just
literally
two
to
three
minutes
to
ensure
that
all
comments
and
concerns
can
be
heard.
B
Email,
your
written
testimony
to
the
committee
at
ccc.wm
boston.gov
or
submit
a
two-minute
video
of
your
testimony
through
the
form
on
our
website
for
more
information
on
the
City
Council
budget
process
and
how
to
testify.
Please
visit
the
city
council's
budget
website
at
boston.gov
for
slash
Council
Dash
budget.
B
B
Our
panelists
for
today's
hearing
are
Tim
Harrington
director
of
administration
and
finance
Boston
Public
Health,
commission
Dr,
busolo
jakutu,
as
executive
director
of
Boston
Public
Health
commission
I
am
joined
by
my
Consul
colleagues.
By
order
of
arrival
council
president
Ed
Flynn
District
2
counselor,
Aaron
Murphy
at
large,
counselor,
Michael
Flaherty
at
Large,
or
the
format
once
again,
I
will
go
to
sorry.
Someone's
hands
are
raised.
Oh
sorry,
back
to
my
screen
also
joined.
We
are
joined
here
by
counselor
Ricardo
Arroyo,
District
Five.
B
Okay,
thank
you
for
our
format.
We
will
once
again
I
will
allow
my
Council
colleagues
30
seconds
for
any
opening
statements
and
then
on
to
a
first
round
of
questions.
Five
minutes
each
there
will
I
will
set
a
timer.
B
You
will
hear
us
a
ringtone
go
off
and
once
it
goes
off
I'm
asking
for
the
courtesy
to
stop
your
questions
and
wait
for
a
second
round
I'm
happy
to
do
a
second
and
a
third
round
of
time
permits
and
then
with
more
flexibility
at
our
last
round
to
allow
just
for
open
comments
or
back
and
forth
conversation.
B
But
I
would
like
to
stay
tight
to
the
schedule
and
please
stop
at
five
minutes.
Once
you
hear
the
timer
you'll
hear
me
say,
thank
you
once
you
once
the
Administration
has
answered
the
question
and
pretty
much
means
we
need
to
move
on
to
the
next
person
all
right
without
further
Ado,
again
in
the
by
the
or
of
arrival
counselor.
President
Flynn,
you
have
the
floor
for
an
opening
statement.
F
F
B
Thank
you,
council
president
Flynn
counselor
Murphy.
G
You
have
the
floor
hi.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
again,
Dr
ojukucho
and
Tim
for
coming
back
for
the
afternoon
session,
looking
forward
to
the
contents,
that
is
going
to
be
like
a
closer
look
at
this
afternoon.
Looking
forward
to
the
conversation,
thank
you.
B
B
H
Yeah
just
so,
obviously
thank
you
for
the
opportunity
and
just
things
that
I'm
going
to
be
looking
for
is
around
sort
of
Recovery
Services
and
particularly
into
the
guise
of
the
harm
reduction,
just
want
to
know
how
much
we've
been
spending
on.
H
You
know
the
passing
out
of
of
needles
and
the
particularly
those
kits
and
then,
more
importantly,
in
the
event
of
an
overdose
and
under
the
guys,
also
harm
reduction.
Why
aren't
we
transporting
those
individuals
to
either
the
emergency
room
and
or
to
somewhere?
So
they
can
get
treatment
and
recovery?
And
the
sad
part
is
a
lot
of
times
when
someone
overdoses,
their
family
members,
don't
even
know
because
they
get
knocked
in
I
happen
to
think
any
time
we
administer
Narcan.
H
That
deserves
a
trip
to
the
hospital,
but
when
we
administer
and
I
can
the
more
often
than
other
person
just
jumps
up
and
walks
away,
and
we
really
don't
do
anything
about
it.
We
can't
ask
them
to
oh,
we
can't
take
them,
I,
guess
to
the
hospital,
so
I'd,
like
some
answers
around
again,
under
the
guise
of
harm
reduction.
If
we're
going
to
be
passing
out
needles,
we
should
be
transporting
folks
to
the
hospital
when
they
overdose,
but
thank
you,
madam.
B
Thank
you,
Council
Flaherty,
Council
Arroyo.
You
have
the
floor.
C
Thank
you,
Mrs
chair,
I
appreciate
the
work
with
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission
does.
C
My
focus
is
really
on
the
trauma
response
and
making
sure
that
we
are
properly
Staffing
and
sort
of
have
a
budget
that
incorporates
the
work
that
they
should
be
doing,
that
they're
currently
doing,
but
also
to
sort
of
see
how
we
can
push
that
budget
or
that
aspect
of
the
budget
to
maybe
make
it
so
that
they're
more
roles
that
they're
able
to
take
on
and
more
sort
of
capacity
that
they
have
for
these
kinds
of
situations
and
so
I'd
love
to
sort
of
have
my
questions
be
focused
around
the
trauma:
Response
Team
the
work
that
they
do,
how
we're
funding
that
currently
and
and
how
we
can
possibly
grow,
that
more
and
so
I'll
have
conversations
related
to
that.
C
So
thank
you
to
the
folks
from
the
boss,
Public
Health
commission,
for
being
here
and
I,
look
forward
to
hearing
from
you
and
asking
those
questions.
So
thank
you,
madam
chair.
B
Thank
you,
Council
Royal,
counselor,
counselor,
Mejia
and
counselor
lujen
would
like
to
extend
their
apologies
for
not
being
able
to
be
here
with
us
this
afternoon.
I
do
have
some
questions
that
counselor
Lujan
has
submitted
to
the
committee
and
happy
to
read
them
in
the
end.
B
I
did
want
to
quickly
apologies
I'm,
just
pulling
this
up,
acknowledge
and
welcome
our
youth
Advocates,
who
are
in
the
Piemonte
room
today,
who
came
out
who
rushed
out
of
school,
got
coordinated
or
left
school
early
to
be
here
today,
Megan
I'm,
sorry
I'm
trying
to
find
that
list
now.
I
think
you
had
sent
it
over
always
here
you
go,
got
it
okay!
B
Thank
you.
So
much
I
wanted
to
welcome
malet
Don
Belkin
Martinez,
Ren,
pillinger,
Whitney
golden
Emmy,
techonami
Daniel,
eme,
mudia,
Hussein,
rizvi,
armelo
or
armelo
Hawaii
Mel
fan.
B
And
please
correct
me
when
you
come
on
the
mic:
zekiel
Smalls
of
Joaquin
atala
Devin
Attalla,
Don,
Belkin,
Martinez,
amutala,
Marvin,
Ariana,
Brown,
Charming,
Solomon,
Chloe,
Frankel,
Christian,
Mariano,
Ella,
Simone,
James,
Fiona,
fee
Hamdi,
Aden,
India,
giddi,
joaquim
alombos,
Caira,
Nunez,.
B
Yes,
so
Chloe
welcome
Olivia
Nichols
we're
going
to
get
all
kinds
of
corrections
after
this
I
appreciate
appreciate
your
grace,
bearing
with
me
guys,
Olivia
Nichols,
Alice,
George,
Lee,
narya,
becton,
Tia,
Simon,
Amanda,
Lawson,
betiel,
brain
Caroline,
Nunez,
Marina,
brain
Tara,
venkatraman,
zandria,
Nunez,
Pina,
Teresa,
Tran,
Roy,
James,
dally,
Jasmine
Thermo.
B
All
right
welcome.
Everyone
I
want
it
so
desperately
to
be
there
with
you
in
the
Piemonte
room
and
my
fire
alarm
is
going
off
all
day
and
I
need
to
be
here,
because
the
Departments
have
already
visited
me
a
couple
times
so
I
apologize,
I
couldn't
leave
my
home
all
right.
Dr,
jukutu
and
Tim
I
will
now
give
you
the
floor.
I
do
see
on
my
screen
that
counselor,
Worrell
and
Council
Lara
has
joined
us.
B
I
am
sorry
if
I
don't
have
the
order
of
arrival
correctly
but
councilorell,
please,
if
you,
if
you
have
a
30
second
introduction
the
floor
is
yours
and
Council
Lara.
If
you
like
to
give
an
opening
statement
as
well
for
30
seconds.
I
B
It
thank
you
Council
Laura,.
J
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
and
thank
you
to
everybody
from
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission
who's
here
today
and
to
all
of
the
folks
who
are
across
the
hall
here
at
the
the
Monty
room
visiting,
to
give
testimony
and
to
watch
this
hearing.
As
somebody
who
is
a
former
employee
of
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission
and
started
a
lot
of
my
professional
career
Public
Health
work.
J
I'm
continue
to
be
incredibly
impressed
by
the
work
that
you
do
at
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission,
on
how
important
the
work
that
you
do
there
is
for
the
city
of
Boston,
so
I
am
excited
to
take
a
closer
look
at
your
budget
and
see
how
the
financial
resources
that
were
invested
are
in
alignment
with
the
mission
and
the
vision
that
you've
set
forth
for
the
city.
Thank
you,
madam
chair.
B
Thank
you,
counselor
Dr,
Jacob
to
and
Mr
Harrington.
You
have
the
floor.
K
Thank
you,
chairperson,
Anderson
good
afternoon,
City,
councilors
and
good
afternoon
to
the
young
folks
who
are
participating
in
this
hearing.
Thank
you
for
giving
us
this
opportunity
for
us
to
testify
this
afternoon.
In
the
second
session,
my
name
is
Dr
vasolo
jakutu
I'm,
the
commissioner
of
Public
Health
at
City
Boston
and
the
executive
director
of
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission.
This
afternoon,
I
am
going
to
focus
on
bphc's,
Behavioral,
Health
recovery
and
related
homelessness
initiatives
in
FY
23.
K
We
expanded
our
Behavioral
Health
work,
both
the
direct
services
within
bphc's
programs,
as
well
as
on
a
systems
level.
We
also
continue
to
advance
a
public
health,
informed
response
to
homelessness
and
substance
use
disorder
in
close
coordination
with
mayor's
office
of
housing,
the
coordinated
response
team
and
other
City
departments
providers
and
many
other
partners
next
slide.
K
As
you
all
know,
Behavioral
Health
work
is
not
a
new
Focus
for
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission.
We
have
long
provided
critical,
Behavioral,
Health
Services
across
bureaus
and
programs,
and
much
of
this
work
has
been
expanded
over
the
years.
Here
are
six
bureaus
and
you
can
see
some
of
the
mental
health
services
and
Behavioral
Health
Services
are
provided
in
each
in
a
variety
of
different
programs.
K
So
I
like
to
highlight
some
of
this
work
and
certainly
will
be
open
to
taking
questions
when
we
get
to
the
end
of
the
presentation,
so
in
FY,
23
key
services
that
involved
Behavioral
Health
work
included
the
work
of
bphc's
school-based
mental
health
teams.
These
teams
include
licensed
social
workers
and
mental
health
clinicians,
who
provide
direct
individual
therapeutic
counseling
to
students
throughout
the
school
year
as
part
of
bphc
school-based
Health
Centers.
Currently
we
have
seven
clinicians
who
provide
services
to
eight
of
BPS
high
schools.
K
This
partnership
between
bphc
and
BPS
is
an
important
way
that
we
seek
to
engage
and
support
youth
in
addressing
their
mental
health
and
other
vital
needs.
Secondly,
I'd
like
to
mention
our
capacity
building
and
training
initiative.
We
know
that
City
staffers
experience
a
lot
of
challenges
in
their
jobs
in
terms
of
working
with
constituents
and
some
of
those
challenges
involve
behavioral
and
and
mental
health
concerns.
K
K
In
addition,
if
you
look
at
the
recovery
services
Bureau,
we
have
a
number
of
programs
that
are
geared
towards
you
know
Mental
Health
Services
and
of
course
you
know,
working
with
substance
use
disorder
and
all
the
sort
of
core
work
that
we
do.
We
oversee
a
robust
spectrum
of
of
work
that
does
focus
in
specifically
on
on
Mental
Health
needs
and
provide
services
to
folks
in
the
hopes
that
they
would
enter
recovery.
K
Work
that
you
may
hear
less
about
is
bphc's
entree
Familia,
it's
a
six
to
12
month,
residential
substance
use
treatment
program,
providing
bilingual
and
bicultural
gender
specific
substance,
use
disorder,
treatment
to
pregnant
women
and
postpartum
women
and
their
children.
So
this
just
gives
you
a
general
snap
snapshot
of
what
we
have
been
doing
within
the
Boston
Public
Health
commission
in
terms
of
Behavioral
Health.
K
We
did
talk
about
a
number
of
these
programs
this
morning,
so
I
didn't
want
to
be
duplicative
and
I
just
wanted
to
point
out
some
of
the
things
that
you
know
we
we
had
not
talked
about
earlier
today.
Next
slide.
K
In
response
to
the
urgent
need
for
better
coordinated
evidence,
informed
and
effective
Behavioral
Health
Resources
bphc
established
the
Center
for
Behavioral
Health
and
Wellness
in
June
of
2022.
The
center
aims
to
align,
coordinate
and
promote
Behavioral,
Health
and
Wellness
programming
across
Boston,
so
not
just
here
at
bphc,
but
certainly
amongst
our
partners,
and
you
know,
looking
sort
of
across
the
city,
and
particularly,
we
want
to
build
systems
to
support
marginalized
communities
as
Boston
strengthens,
Behavioral
Health
resilience.
The
center
envisions
a
Boston
where
everyone
can
achieve
optimal
mental
health
and
wellness
through
Equitable
and
trauma-informed
strategies.
K
So
the
center
is
moving
forward.
A
number
of
initiatives
that
we
think
are
quite
important
and
have
significance,
I
think
and
will
be
important
in
terms
of
providing
strategies
and
interventions
to
meet
the
needs
of
Boston's
residents.
First,
the
center
is
working
to
widen
public
awareness
of
Youth
Behavioral
Health
needs
and
resources.
Through
a
planned
public
awareness
campaign,
we
recently
released
an
RFP
for
a
public
awareness
campaign
to
promote
culturally
a
culturally
appropriate
racially,
just
and
linguistically
appropriate
methods
to
engage
Boston's
youth.
K
K
The
center
also
helped
to
guide
and
coordinate
other
Behavioral
Health
Service
expansions
over
the
course
of
FY
23,
including
the
expansion
of
our
capacity
building
and
training
initiative,
which
I
spoke
to
I'll
just
comment
here
that
part
of
the
work
here
is
going
to
expand
the
trainings
that
we
actually
offer
and
work
to
build
our
ability
to
offer
services
in
more
places
and
to
more
people
around
the
city.
K
We
will
also
be
looking
to
expand
our
Boston
area
health
education
center,
which
will
allow
us
to
increase
the
number
of
Boston
middle
and
high
school
students
who
learn
and
gain
exposure
to
behavioral
health
careers.
The
idea,
of
course,
is
to
increase
the
workforce
Pipeline
and
to
make
these
careers
you
know.
Obviously
something
that
is
is
an
option
for
students
who
who
may
be
interested.
We
will
also
be
producing
additional
resources
to
expand
the
reach
of
the
code
club,
which
we
discussed
this
morning
and,
in
addition,
bphc's
Communications
campaign
will
really
be
expanding.
K
We've
talked
about
this
earlier
today
and
if
you
have
questions,
we
can
talk
more
about
it,
but
we're
looking
at
focusing
our
efforts
on
Mental
Health
in
a
certain
number
of
schools
and
on
looking
at
the
possibility
of
creating
sort
of
a
trauma-informed
school
network
throughout
BPS,
which
will
be
something
that'll
sort
of
be
a
longer
term
initiative,
but
certainly
something
that
we
would
like
to
move
towards.
K
And
then.
Finally,
on
this
particular
topic.
I
wanted
to
note
that
Boston
EMS
has
made
impressive
advancements
in
the
provision
of
patient
care
and
the
setting
of
Mental
Health
crisis.
Implementing
implementing
a
new
mobile
Integrated,
Health
Care
Program
to
address
Behavioral
Health
needs,
which
you
will
hear
more
about
when
EMS
provides
testimony
at
their
hearing
on
May
16..
K
So
turning
to
substance,
use
disorder
and
homelessness,
certainly
we
talk
a
lot
about
the
work
in
the
mass
and
Cass
area,
but
this
is
the
city-wide
issue
in
FY
23
we
adapted
and
improved
and
expanded
our
services
and
are
certainly
continuing
to
work
towards
maintaining
an
equity-centered
approach.
A
major
step
forward
in
this
work
has
been
the
opening
of
six
low
threshold
sites.
That
many
of
you
all
are
aware
of.
These
sites
are
places
where
individuals
who
are
unsheltered
with
substance
use
disorder
and
in
many
cases,
co-occurring
mental
illness.
K
Individuals
can
enter
these
sites
they're
low
barrier-
you
don't
necessarily
have
to
be
in
recovery
and
through
this
work
we
have
housed
or
sheltered
545
individuals
and
110
individuals
have
been
placed
into
permanent
housing.
I
think
it's
really
important
to
understand.
K
What's
actually
happening
at
these
sites,
we
basically
have
developed
a
sort
of
a
network
of
providers
who
are
you
know
offering
services
at
these
types
of
low
barrier
sites,
and
we
have
a
learning
collaborative
amongst
them
to
share
best
practices
and
to
encourage
better
systems
of
care
for
people
who
are
living
with
substance
use
disorder.
We
have
a
novel
tracking
and
evaluation
system
that
measures
key
outcomes
and
operational
indicators
across
the
six
sites
and
multiple
providers
of
those
six
sites.
K
I
think
that
this
is
a
great
example
of
collaboration
across
City
departments.
We
are
working
very
closely
with
the
mayor's
office
of
housing.
The
coordinator
Response
Team
mayor's
office,
as
well
as
many
different
community-based
collab
readers,
and
you
know
housing
providers
to
make
the
system
sustainable
over
time
and
I.
Think
that's
that's
really
our
goal.
In
addition,
we
have
continued
to
work
with
individuals
who
remain
unhoused
in
the
Madison
Cass
area.
K
We
recently
launched
a
case
management
system,
so
a
team
of
individuals
who
identify
service
Pathways
for
for
people
in
the
mass
and
cast
area,
and
that's
been
very
important
because
it's
providing
one-on-one
assessment
of
needs
and
then
meeting
those
needs
and
following
those
individuals
until
needs,
are
actually
met.
We've
also
piloted
an
overnight
Outreach
initiative
to
provide
Wellness
checks,
overdose
response
and
harm
reduction
supplies
overnight
when
we
didn't
really
have
expanded
access
to
do
so
previously.
So
this
is
a
new
initiative
and
I
also
want
to
mention,
as
part
of
all
this
work.
K
Responding
to
increasing
overdoses
amongst
residents
who
are
not
in
the
massing
cast
area
necessarily
and
particularly
residents
of
color
black
residents,
bphc,
has
expanded
its
focus
on
addressing
overdose
overdose,
opioid
overdoses
in
the
black
community,
while
in
the
process
of
developing
a
strategic
plan,
bphc
took
direct
action
in
response
into
responding
to
a
spike
in
overdoses
in
Nubian
square
and
essentially
worked
with
a
number
of
community
agencies
to
address
ongoing
issues
which
has
meant
a
lot
of
community
engagement,
bphc
convenes
Community
stakeholders
and
the
Nubian
Square
task
force,
trains,
area
organizations
and
businesses
and
overdose
prevention
and
overdose
response
targets,
delivery
of
naloxone
and
Fentanyl
test
strips
to
that
area
and
provides
Direct
Services
through
an
engagement
team
as
well
as
operates
a
day
space
and
has
two
mobile
vans
in
the
area.
K
We
were
also
awarded
a
three-year
Grant
from
the
office
of
minority
Health
in
September
of
22,
and
that
the
title
that
Grant
is
addressing
structural
racism
and
housing.
Access
amongst
individuals
living
with
substance
use
disorder
and
mental
illness
in
Boston.
The
goals
of
that
Grant
is
are
to
increase
efforts
to
develop,
disseminate
and
evaluate
policies
and
practices.
K
To
ensure
Equitable
provision
of
low
threshold
housing
and
related
services
to
unsheltered
individuals
living
with
substance
disorder
across
the
city,
as
well
as
to
train
Community
stakeholders
and
methods
for
Community
engagement
and
reducing
stigma
around
homelessness
and
substance,
use
disorder
and
then
finally,
the
phc
worked
to
decentralize
Services
across
mass
and
Cass
and
ensure
that
residents
can
access
services
in
their
own
neighborhoods
leveraging
arba
funding.
We
established
two
new
daytime
spaces.
These
are
low
threshold
daytime
spaces
which
offer
harm
reduction
services,
medical
and
treatment
referrals
linkage
to
care
while
maintaining
reduced
barriers
to
entry.
K
One
of
them
is
at
Whittier,
Community,
Health,
Center
and
the
other
is
at
Victory
programs
in
the
Back
Bay
or
at
Boston
Living
Center,
Victory
programs,
the
Back
Bay.
We
also
launched
two
neighborhood
engagement
teams
which
engage
individuals
experiencing
substance,
use
and
housing
issues
and
refer
them
to
Services,
led
by
Torchlight
Recovery
Group
in
Nubian
square
and
by
the
East
Boston
Community
Health
Center.
K
So
in
summary,
we
have
this
great
need.
You
know,
there's
a
need
to
provide
more
services,
certainly
to
individuals
with
substance
use
disorder,
but
I
do
believe
that
mock
Boston
is
making
some
real
progress.
Some
progress
that
has
been
noted
outside
of
Austin
has
been
noted
nationally,
particularly
with
our
gold
threshold
housing
program.
We
have
numerous
strategies
and
we
do
have
the
potential
to
make
lasting
impact
in
Behavioral,
Health
substance,
use
disorder
and
homelessness
outcomes.
K
I
also
do
want
to
mention
that
it
is
important
for
all
Boston
residents
to
understand
that
they
can
access
help.
We
know
that
there
are
many
challenges
that
individuals
face
in
regards
to
substance
disorder
and
they
should
call
3-1-1
if
they
or
a
loved
one
or
you
know
a
friend
needs
help
and
would
like
access
to
services.
Our
past
program
is
available
to
help
and
passes
that
providing
access
to
addictions,
treatment,
hope
and
support
next
slide.
B
Thank
you,
Dr
jakutu.
In
the
order
of
arrival
who's
first
counselor
we'll
go
to
first
we'll
go
to
council
Murphy.
B
Council
Murphy,
are
you
still
with
us.
B
And
can
we
go
to
counselor
Flaherty.
M
C
You,
madam
chair,
so
I'll
start
with
these
programs
that
you
are
presenting
on
today
and
then
I
don't
know.
Madam
chair
I
did
miss
this
morning's
session,
but
was
this
morning
session
on
sort
of
like
trauma
response
and
everything
else,
or
is
that
a
future
session?
No.
B
No,
this
is
it.
There
were
some
conversations
about
mental
health,
but
no,
this
is
this
is
the
time.
C
Keep
my
first
half
to
sort
of
the
work
that
you
are
doing
to
serve
those
dealing
with
addiction
and
then
we'll
we'll
do
the
second
half
on
on
the
trauma
response
just
to
keep
relevance
which
presented
first
and
foremost,
I
am
a
large
advocate
for
doing
work
that
is
client
centered
when
I
was
a
public
defender.
C
That
was
a
major
thing
that
we
focused
on,
which
was
understanding
that
all
of
these
individuals,
no
matter
what
depth
their
addiction
is
at
at
that
moment,
are
individuals
and
that
they
have
the
freedom
of
choice
and
they
may
be
making
bad
decisions,
but
they're
human
beings
and
they
stay.
C
They
are
in
charge
of
that
capacity
to
make
those
decisions,
and
so
I've
always
seen
this
kind
of
work
as
work
to
to
try
and
be
restorative
in
as
many
ways
as
we
can,
and
so
my
two
so
sort
of
two
questions
that
are
very
open-ended
and
you're
going
to
be
able
to
take
sort
of
answer
it
from
from
both
directions.
In
terms
of
how
you
want
to
answer
it,
however,
you
want
to
answer
it.
C
One
of
the
things
that
I
find
is
often
levied
against
programming,
like
what
we
are
trying
to
do
is
the
idea
that
it's
it's
a
waste
of
money
or
that
we
are
are
sort
of
that
it's
money
that
can
be
used
in
other
ways.
C
One
of
the
things
that
I
know
cpcs,
which
is
coming
from
the
council
had
studied,
was
how
much
money
we
spend
by
not
doing
these
things
that
often
there's
a
cost
to
our
emergency
rooms,
to
our
hospitals,
to
our
Judicial
Systems
that
it's
actually
more
expensive
to
not
try
to
treat
this
through
transitional
housing
or
through
these
different
methods
than
it
is
to
try
to
treat
it
through
those,
and
so
whatever
data
or
studies
that
you
are
aware
of
to
that
effect,
I
would
be
very
interested
in
the
second.
C
One
is
I.
Think
there's
this
idea
that,
because
we
provide
resources
that
that
means
more
people
come
to
receive
those
resources,
and
so
it's
sort
of
a
never-ending
line
so
that
if
we
provide
these
resources
to
folks
like
transitional
housing
or
things
of
these
nature,
things
of
that
nature
that
people
just
keep
showing
up,
because
we
are
providing
services
for
treatment
and
my
response
to
that
is
sort
of
okay.
So
my
kids
are
human
beings
in
need,
and
I
would
like
to
make
sure
we
are
providing
resources
to
them.
C
I
understand
that
we
don't
have
endless
Limitless
funds,
but
when
a
human
being
needs
housing
or
human
being
needs
Healthcare,
and
they
are
here
in
the
city
of
Boston.
We
should
be
trying
to
figure
out
ways
to
provide
that
so
I'm
less
concerned
with
that,
but
I
think
one
of
the
questions
I
would
have
for
you
is
what
are
ways
in
which
we
could
push
either
on
a
budget
or
a
capacity
issue
to
further
address
this
issue
in
a
faster
timeline.
C
And
how
would
we
have
more
folks
who
are
finding
sort
of
I
consider
finding
housing,
permanent
housing,
a
a
job
well
done
and
a
step
towards
sort
of
receiving
the
treatments
that
they
need?
How
how
much
more
capacity
do
we
have
to
have
those
kinds
of
success
stories
with
a
larger
budget?
Is
there
a
place
where
that's
related
and
there's
a
is
there
a
place
where
it
sort
of
plateaus,
where
the
larger
budget
doesn't
really
have
an
impact
on
the
outcomes,
and
so
just
those
two
things
Okay.
K
So
Arroyo
cost
effective.
K
It's
a
great
question:
I've
read
the
studies.
I
don't
have
the
numbers
right
off
the
top
of
my
head,
but
what
I
will
say
is
this:
that
years
of
evidence
and
research
have
proven
that
harm
reduction
saves
lives
and
it
specifically
in
relationship
to
cost.
It
reduces
the
spread
of
transmissible
diseases,
particularly
HIV
and
hepatitis
C.
K
So
I'm,
an
HIV
doctor
I
treat
people
living
with
HIV
with
antiretroviral
therapy
they're
on
that
for
life,
and
if
you
can
imagine
lifelong
treatment
with
very
expensive
medications,
continual
monitoring
and
increased
risk
for
morbidity
leading
you
know
other
Associated
illnesses
that
go
along
with
HIV,
obviously,
saving
that
money-
and
you
know
reducing
that
cost-
is
important
and
it
is
been
enormously
helpful
for
our
for
our
Healthcare
System
hepatitis
C.
K
You
know
in
most
cases
is
treatable,
but
it
is
also
an
extended
period
of
time
of
expensive
medication,
so
whatever
we
can
do
to
avoid
HIV
and
hepatitis
C,
we
should
be
doing.
I
would
also
say
that
you
know
sometimes
people
sort
of
think
about
these
infections,
as
you
know,
being
a
thing
of
the
past.
That's
not
the
case
at
all.
We
talked
this
morning
about
the
HIV
epidemic
and
uptick
in
cases.
K
That's
happened
in
recent
years
right
here
in
Boston,
and
certainly
in
other
areas,
outbreaks
that
have
been
discussed
and
have
written
have
been
published
in
other
areas
around
around
Boston
or
around.
K
Excuse
me
around
the
state
of
Massachusetts,
so
these
are
important
pieces
and,
if
that's
how
we,
you
know
sort
of
justify
why
we
do
it
I
think
it's
just
important
that
we're
just
reducing
suffering,
you
know
what
we're
trying
to
do
is
keep
people
alive
and
keep
people
free
of
long-term
or
serious
infection
so
that
we
can
intervene
and
do
things
with
them
that
may
move
them
closer
towards
recovery.
If
that's,
if
that's
where
they
they
want
to
go,
and
if
that's
that's
where
they
end
up.
K
So
that's
why
we
do
harm
reduction
or
a
major
reason
why
we
do
harm
reduction
and
I
would
also
say
that
just
the
amount
of
money
that
we're
spending
on
harm
reduction.
It's
it's
not
that
significant!
Most
of
our
harm
reduction
effort
efforts
are
funded
by
State
State
Department
of
Public
Health,
the
office
of
HIV
AIDS
or
the
office
of
HIV
AIDS
at
the
Department
of
Public
Health
pays
for
most
of
our
syringe
Services,
it's
you
know:
1.4
million
dollars.
K
We
also
get
money
for
Narcan,
you
know
to
reverse
overdoses
and
other
services,
so
I
do
think
that
it's
it's
well
worth
it.
K
The
second
question
is:
what
could
we
do
in
the
shorter
term,
where
even
the
media,
the
medium
term,
to
get
people
further
along
the
line
to
move
them
through
this
transitional
housing?
I
think
that's
a
great
question.
It's
one
that
we're
working
on,
because
we
want
to
actually
analyze
the
data
to
figure
out
why
it
is
that
more
people
haven't
gone
on
to
permanent
housing.
I
think
the
easiest
answer
is
that
if
we
don't
have
enough
permanent
Supportive
Housing,
it's
not
that
part
of
it's.
K
You
know
there's
if,
even
if
there's
permanent
housing,
it's
not
necessarily
Supportive
Housing.
You
have
to
consider
the
fact
that
a
lot
of
the
folks
who
are
entering
into
these
spaces
aren't
necessarily
ready
or
either
physically
mentally
psychologically
ready
to
live
completely
on
their
own.
They
actually
need
Supportive
Services
when
they
go
into
more
permanent
housing
settings,
and
this
has
been
a
challenge.
K
I
mean
our
system
doesn't
allow
for
the
fact
that
recovery
is
a
long-term
journey
and
a
lot
of
people
are
still
using
or
struggling
or
going
between
medication
for
opioid
use
disorder
to
using
there's
it's
complicated,
it's
very
complicated
and
our
system
just
hasn't
reached
the
capacity
that
needs
to
be
at
to
manage
complex
individuals
like
the
ones
that
we
are
trying
to
assist
on
the
streets.
So
just
not
having
enough
of
that
resource
and
having
a
system
that
doesn't
have
the
capacity
to
help
has
slowed
things
down.
K
C
This
is
one
clarification
question
when
we
talk
about
the
complexity
of
folks.
In
my
experience,
what
what
that
really
means
is
folks
who
are
dealing
with
both
mental
health
diagnosis
as
well
as
addiction
issues
that
are
either
substitutes
for
treatment
for
that
mental
health,
that
they
are
using
or
sort
of
part
part
and
parcel
with
that,
but
it
means
that
you
have
to
essentially
treat
both
of
them
at
the
same
time,
which
is
an
incredibly
complicated
process
too.
There's.
K
That
there's
also
that
we
a
lot
of
the
folks
out
there,
also
have
a
lot
of
comorbidities
other
chronic
medical
illnesses.
So
there
are
people
like
I,
said
living
with
long-term
HIV
they're
people
who
you
know
have
diabetes
people
who
should
be
under
Medical
Care.
Things
are
complicated
out
there,
so.
C
B
Thank
you
Council
priority
I
mean
Council
Arroyo
Council
of
Flaherty
was
trying
to
get
on
and
extends
his
apologies
he's
having
technical
difficulties
and
I
guess
we'll
come
back
to
Circle
back
to
him
once
he
jumps
back
on
councilorell.
You
have
the
floor.
I
My
question
is
around
BHA
and
their
a
strong
Community
like
the
senior
living
we're
just
you
know
when
I
go
out
and
visit
those
those
sites,
they
talk
about
well,
they're,
requesting
more
services,
more
support
services,
more
Mental,
Health,
Services
or
Senior
Services.
You
talk
about
what
type
of
Investments
initiative
programming
that
we're
doing
with
BHA
around
our
age,
strong
Community
population.
K
So
I
think
that's
a
great
point
when
we
establish
the
Center
for
Behavioral,
Health
and
Wellness
less
than
a
year
ago,
we
did
intentionally
focus
on
youth
and
largely
that's
because
limited
amount
of
initial
funding
really
wanting
to
get
work
done.
You
know,
get
things
out.
There
really
address
an
issue
that
we
knew
was
pressing
and
that's
not
to
say
across
the
age
span.
Certainly,
mental
health,
behavioral
health
are
our
issues,
so
I
think
that's
part
of
you
know
part
of
the
answer.
I
want
to.
You
know
sort
of
explain
to
you.
K
K
Most
of
what
we've
been
doing
with
age,
strong
and
partnering
with
them
on
is,
has
really
focused
in
on
covid-19
and
flu
vaccination
and
ensuring
health
literacy
and
some
of
that
work.
But
I
know
that
that
is
mental
health
is
another
critical
area
and
we
have
been
sort
of.
We
have
been
discussing
those
issues
with
both
you
know,
age,
strong
and
with
other
Elder
service
organizations.
K
I
And
then
my
last
question
is:
let
me
just
grab
my
nose
real
quick
chair,
I'll.
Wait
for
the
second
one.
Thank
you.
J
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
so
I
guess
when
we're
talking
about
Behavioral
Health.
Obviously
my
focus
is
really
around
the
trauma
response,
and
so
I
would
like
to
hear
more
about
what
changes
are
being
made
to
the
model
and
what
kind
of
expansions
are
we
making
or
Investments?
Are
we
making
in
that
model?
J
I
am,
would
be
fine
to
see
increases
in
the
financial
resources
that
are
going
into
the
neighborhood
trauma
teams,
but
I
do
think
that
the
model
specifically
right
now
is
not
like
it's
just
it's
not
as
effective
as
it
could
be,
and
so
are
we
making
any
investments
in
transforming
the
model
or
in
the
neighborhood
trauma
teams
at
all,
and
if
you
have
information,
if
you
can
share
some
information
about
how
many
people
you're
serving
currently
how
you
prioritize
the
cases
that
you
respond
to,
how
many
people
are
in
each
neighborhood
and
so
on
and
so
forth.
K
That's
that's
a
good
question.
Let
me
just
open
up
one
other
document
that
I
have
here
so
I
can
give
you
numbers
yeah.
K
Okay,
okay,
so
I
think
the
biggest
change
that
I
want
to
express
and
I
think
most
of
you
are
aware
of
this-
is
that
the
city
is
doing
strategic
planning
around
violence
as
a
whole,
so
just
running
the
gamut,
from
prevention,
to
intervention
to
tertiary
prevention,
meaning
longer
term
and
folks
who
have
already
either
been
perpetrators
of
violence
or
victims
and
Community
stabilization
post,
traumatic
events.
So
there's
that
piece
which
I
think
is
really
important.
It's
a
process.
K
It's
been
ongoing
for
a
number
of
months
and
there's
been
training,
that's
gone
along
with
it
and
I
participated,
numerous
folks
across
the
city
departments
and
in
our
division
of
violence.
Prevention
have
participated
in
regards
to
the
neighborhood
trauma
team.
One
point
that
has
arisen
that
has
been
proposed
as
a
new
investment
is
ensuring
that
somebody
is
available
on
call
to
respond
to
Residents
needs
24
hours
a
day,
seven
days
a
week,
365
days
a
year.
Now
that
was
the
intention.
You
know
for
somebody
to
always
be
there.
K
You
know
if
you
experience
violence
or
you
heard
gunshots,
you
know
somebody
was
was
was
shot
and
you
yourself
need
support.
Then
you
know,
you
know
psychological
first
aid
and
so
on
and
so
forth.
Somebody
should
be
there
if
that
is
the
program
that
we
are
funding,
and
so
we
actually
had
to
make
some
adjustments
and
we
have
now,
as
a
proposal
been
funded,
to
have
this
24
7
call
response
worked
into
the
neighborhood
trauma.
Teams
now
is
that
all
that
needs
to
happen
with
the
neighborhood
trauma
teams.
J
K
K
It
looks
like
we
asked
for
two
hundred
thousand
dollars
to
support
overtime
for
folks
or
potentially
additional
ftes
for
folks
to
be
available
when
there
is
a
traumatic
event
that
occurs.
So
that
is
what
was
asked
for
what
I
was
wanting
to
say
is.
That
is
that
all
that
necessarily
needs
to
happen.
I
I
think
that
there
is
part
of
the
strategic
planning
process
is
to
think
about
how
things
may
potentially
be
different
and
how
you
know
what
what
gaps
actually
need
to
be
filled.
K
So
that
is
what
is
going
on
with
with
NTT.
Currently
I
can
also
tell
you
how
many
people
have
been
served
yeah
so
in
FY,
23
or
the
neighborhood
trauma
teams,
we
provided
support
to
97,
so
126
incidents
of
guns,
gun
or
stabbing
related
incidents,
city-wide
587
residents
impacted
by
trauma
receive
stabilization,
short-term
or
long-term
Support
Services.
K
So
I
don't
have
each
individual
incident
to
be
able
to
comment
on
each
individual,
but
that
is
what
this
means.
Essentially,
there
was
some
contact
with
a
resident
who
reported
that
they
were
impacted
by
violence.
It
may
have
been
immediately
that
day,
but
it
could
have
been.
You
know
a
long-term,
no.
J
Not
necessarily
the
family
or
the
victim
themselves,
but
just
a
rather
necessarily
exactly
you
know.
That
makes
a
lot
of
sense,
Okay,
so
I
I,
think
I
know
that
we've
been
in
conversation
with
Isaac
Diablo
who's.
The
mayor's
senior
advisor
for
Community
safety
and
I
know
that
this
is
a
part
of
a
violence,
and
so
do
you
have
and
I
know.
I
have
actually
received
something
from
Isaac
in
the
last
day.
So
I
want
to
make
sure
that
I
read
that
I
don't
want
to,
but
questions
might
be
answered
there.
But
what?
J
K
Sure
so
I
won't.
So
let's
put
the
neighborhood
trauma
team
aside,
we
asked
in
terms
of
new
Investments
for
several
additional
enhancements
to
our
programming.
One
is
the
men's
health
initiative.
So,
as
you
probably
know,
this
ssyi
is
our
sort
of
case
management.
Outreach,
direct
interaction
with
folks
who
are
high
risk
and
have
been
identified
for
by
excuse
me
have
been
identified
by
BPD.
K
Our
problem
with
that
is
that
it
does
great
work
and
has
been
well
evaluated.
I
mean
there's
a
published
paper
on
how
effective
it
has
been,
but
it's
only
a
focused
on
17
to
24
year
olds,
so
there's
a
cut
off,
so
we
piloted
The
Men's
Health
Initiative,
which
basically
enrolls
anybody
over
24
with
no
age
limit
and
I
believe
about
68
individuals
were
enrolled
in
that
program.
Similarly,
these
were
individuals
high
risk
of
being
either
a
victim
or
a
perpetrator,
and
they
were,
you
know,
offered
job
training.
K
Mental
health
supports
social
other
social
services
and,
as
it
appears
right
now,
it
seems
that
the
work
that
that
was
done.
This
is
obviously
just
a
pilot.
A
small
group
of
people.
It
is
successful
and
likely
will
be
similarly
successful
as
ssy
ssyi
has
been,
so
we
asked
for
funding
for
that.
It
is
not
in
our
new
Investments
at
this
time,
but
that
is
one
of
the
programs
that
we
asked
for.
K
Secondly,
we
also
asked
for
money
for
to
VI
for
VIP,
which
is
another
one
of
our
programs
that
focuses
on
primary
prevention.
Vip
is
the
violence,
intervention
and
prevention
program.
It
works
to
prevent
Violence
by
building
and
sustaining
communities.
So
it
really
is
about
empowering
communities
to
prevent
violence
in
the
first
place.
Knowing
what
we
know
about
the
root
causes
of
violence,
they
use
trauma-informed
Community
engagement
strategies.
They
also
do
a
lot
of
work
with
youth
and
communities
and
works
in
six
micro
neighborhoods
throughout
Boston.
K
The
idea
with
the
additional
funding
is
that
there
is
no
VIP
program
in
High,
Park
or
JP,
and,
as
we
know
there
are
you
know,
areas
of
those
neighborhoods
where
we
know
that
there
is
violence
that
has
occurred,
so
the
idea
would
be
to
grow
the
program
and
actually
have
programming
in
those
two
neighborhoods.
J
B
You
I
think
that's
it
for
the
ram
our
first
round.
I
will
now
go
to
our
public
testimony.
Council
are
to
be
sure
you
want
to
wait.
J
B
There
aren't
any
other
people
in
front
of
you,
but
that
wraps
up
our
first
round
we're
going
to
testimony
if
you
have
one
or
two
questions,
and
you
wanted
to
do
that
before
public
testimony.
Since
we
have
such
a
large
list
great.
J
J
As
you
know,
as
the
chair
of
the
housing
and
Community
Development
Committee,
we've
been
really
focused
on
housing
quality
and
looking
particularly
at
asthma
triggers
in
housing
and
how
one
we're
responding
to
asthma
triggers,
but
really
how
we're
helping
combat
those
asthma
triggers,
and
so
I'm
really
encouraged
to
see
that
the
emergency
department
visits
for
asthma
in
children
under
five
have
stayed
at
2,
800
and
FY
23,
and
that
your
goal
is
to
maintain
them
is.
Is
there
a
reason
why
the
goal
is
not
to
lesson?
Okay
in
one
of
cases.
K
P
K
No,
where
are
you
getting
that
data
from
so
we
are
publishing?
Let
me
just
tell
you
so
and
I
explained
this
earlier:
we're
publishing
our
health
of
Boston
reports
great.
It
should
be
published
in
the
next
two
weeks
online,
so
you
would
be
able
to
view
them.
One
of
them
is
our
asthma
report
and
I
can
I
know.
What's
in
the
asthma
report,.
J
J
It
looks
like
oh,
you
know
a
little
bit
under
ten
thousand
dollars.
So
can
you
talk
a
little
bit
more
and
same
thing
for
the
environmental
hazards
line
item
same
thing,
it's
growing
Maybe
by
a
hundred
thousand
a
little
bit
under
a
hundred
thousand.
Can
you
talk
about
what
those
new
Investments
are
for.
K
I,
don't
know
Tim,
do
you
have
the
exact
I
can
tell
you
that
I
I
think
we
need
to
wait
for
the
at
the
health
of
Boston
a
report,
so
we
know
really
what's
happening,
but
we
have
asthma,
not
only
prevalence,
but
we
have
asthma
morbidity.
So
we
have
hospitalizations
across
every
age.
Every
race
and
I.
Think
that
is
really
what
you
need
to
be
focused
in
on
in
terms
of
thinking
about
what
it
is.
We
need
to
do
differently
just
to
show
you
know.
K
In
FY
23
we
did
conduct
365,
asthma
prevention
and
control
visits
and
the
you
know
you
know
what
the
program
does
it.
It
provides
education,
support,
decrease,
asthma,
triggers
referrals
to
hospitals
so
on
and
so
forth,
and
then
we
also
of
note
trained
55
community
health
workers
and
Asthma
home
visiting
topics.
So
I
think
that
that's
really
important
Tim
do
you
have
any
information
on
new
investments
in
the
asthma
asthma,
programming,
I
I?
Don't.
Q
What
that
small
amount
is
I
can
find
out,
but
on
the
environment,
it's
a
hazard
piece
well,
I
should
say
for
the
total
CIB
Bureau,
that's
going
up
by
the
126
000
and
that's
due
to
the
transfer
transfer
of
the
FTE
from
environmental
hazards
to
CIB
around
the
noise
ordinance
work
that
we're
going
to
be
doing.
Okay,.
J
J
Thank
you
and
my
final
question
is
around
for
the
homelessness
Services
bureau
there's
an
appropriation
of
about
a
a
little
bit
over
8
million
dollars
last
year
in
FY
23,
and
so
we
held
a
hearing
on
the
Boston
city
council,
sponsored
by
myself
that
really
talked
about
homelessness
and
housing
for
lgbtq
folks,
intergenerationally
from
young
people,
queer
young
people
who
are
homeless
to
senior
housing
to
queer
folks
who
are
coming
out
of
incarceration
and
kind
of
really
looking
at
the
housing
crisis
right,
we
have
the
housing
crisis
and
then
we
have
our
most
vulnerable
communities
who
are
kind
of
double
double
impacted
by
the
housing
crisis,
which
is
folks
who
are
struggling
with
mental
health
issues,
folks
that
are
struggling
with
substance
abuse
and
particularly
queer
lgbtq
young
people
and
seniors
in
the
city
of
Boston
and
so
I'm
curious
about
what
resources.
J
Our
staffing
are
really
needed
to
address,
to
look
specifically
at
Youth
and
lgbtq
plus
homelessness,
and
what
the
bureau
is
doing
to
address
these
issues
of
homelessness
that
face
these
specific
vulnerable
populations.
And
you
know:
I
I've
been
really
concerned
about
shelters
that
are
affirming
and
welcoming
to
queer
and
trans
folk
in
the
city
of
Boston
and
so
programmatically.
Are
we
making
any
Investments?
What
does
that
look
like
at
bphc
right
now.
K
Counselor
Laura
I
think
that
you're
making
is
some
very
important
statements,
particularly
around
the
lgbtq
plus
population,
in
regards
to
our
work
there.
What
one
of
the
things
that
we've
been
doing
over
the
course
of
the
last
few
months
is
A
needs
assessment
for
the
entire
city
of
Boston,
and
so
we
have
a
community
working
group
that
has
been
working
with
a
number
of
different
organizations:
lgbtq
positive
communities,
members
of
the
community
themselves,
as
well
as
organizations
and
Leadership,
and
they
will
have
a
report
that
will
be
coming
out
very
soon,
I'm.
K
Just
reading
the
update,
we
also
have
Community
conversations
with
trans
people
of
color
native
Spanish-speaking,
lgbtq
people
of
color
and
a
number
of
other
groups,
as
well
as
provider
focus
groups.
The
actual
report
it
looks
like
is
going
to
be
available
in
July,
so
we
have
a
little
bit
of
time.
The
asthma
report
going
to
be
available
too
I
know
yeah,
really
that's
available.
It's
the
the
draft
is
like
being
finalized.
Now
we
will
post
them
once
they're
formatted
by
early
May,
okay,
very
soon.
Thank
you.
A
lot
of
things.
B
You
thank
you,
madam
no
problem.
I'm
gonna
go
to
my
list
and
my
the
the
most
people.
Most
of
the
people
that
want
to
testify
today
has
asked
if
you
are
able
to
come
on
cameras
for
the
counselors
to
be
attentively
listening.
If
you
are
able
to
please
do
so
at
this
time,
I'm
going
to
be
calling
an
order
of
arrivals
or
signage
Mallet.
Are
we
Ian
I
know
you
could
hear
me,
but
can't
confirm.
Are
we
ready
for
our
public
testimony.
B
And
if
so,
can
we
have
the
first
person
on
camera?
Here
we
go.
R
B
Sorry,
you
have
to
state
your
name,
affiliate,
oh
sorry
and
or
residence,
and
then
you
have
two
minutes.
R
So
my
name
is
mahalite
pronunciation
in
the
description
below
my
pronouns.
Are
she
her
I'm
affiliated
with
Boston
University
School
of
Social
Work
I?
R
Am
a
Public
Health
social
worker
and
I
am
a
resident
former
of
Roxbury
in
Dorchester,
and
so
I
wanted
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
proposal
that
went
through
for
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
and
how
that
came
about
and
the
importance
of
implementing
that
there
have
been
lots
of
great
work
done
by
the
commission,
the
best
team
Etc,
and
it
is
obvious
that
they're
very
overwhelmed
as
a
clinician.
R
R
In
addition
and
I
think
it's
important
that
there
is
follow
through
with
the
plan
that
was
created
by
community
members
and
stakeholders,
I
think
it's
a
a
really
good
opportunity
to
demonstrate.
Yes,
we
will
fund
community
members
to
create
initiatives,
but
also
listen
in
addition,
because
it
can
send
a
message
that,
yes,
we
can
let
you
do
all
the
planning
you
want,
but
at
the
end
of
the
day,
we're
not
going
to
implement
it
all.
B
Right
so
thank
you.
That
is
your
time.
R
Yeah
I
also
wanted
to
reiterate
that
the
model
would
only
cost
2.6
million
dollars,
which
is
a
very
small
fraction
of
what
the
budget
is
for
the
Boston
Police
Department
it's
equivalent
to
2.5
days
of
funding,
and
so
you
know
it
sounds
like
a
lot,
but
it's
actually
not
very
much
in
comparison
and
as
a
public
health
worker.
I
think
this
has
been
very
important
initiative
to
fund
to
protect
residents.
Austin
thank.
B
You
thank
you
so
much
Dr,
ojukutu
and
Tim.
If
you
feel
you
mods,
just
let
me
know
and
I'll
allow
you
the
time
there
will
be
some
questions
that
I'll
be
asking
you
to
respond
to.
Ren
is
run
with
us.
S
S
Partner
violence
and
my
partner
at
that
time
we
lived
in
Boston,
and
this
is
someone
who
you
know
threatened
me,
but
also
threatened
a
lot
of
self-harm
and
suicide
and
I
did
not
feel
like
I
could
call
the
police,
because
I
knew
first
of
all,
this
was
someone
who
I
loved
very
much
and
also
someone
who
was
multiply
marginalized
and
had
Trauma
from
police
and
also
had
some
trauma
from
the
mental
health
system,
had
a
lot
of
mental
health
challenges
and
so
having
a
a
model.
S
That's
really
Community
Based,
where
community
members
are
trained
to
intervene
in
these
situations
to
really
lower
that
barrier
and
be
like
these
are
not
people
with
badges
coats
uniforms
like
coming
for
you.
You
know
these
are
people
in
your
community
and
especially
something
like
intimate
partner
violence
or
things
we've
been
talking
about
like
homelessness.
These
are
like
slow
motion,
chronic
emergencies.
You
know
we're
building.
That
relationship
is
so
important,
and
so
I
really
urge
you
to
dedicate
the
funding
for
this
model.
B
Thank
you
so
much
Ren
for
sharing
your
story
and
your
vulnerability
and
to
be
able
to
come
here
and
advocate
for
others.
Thank
you.
We
look
forward
to
more
in
the
future.
Next
we
have
Whitney
golden.
T
T
Gotcha,
my
name
is
Lucy
golden
and
I'm
a
social
worker
at
a
local
community
health
center
located
in
Boston
and
I,
am
here
providing
testimonies
today
in
full
support
of
fully
funding
at
2.6
million
the
pilot
for
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response.
T
I
was
one
of
14
community
members
that
worked
alongside
the
city,
school
and
Boston
Liberation
Health
to
design
the
community-led,
mental
health
response
being
that
I
am
up
by
Park
resident
of
Boston
and
a
social
worker.
The
idea
of
something
like
this
being
offered
in
the
city
really
rang.
True
to
me.
This
kind
of
response
has
some
key
components
that
I
believe
will
contribute
to
those
in
need,
along
with
their
family
and
friends,
feeling
better
supported
in
your
search
for
support
and
care.
T
One
of
those
components
are
no
police
involvement.
Speaking
from
personal
experience,
I
have
worked
with
young
people
and
families
that
are
hesitant
and
sometimes
avoid
altogether
seeking
support
for
themselves
or
a
loved
one.
Due
to
police
involvement,
I
have
first-hand
knowledge
that
people
have
felt
unheard,
have
bad
past
experiences
or
feeling
unsafe
and
victimized
at
a
vulnerable
time
in
their
life.
T
I
had
a
family
I
worked
closely
with
show
me
a
video
where
the
mother
was
seen
yelling
at
the
police
that
her
child
needed,
Medical,
Health
assistance,
I'm,
sorry,
mental
health
assistance,
and
you
can
hear
the
fear
in
her
voice
as
she
tried
to
ensure
his
safety
and
well-being
as
the
police
interacted
with
it.
I
bring
this
example
up,
because
that
should
not
be
the
case
for
any
human
being
experience
a
mental
health
crisis
or
having
to
Bear
witness
to
one
I
also
say
because
I
want
to
distinguish
intention
from
the.
T
In
this
example,
I
am
equivocally
attesting
to
the
negative
impact
that
this
encounter
had
on
a
on
the
very
person
the
police
were
called
to
help,
whereas
the
impact
of
this
program,
like
whereas
the
impact
of
programs
like
this
one,
we
propose
today,
are
restorative
on
different
levels
and
have
a
hand
at
helping
such
individuals
get
what
they
need
so
that
they
find
them
so
that
they
themselves
can
start
working
toward
making
themselves
whole.
T
In
addition
to
no
police
involvement
component.
Sorry,
in
addition
to
the
no
police
involvement,
another
component
that
I
think
enhances
this
Mental
Health
crisis
response
is
that
the
plan
seeks
to
hire
by
people,
people
with
lived
experience
and
community
members.
The
importance
of
these
components
are
to
ensure
that
the
people
serving
the
community
come
from
come
from
that
Community
have
a
comfortability
and
connection
and
my
personal
experience.
This
is
important
in
the
therapeutic
encounter,
because
it
allows
for
a
potentially
in-depth,
unique
and
safe
space
for
seeking
assistance.
U
B
Second,
let
me
verify
so
saying
the
list
that
I
have
for
public
testimony
is.
B
Everyone
from
this
name
down
so
Daniel
and
then
Emmy.
B
A
A
In
my
role
as
both
a
scholar
on
Mental
Health
practice
and
a
long
time,
Social
Work
educator
I
would
like
to
identify
three
one.
Our
model
would
ensure
a
non-carceral
consent
based
service
in
my
30
years
of
teaching
and
practice.
I
have
heard
from
thousands
of
students
and
service
users
who
are
here
today
that
have
interfaced
with
law,
enforcement's
involvement
with
our
broken
mental
health
system.
A
The
multiple
experiences
of
lack
of
trust,
coercion
and
direct
harm
that
they
report
have
led
many
to
refuse
to
call
9-1-1
and
to
instruct
providers
to
avoid
contact
with
the
abest
team.
Two
Armada
would
enable
Boston
to
provide
Visionary
leadership
to
cities,
Across
the
Nation
around
a
mental
health
crisis
response
that
is
cost-effective
and
demonstrates
best
practice.
A
As
the
co-author
of
the
book
social
justice
and
clinical
practice,
we
have
documented
the
crisis
in
mental
health
repeatedly.
The
need
for
anti-oppressive
systems
of
care
couldn't
be
clearer.
Traditional
Mental,
Health
Services
are
not
meeting
the
needs
of
community
members.
There
are
programs
across
the
country
implementing
implementing
alternative
cost
effective
models.
Boston
can
lead
around
the
Innovative
anti-pressive
mental
health
care.
A
Third,
our
model
is
completely
aligned
with
the
city's
commitment
to
equity,
inclusion
and
justice.
As
an
educator
and
mental
health
provider.
I
know
that
mental
health
programs
must
be
collaboratively
developed
by
the
people,
most
directly
impacted
by
Mental
Health
Services.
Our
pilot
was
developed
by
community
members
selected
by
the
city
and
vetted
by
hundreds
of
Boston
residents.
Both
service
providers
and
users
is
an
optimal
anti-oppressive,
Public
Health
practice,
and
we
will
all
benefit
when
it
is
fully
funded
and
operational.
Thank
you.
B
Thank
you,
Professor
Martinez,
you
guys
will
have
to
support
help
me
with
your
list
and
who
you
want
to
go
next
I.
Have
someone
from
my
team
contacting
you
now
to
get
a
list,
I
guess
scanned
and
emailed
to
me
and
then
I'll
be
able
to
follow
it
thereafter,
but
for
now
who's
next.
B
Daniel,
your
name
state
your
name
and
affiliation,
and
you
have
two
minutes.
V
Thank
you
good
afternoon,
members
of
city
council.
My
name
is
Danny
I'm
a
freshman
at
bla.
Here
today,
with
yjpu
I,
may
speak
about
the
importance
of
mental
health
in
the
crisis
response
pilot.
The
mental
health
response
in
Boston
is
inadequate.
There
have
been
numerous
examples
of
individuals
with
mental
health
conditions
being
killed
by
the
police,
Daniel
approved
March,
2020
shot
and
oh
I'm.
Sorry
wrong
person,
Beryl
Ramsay
white
2012
dead
met
with
guns
instead
of
care,
Manuel
Jr,
De,
Vega,
2010
dead
met
with
guns
instead
of
care.
V
Terence
2016
item
met
with
guns,
instead
of
care,
all
all
examples
of
people
being
killed
by
BPD
few
people
dead
all
because
of
an
adequately
trained
professionals
introduced
properly
trained
people
by
the
community
for
the
community.
There
have
been
numerous
examples
in
other
cities
where
programs
like
this
have
shown
to
be
effective.
Southern
California
the
cat
9-1-1
program
in
their
first
year
of
operation
in
Long,
Beach,
California
86
of
individuals,
were
diverted
from
jail
or
emergency
departments
to
treatment,
star
program
Denver
Colorado.
V
Not
only
do
they
assist
in
diverting
individuals
in
the
crisis,
away
from
emergency
departments
and
jails.
They
also
did
this
by
saving
their
City,
almost
1.9
million
dollars
in
the
first
six
months.
These
programs
have
been
proven
to
be
effective
and
reducing
harm
to
individuals
in
crisis,
reducing
the
burden
on
law
enforcement
and
saving
taxpayer
money.
We
are
requesting
2.6
million
dollars
in
funding
from
the
BPD
budget.
V
W
Thank
you
hi.
My
name
is
Amy
tokonami
I
use
she
her
pronouns
I'm
a
staring
Committee
Member
of
the
Boston
Liberation
health
group
and
I'm
here
to
share
testimony
on
behalf
of
our
organization
in
support
of
fully
funding
the
pilot
with
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
at
2.6
million
dollars.
W
Our
theory
of
Praxis
posits
that
problems
that
individuals
face
cannot
be
understood
in
isolation
from
the
economic,
political,
cultural
and
historical
conditions
which
give
rise
to
them
as
social
workers.
We
do
not
accept
the
false
binary
between
individual
clinical
interventions
and
structural
macro
interventions.
W
My
perspective
has
also
been
shaped
by
my
own
lived
experience,
someone
who
had
to
witness
a
parent
experience
compounded
trauma
through
violent
interaction
with
the
police,
when
what
my
parent
needed
most
was
health
and
mental
health
care
and
support
in
the
midst
of
Crisis.
My
macrowork
macro
Social
Work
lens
on
this
issue
is
very
much
informed
by
my
own
lived
experiences.
Thank
you
all
again
for
your
time
and
I
urge
you
to
support
fully
funding
the
pilot
for
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
at
2.6
million
dollars.
U
We
are
here
in
the
pimonte
room
and
we
are
a
coalition
of
young
people
and
organizations
that
you're
going
to
hear
from
over
the
course
of
this
afternoon.
We
are
committed
to
fighting
for
the
implementation
of
this
pilot.
This
model
was
generated
over
a
year
of
a
community-led
design
process
funded
by
the
city.
The
model
is
consent
based
free
to
use
non-carceral
and
a
non-police
model.
There
is
currently
no
mental
health
response
in
Boston.
U
That
assures
that,
if
you
call
you
will
never
be
faced
with
involuntarily
involuntary
institutionalization,
there
is
no
other
response
in
Boston
as
committed
to
not
calling
the
police
on
our
community
members.
As
this
one
as
you've
heard
earlier,
most
responder
teams
often
call
police
or
arrive
with
police,
and
that
makes
it
unsafe
for
us
to
call
for
fear,
criminalization
and
brutality.
U
As
a
member
of
the
Muslim
Community
and
the
South
Asian
Community
this
year,
I've
seen
directly
what
happens
when
this
kind
of
resource
isn't
available.
Seconded
Arif
Faisal
was
murdered
by
Cambridge
Police
when
he
was
in
a
de-escalatable
mental
health
crisis,
and
it
haunts
me
every
day
to
think
about
how
easily
we
could
have
saved
his
life.
U
Personally,
there
have
been
instances
where
I've
been
afraid
to
call
9-1-1
when
friends
were
experiencing
suicidality
and
I
chose
to
go
to
them
myself,
instead
of
reaching
out
to
responders,
because
I
knew
I
can
successfully
de-escalate
in
a
way
that
police
or
even
EMS
can't
fund
our
pilot
model
for
2.6
million
and
show
us
that
you
are
ready
to
commit
to
the
black
and
brown
immigrant
Muslim
disabled
working
class,
queer
and
trans
and
youth
communities
who
know
how
to
care
for
each
other
best.
Thank
you.
Lord.
B
Thank
you,
hi
Mel,
please
state
your
name
in
affiliation
and
you
have
two
minutes.
Okay,.
X
Hello,
my
name
is
Mel
fam
and
I'm.
A
youth
leader
at
VA,
representing
Dorchester
nowadays
I've
noticed
that
many
authority
figures
in
my
life
are
certified
to
adjust
mental
health
issues.
Unfortunately,
the
majority
of
them
are
mandated
reporters
when
I
was
struggling
with
my
mental
health.
I
did
not
want
to
talk
about
it
with
my
friends
as
much
as
I
confide
in
them.
It
is
not
their
responsibility
to
advise
me,
especially
if
they
are
not
experienced
in
mental
health
crises.
X
X
I
struggled
through
a
lot
all
by
myself
to
get
back
to
a
good
state
of
mind
and
something
like
the
free
and
consent
based
Mental,
Health
crisis
response
would
have
helped
me
so
much
back
then,
and
I
only
asked
for
0.007
of
the
police
budget
for
a
pilot
to
help
people
that
are
in
the
same
situation
and
that
I
was
in
so
long
ago.
Thank
you.
G
Y
Violent
interactions
with
police
that
no
young
adult
should
have
to
be
able
to
witness
I
asked
of
you.
2.6
million
dollars
only
0.007
less
than
one
percent
of
the
yearly
police
budget
to
invest
in
this
model,
which
will
be
accessible
to
communities
in
need
like
mine,
who
cannot
depend
on
the
police,
for
assistance
at
all
times
have
shown
that
more
than
half
of
police
shootings
victims
are
those
with
mental
illnesses.
This
is
not
coincidental
unless
we
do
something
about
this.
Y
It
is
a
repetitive
cycle
of
community
of
colors
victims,
falling
victim
to
mental
illness
and
being
attacked
or
having
such
problems
by
a
white
supremacist
system.
I
speak
from
the
heart
when
I
say
this.
New
system
of
mental
health
response
is
a
promise
of
safety
and
a
Dependable
source
of
reliability
for
young
adults
and
adults
alike,
people
of
color,
lgbtq,
plus
communities,
immigrants
and
as
well
as
any
other
minority
communities.
Z
Z
You
have
a
problem:
hello,
my
name
is
Excel
Smalls
I
am
both
the
summer
Leadership
program
director
at
the
city
school,
but
also
the
senior
organizer
at
Community,
Labor
United
and
a
resident
in
Boston
living
in
Dorchester
I'm.
Here
today,
alongside
a
multitude
of
organizations
and
people
who
are
showing
up
in
the
larger
and
broader
fight
for
racial
and
economic
Justice,
and
see
you
today
as
an
opportunity
to
participate,
engage
and
collaborate
with
elected
officials
and
ultimately
advocate
for
public
funds
and
public
dollars
that
move
towards
the
public.
Z
Z
Speaking
on
this
issue,
regarding
our
advocacy
towards
mental
health
without
the
use
of
policing,
we
know
that
in
order
to
do
Justice
by
All
Peoples
and
especially
young
people
who
are
really
showing
up
in
leadership
today,
we
need
to
dig
out
the
root
causes
of
mental
health
as
a
social
concern,
not
just
a
medical
concern
and
it
reviewed
the
Mental
Health
crisis
in
our
communities.
As
such,
we
need
a
community-based
model.
Z
Z
We
need
fully
funded
community-based
model
in
an
effort
to
address
and
Implement
a
model
that
is
effective
and
has
been
proven
to
do
so.
Thank
you.
AA
AB
Good
afternoon
my
name
is
Joaquin
atala
Gutierrez
I'm,
a
proud
Palestinian
Mexican-American
I
am
14
years
old.
I
was
born
and
raised
in
Boston
I
go
to
school
at
Boston.
Latin
Academy
I
want
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police
to
do
to
go
to
a
community-led.
Mental
health
crisis
response
from
day
to
day
I
see
people
who
could
use
support
on
where
I
live
in
Hyde
Park
around
where
I
go
to
school
in
Roxbury.
AB
AB
AB
Too
much
money
goes
to
the
police
in
the
first
place,
and
we
are
only
asking
for
less
than
one
percent
of
the
annual
police
budget
to
go
to
Mental
Health.
We
have
had
this
system
for
far
too
long
and
it's
time
for
a
change.
Therefore,
we
should
defund
the
police
and
give
2.6
million
dollars
of
the
police
budget
to
to
go
to
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response.
Thank
you.
AA
U
Clubs
we
have,
we
have
Devin
next.
AD
Thank
you.
Yes,
my
name
is
Devon
atolla
I
am
a
psychologist.
A
resident
of
Hyde
Park
father
of
Joaquin.
AD
And
yes,
so
here
are
my
testimony,
I'd
like
to
say
that,
as
both
a
clinician
and
a
researcher,
who's
provided
crisis,
mental
health
interventions
and
care
for
for
decades
here
in
Boston,
it's
important
to
understand
that
I'm
speaking,
of
course,
as
someone
who
holds
in
my
body
the
Decades
of
what
it
means
to
do
this
work
and
also
as
as
my
son
said,
as
a
Palestinian
I
know,
I
know
the
ways
in
which
policing
becomes
surveillance
becomes
oppression
from
Boston
to
Bethlehem,
Jerusalem
and
Beyond.
AD
It's
Reckless
the
way
that
Boston
City
continues
to
put
money
into
policing
who
collaborate
with
the
the
colonial
nation
state
of
Israel
right.
This
is
a
transnational
problem
and
it's
Reckless
to
continue
to
pour
money
into
it.
So
I'm
saying
we
as
I'm
saying
this
as
a
Committee
Member
as
a
clinical
psychologist
as
a
therapist
as
a
professor
of
psychology
here
in
Boston,
my
field
has
historically
supported
the
state
violence
of
policing
and
so
I
stand
against
that
as
well
and
I
hope
you
join
me
and
other
psychologists.
AD
AD
The
police
system's
consistent.
Violent
actions
against
those
of
us
with
mental
illness
means
that
divesting
from
police
into
mental
health
response
is
a
community
safety
strategy.
We
demand
that
you
act.
You
place
the
2.6
million
dollars
into
Mental
Health
Care
response
and
bring
the
much
needed
care
to
the
most
vulnerable
residents
in
our
communities.
We
can
do
this
on
the
ground.
We
have
the
knowledge
we
have
the
capacity
we
need
you
to
step
up
and
act
divest
from
police
invest
in
community.
Thank
you.
AE
Hi,
my
name
is
amantula
Mervin
I'm,
the
outgoing
executive
director
of
the
city
school,
representing
all
of
these
lovely
people
in
support
and
that's
located
in
Dorchester,
one
of
the
organizations
alongside
Boston
Liberation
Health,
that
work
to
support
community
members
in
developing
the
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model,
I
implore,
the
Ways
and
Means
Committee
to
strongly
advise
the
budget
to
include
2.6
million
from
law
enforcement
budgets
to
be
used
for
the
Mental
Health
crisis
response
pilot
and
program.
AE
AE
As
we
know,
mental
health
issues,
substance,
abuse
dependence,
Etc
are
public
health
issues
that
should
be
addressed
directly
by
Community.
They
affect
the
lives
of
our
constituents
and
your
constituents
and
those
you
serve
as
a
youth
worker
for
over
10
years,
I
see
every
day
the
impact
of
Youth
and
their
families
in
community,
not
having
access
to
Safe
spaces
or
Community
to
be
supported.
AE
The
Mental
Health
crisis
response
pilot
is
a
radically
different
approach
based
in
Justice
and
the
humanity
of
people
that
will
positively
support
our
city
and
the
work
that
we
are
doing
to
me.
This
is
not
simply
an
option,
but
the
only
viable
way
that
does
not
add
a
Band-Aid
to
the
problem
and
the
long-suffering
of
black
and
brown
communities,
especially
I.
Ask
that
you
not
only
fund
the
pilot
but
the
model
fund,
the
model
as
a
commitment
to
our
communities
and
as
a
commitment
to
yourselves
and
the
communities
that
you
help
to
represent.
Thank
you.
AF
AF
So
there
used
to
be
a
time
where
I
didn't
understand
the
kind
of
services
police
officers
provided
to
community.
When
I
was
a
kid,
I
was
taught
that
they
were
supposed
to
serve
the
people,
protect
us
and
de-escalate
serious
situations,
but
as
I
got
older,
I
started
to
understand
the
reality
of
the
situation
in
what
police
officers
actually
did.
I
started
to
understand
that
the
only
groups
of
people
police
officers
were
here
to
protect
and
serve
were
white
people.
Given
the
messed
up
structures,
the
police
system
was
spoke
from
the
reality.
AF
They
take
a
long
time
when
they
do
show
up
their
approaches
to
meet
community
members
with
violence,
with
punitive
consequences
or
with
fear
I'm
here
advocating
that
we
take
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police
budget
and
redirect
that
money
into
commun
into
the
community-led
Mental
Health
crisis
response
program
we
need
we
want,
and
we
deserve
community
members
with
shared
identities
and
experiences
to
be
trained
to
respond
in
a
way
that
is
effective
and
transformative
for
our
community.
We
do
not
need
any
more
structures
that
come
from
white
people
on
how
to
keep
our
people
safe.
AG
Good
afternoon
councilor
Anderson
and
City
Council
Members.
Thank
you
for
having
us.
My
name
is
Chloe
Frankel
I
am
a
clinical
social
worker,
a
resident
of
Jamaica
Plain
and
a
member
of
the
Boston
Liberation
health
group,
and
was
also
honored
to
be
part
of
the
facilitation
team
for
the
community
design
process.
AG
I
want
to
speak
today,
echoing
what
my
colleagues
here
have
said
and
calling
for
2.6
million
dollars
to
be
2.7.
Sorry
I
moved
to
from
the
BPD
budget
into
the
community-led,
Mental
Health
crisis
response
program,
as
you've
heard
from
folks
today.
We
know
that
crisis
response
must
be
rooted
in
trust,
relationship
and
consent,
and
that
everything
leads
to
worse
outcomes.
When
that
is
not
the
case.
AG
Part
of
what
I
want
to
talk
about
today
is
prevention
and
diversion.
One
of
the
issues
is
that
when
people
don't
know
who's
going
to
show
up-
or
they
worry,
that
the
person
who
shows
up
is
going
to
make
things
worse,
they're
less
likely
to
call
for
help.
I
was
very
pleased
to
hear
councilor
Arroyo
earlier
talk
about
prevention
and
diversion
and
I
want
to
highlight
that
there
is
already
a
precedent
in
Massachusetts
for
Effective
cost-saving,
voluntary,
community-based
Mental
Health
Services
that
preserve
the
Dignity
of
those
receiving
services.
AG
I've
been
practicing
as
a
community-based
social
worker
for
over
15
years,
and
many
of
those
years
were
as
part
of
an
in-home
therapy
or
family
stabilization
team.
These
teams
were
developed
as
part
of
a
Continuum
of
Care
in
2007-2008
as
part
of
the
children's
behavioral
initiative
in
Boston
and
throughout
the
state.
These
teams
meet
with
clients
at
home
on
a
voluntary
basis
to
provide
therapeutic
support
and
crisis
response
and,
importantly,
to
build
relationships
with
folks
before
crisis
moments
are
reached.
AG
So
there's
really
clear
data
showing
that
these
are
cost
saving
measures
through
prevention
and
diversion
and
I
want
to
be
clear.
That
cbhi
is
not
the
same
as
the
model
that
we're
proposing
and
they
do
have
a
parent
partner
program
and
they
do
have
some
components
of
peer
support,
but
they
are
not
Community
Driven
community-led,
and
so
what
we're
proposing
is
really
really
really
rooted
in
community
and
in
people.
Trusting
that
the
person
who's
going
to
show
up.
AG
AG
We
know
that
this
is
what
community
members
need
and
are
asking
for
and
right
now,
cbhi
services
are
only
available
to
people
under
age
21,
so
we're
asking
the
city
of
Boston
to
invest
in
a
community-led
mental
health
crisis
response
model
so
that
all
Boston
residents
can
access
community-based,
cost-effective,
trustworthy,
evidence-based
mental
health
support,
regardless
of
their
age,
race,
diagnosis
or
ability
to
pay
and
Boston
needs
and
deserves
a
fully
funded
community-led.
Mental
health
Crisis
crisis
response
program.
Thank
you.
So
much.
AH
Hello
city
councilors,
my
name
is
Joaquin
Lambos.
We
are
here
today
demanding
the
city
council,
take
2.6
million
from
the
police
budget
and
put
it
into
our
pilot
for
a
community-based
mental
health
crisis
response
as
a
young
person
who
are
seeing
young
youth
deal
with
Mental
Health
crisis.
Seeing
youth
refuse
to
call
for
help
refused
to
call
9-1-1
or
Suicide
Hotline
and
skepticism,
and
even
fear
of
what
would
happen
to
them
if
they
did
more
than
20
percent
of
people
who
were
fatally
shot
by
the
police
were
experiencing
a
mental
health
crisis.
AH
Just
earlier
this
year,
Syed
Faisal
was
shot
and
killed
by
the
police.
While
experiencing
a
mental
health
crisis,
would
you
send
a
nurse
into
a
burning
building?
No,
you
would
send
a
firefighter
someone
trained
for
that
specific
situation.
So
then,
why
are
we
sending
police
to
deal
with
Mental
Health
crisis
instead
of
trained
professionals
that
know
how
to
deal
with
the
situation?
AH
The
police
are
not
reliable
when
a
mental
health
crisis
is
happening,
nor
do
they
put
us
at
ease
or
make
us
feel
sick
when
having
a
mental
health
crisis,
we
know
that
there
are
plenty
of
police
officers
of
color
who
have
deep
roots
in
our
community
and
agree
with
the
fact
that
things
need
to
change.
The
police
budget
has
gone
up
by
10
million
dollars
for
what
we
are
asking
for.
Only
0.64
of
the
police
budget
to
let
us
run
our
pilot
for
a
community-based
Health
crisis
response.
Thank
you.
AH
AF
B
Would
add
to
Chloe's
testimony
that
cbhi
is
also
only
provided
to
people
that
actually
have
the
diagnosis
and
that's
one
of
the
issues?
B
Isn't
it
is
that
a
lot
of
people
that
who
don't
have
access
to
these
Services
may
be
facing
situational
circumstantial,
temporary,
just
diagnosis
that
may,
in
the
long
run,
not
deserve
harsh
diagnosis
or
may
not
even
need
a
diagnosis,
but
there
are
no
Services
through
any
insurance
that
will
actually
allow
you
to
be
treated
or
to
be
seen
or
address,
or
your
issues
addressed
without
a
diagnosis,
one
of
the
dangers
of
always
labeling
our
young
people
in
society.
B
U
AC
I'm
India
a
Dorchester
resident
representing
the
city
school
by
implementing
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response.
Boston
residents
will
have
the
ability
to
to
report
Mental
Health
crisis
crises
to
professionals
without
fear
of
police
violence
or
abuse
of
power.
I
demand
2.6
million
dollars
to
be
allocated
from
police
funds
into
this
model
in
order
to
uplift
those
in
our
community
who
will
benefit
the
most,
including
those
struggling
with
mental
health,
people
of
color
and
the
LGBT
btq
plus
Community.
AC
N
AI
AJ
Hi,
my
name
is
Kyra
I'm
a
15
year
old
resident
here
in
Roxbury
and
I
work
with
yjpu
I
lived
here.
My
entire
life
and
I've
witnessed
my
own
peers
and
need
of
mental
health
care,
but
has
had
nobody
to
actually
help
them
in
the
ways
they
need
it
and
have
had
their
life
changed
for
the
worse
because
of
the
system
we
have
now
so
when
I
say
that
I
know
firsthand
that
our
community
is
in
need
of
better
Mental,
Health
crisis,
responders
I
mean
it.
AJ
So
what
we
are
in
desperate
need
of
is
is
to
take
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police,
overtime
budget
and
work
on
a
better
Mental
Health
Care
system,
one
that
has
no
police
officers
and
more
of
our
community
members.
That
will
understand
what
we
are
going
through
and
can
be
calm
with
us
and
have
compassion
and
sympathy.
So
our
community
members
in
need
feel
safe
and
could
get
the
help
they
deserve.
Q
AK
AK
Nice
to
see
you,
my
name
is
Khalil
I'm,
a
lead
organizer
for
yjpu
the
justice
and
power
Union
I'm
25
I'm
from
Roxbury
I'm
here
today,
in
solidarity
with
the
City
School
Boston
Liberation
health
and
my
community.
We're
demanding
fully
funding
the
pilot
for
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
at
2.6
million,
and
we're
asking
that
you
move
that
money
from
the
police
budget
into
the
model.
I
believe
that,
if
community-led
crisis
response
got
the
structural
and
financial
support
that
police
receive,
we
could
save
so
many
lives.
AK
I've
seen
the
police
murder
someone
during
a
crisis
I've
been
in
situations
where
I
don't
know
who
to
call
when
someone
I
love
is
in
pain
and
my
only
options
are
carceral.
We
need
to
fund
things
that
move
our
community
towards
love
and
support.
We
can't
continue
to
murder
and
lock
away
our
people,
who
are
hurting
in
need
of
help
I'm
deeply
displeased
that
the
chambers
are
not
even
open
today
but,
as
you
can
tell,
with
our
full
room
of
people,
I
don't
know
if
y'all
seen
all
these
people.
AK
AK
We
have
a
lot
of
people
who
are
in
support
of
this
model
and
a
lot
a
lot
of
people
who
are
unhappy
with
our
current
cultural
models,
so
I
urge
you
to
fully
fund
the
pilot
for
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
at
2.6
million.
Thank
you
for
your
time
and
consideration.
B
Thank
you,
Khalil
Maya.
Allow
me
a
moment,
please
Khalil
and
to
everyone
in
the
room.
There
I
sincerely
apologize
for
having
to
do
this
remotely
I
think
there
was
a
miscommunication
on
which
hearing
is
remote.
I
have
scheduled
the
hearing
for
BPD
in
person
and
in
community
looking
forward
to
collaborate
to
organize
everybody
to
come
back.
Hopefully
maybe
it's
out
of
school.
Maybe
it's
somewhere
convenient
for
you.
We
want
to
give
you
access
and
make
sure
that
it's
convenient.
So
let's
do
this
again.
B
Let's
slow
down
the
conversation,
let's
make
sure
that
we
are
emailing.
The
counselors
counselor
Lara
is
still
here
listening
and
supportive
look
forward
to
making
sure
that
we
engage
you
and
have
people
listen
to
you.
AI
B
Right,
you're,
awesome:
okay,
thank
you
and
thank
you
for
Tim
and
Dr
jakutu
for
being
so
patient
and
listening.
Can
we
okay
next
person
and
we'll
get
through
this.
AL
Thank
you
hi.
My
name
is
Maya
I'm,
a
JP
resident
I'm,
a
steering
committee
member
of
Boston
Liberation
health
I'm,
an
on
the
steering
committee
that
facilitated
the
design
process
of
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model.
I
want
to
name
that
there
are
many
more
community-led,
Design
Group
members
who
aren't
able
to
be
here
today,
because
they
couldn't
take
time
off
work,
especially
after
some
of
them
had
already
taken
time
off
for
a
third
scheduled
meeting
earlier
in
the
week
with
the
mayor's
Administration
that
didn't
end
up
happening
again.
AL
The
CLD
as
a
whole
continues
to
be
committed
to
this
model
happening
into
getting
the
2.6
million
for
the
pilot
I
want
to
share,
from
my
perspective
as
a
licensed
technical,
social
worker,
who's
worked
in
the
field
for
10
plus
years,
the
majority
of
which
have
been
doing
community-based
and
in
homework.
I've
worked
with
many
folks,
navigating
mental
health
crises
and
I
book
witnessed
and
heard
countless
times
about
the
harms
of
our
current
response
systems
I'm,
including
both
the
police
and
the
best
team.
AL
Responding
with
guns
and
badges
only
explains
the
crisis
and
further
traumatized
of
someone.
The
best
team
frequently
calls
the
police,
so
the
city's
proposal
to
increase
coordination
between
EMS
and
the
best
team
as
a
quote-unquote
alternative
model
is
not
actually
anything
different
than
the
harmful
responses
we
already
have.
Community
members
who
are
most
at
risk
of
the
harms
and
violence
of
a
police
response
would
still
be
at
risk.
Even
when
the
best
team
does
not
involve
the
police,
they
still
often
engage
in
non-consensual
practices,
including
forced
hospitalization.
AL
The
community-based
model
would
not
involve
law
enforcement
and
was
designed
by
and
prioritize
this
community
communities
who
are
most
impacted
by
the
current
police
response
model.
A
core
value
anchoring
the
model
is
that
it
is
consent
based
trained
community
members.
Responding
to
other
community
members
in
crisis
would
focus
on
providing
the
care
that
someone
needs
and
consents
to
in
a
moment
of
Crisis.
As
approach
to
prioritizing
liability
concerns,
as
many
best
team
responders
do.
AL
AM
Girl,
how
are
you
thank
you
councilor,
it's
so
nice
to
see
y'all.
My
name
is
Sasha
James
and
I
represent
families
for
justice,
as
healing
and
the
National
Council
for
incarcerated
and
formerly
incarcerated
women
and
girls.
Our
mission
is
to
end
incarceration
of
women
and
girls
and
I
live
in
Roxbury
in
the
middle
of
the
most
incarcerated
Corridor
of
the
Commonwealth.
This
Corridor
lacks
resources
for
mental
health,
substance
use,
housing,
food,
Justice,
adequate
education
and
much
more.
AM
This
is
a
potion
of
Oppression
family
suggested
resilient
and
the
National
Council
has
been
on
the
ground
for
years,
led
by
formerly
incarcerated
and
directly
impacted
women,
grandmothers,
Mothers,
Daughters
and
daughters
to
create
what
different
looks
like
Shifting,
The
Narrative
of
what
true
Public
Safety
looks
like
in
communities
that
are
forced
to
believe.
Safety
comes
from
the
exact
system
that
was
built
to
control,
oppress
and
cause
for
the
harm.
Now
is
the
time
we
listen
to
what
the
people
want.
We
want
the
police
out
of
our
neighborhoods.
We
want
the
gang
unit
out.
AM
AM
Response
model
is
one
tool
that
helps
the
city
of
Boston
control
deployment,
control
police
deployment
because,
as
a
Roxbury
Community
member
representing
D7
I,
am
tired
of
the
police
showing
up
to
my
house,
because
my
daughter
is
having
an
asthma
attack
supporting
a
community-based
mental
health
response
model
also
gives
jobs,
training
and
opportunity
to
explore
a
different
career
path
to
the
people.
In
my
neighborhood
and,
more
importantly,
it
allows
us
to
feel
safe
when
we
are
being
saved
by
the
people
that
look
like
us.
AM
I
believe
that
the
demand
for
2.6
million
dollars,
2.6
million
dollars,
should
go
directly
to
the
community
organizations.
Creating
these
models,
however,
I
understand
this
pilot
model
as
a
start,
which
is
groundbreaking
in
closing.
Community
members
are
working
to
dismantle
piece
by
piece,
the
police
budget,
because
it
is
an
ineffective
system
that
continues
to
be
fiscally
funded
irresponsibly
I
also
I'd
like
to
I'd.
Like
you
to
know
that,
no,
if
this
community-based
model
is
not
supported,
it
will
happen
anyway.
Changes
now
and
change.
AM
Changes
now
and
change
cannot
be
stopped.
We,
the
people
in
this
room
virtually
and
Beyond,
are
the
evolution,
and,
although
we
are
here
asking
for
this
model
to
be
funded,
families
for
just
as
healing
and
the
National
Council
is
truly
proud
to
say
that
we
are
ready.
We
are
already
sending
our
first
round
of
community
members
through
our
local
community-based
EMT
school
to
begin
the
development
and
implementation
of
what
a
community-based
crisis
response
team
looks
like
throughout
infrastructure
of
reimagining
communities.
AM
Yet
we
are
here
in
full
support
and
positioned
to
build
solidarity,
as
we
call
on
the
city
of
Boston
to
finally
put
the
people
first
by
funding
the
vision
of
the
people,
it
is
time
to
move
with
the
people
or
move
on
our
way.
Thank
you.
Thank
you
for
hearing
us
and
thank
you
for
all
the
orgs
and
people
standing
as
we
demand
change.
Thank
you.
Z
AN
Hi,
my
name
is
Shania
and
I'm
20
years
old
and
I'm
with
the
beanstown
society
organization
today
and
I
strongly
believe
that
the
Mental
Health
crisis
response
should
be
implemented
in
Boston,
because
I've
witnessed
scenarios
where
the
police
have
escalated.
Situations
that
don't
need
to
be
escalated,
police
haven't,
put
the
more
harm
in
our
community
than
protecting
it.
Police
harm
is
not
okay
and
I
would
expect
that
they
do
their
job
right
since
they're
getting
paid
millions
of
dollars
to
do
so.
AN
405
million
dollars
to
be
exact
and
I'm
demanding
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
405
million
dollar
budget.
The
2.6
million
dollars
would
be
instead,
would
instead
go
to
experts
in
the
community
who
are
trained
to
be
escalate.
Mental,
Health
crisis
situations.
So
again
we
demand
2.6
million
from
the
police
budget,
drops
Mike.
AO
Hello,
my
name
is
Christian
I'm
from
rockspay
I.
Ask
that
you
divest
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police
budget
to
the
community-led
health,
Mental,
Health
crisis
response
time
and
time
again.
Police
have
escalated
matters
instead
of
properly
resolving
them
with
2.6
million
dollars.
We
could
put
that
responsibility
into
hands
of
experts
in
the
community
who
are
more
prepared
and
familiar
with
these
issues.
AP
AP
Imagine
a
child
at
the
age
of
eight
de-escalating
two
grown
adults,
projecting
generations
of
violence
and
Trauma
on
each
other,
and
then
we
would
pretend
that
nothing
happened.
Imagine
that
child
going
to
school
the
next
day
with
that
experience
on
top
of
societal
pressures,
to
be
a
good
student
I
realize
now
that
that
is
not
normal
and
is
not.
Okay.
AP
Situations
do
not
have
to
shed
blood
in
order
for
it
to
be
bad
and
considered
a
crisis.
I
work
with
predominantly
Vietnamese
immigrant
youth
who
face
the
same
issues
at
home
matter
of
fact,
Dorchester
is
filled
with
bipoc
immigrant
families
who
face
similar
issues
at
home.
Mental
health
is
taboo
to
speak
in
our
culture.
Our
families
deserve
Grace
healing
attention
and
support.
We
need
to
work
towards
dismantling
those
systems
that
push
us
away
from
taking
care
of
ourselves
and
healing
from
generations
of
violence
from
war.
AP
We
have
normalized
these
things
and
we
have
not
unpacked
these
things.
The
Mental
Health
crisis
response
system
is
the
steps
towards
that
for
us,
and
that's
why
I
showed
up
here
today.
I
am
demanding
that
2.6
million
is
taken
from
the
police
budget
to
fund
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
pilot
model.
Thank
you.
O
Hi,
my
name
is
Shania
Destiny
Noel,
Lee
I'm,
with
youth
Justice
power,
Union
I
demand
that
you
take
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police
budget
and
invested
into
the
community-led
Mental
Health
crisis
response
pilot.
This
is
important
to
me
because
this
is
important
to
me
because
everybody
is
impacted
by
mental
health.
I
personally
experience
not
knowing
to
reach
out
when
my
friend
was
suicidal,
there
needs
to
be
a
research
outside
of
police
to
help
teenagers
and
people
who
we
care
about.
O
N
L
B
L
Thank
you
for
having
us
all
today
and
hope
everybody
else
who
I'm
putting
this
all
together.
My
name
is
Chloe
and
mckelligott.
Is
she
her
pronouns
I'm
29
years
old
I've
lived
in
Boston
since
2017.,
it's
my
home,
sorry
I,
grad,
I,
graduated.
B
From
Boston
to
take
your
time,
I
got
I
got
your
no.
No,
it
was
fine.
I
got
you
a
letter,
I
loved
loved
it
absolutely
loved
it.
I
was
looking
forward
to
reading
it.
You
did
great
in
writing.
Looking
forward
to
listening
to
you.
L
Yeah
evacuated
from
Boston
University
School
of
Social
Work
in
2021,
with
my
Master's
in
macro
practice
I'm
here
today,
as
a
resident
and
a
social
worker
to
share
testimony
and
support
of
fully
funding
a
pilot
for
community-based
mental
health
response
crisis
model
at
2.6
million
dollars.
Originally,
today,
I
was
going
to
speak
more
on
what
I
already
submitted
in
the
letter.
L
L
Great
document
you
should
check
it
out
is
her
response
to
people
who've
been
impacted
by
gender
related
or
intimate
partner.
Violence
in
2021
I
was
in
need
of
that
support
like
one
of
the
sorry,
oh
we're
good.
It
was
during.
It
was
one
of
the
worst
periods
of
my
life.
L
I
didn't
feel
like
I.
Had
anyone
to
call
I
didn't
want
to
call
police,
especially
well
I'm,
sorry,
knowing
that
the
police
would
be
like
could
be
involved
if
I
called
9-1-1.
Stop
me
from
calling
anybody,
even
in
my
own
moment
of
Crisis,
especially
as
a
social
worker
I,
couldn't
in
good
conscience,
call
9-1-1
get
the
police
involved
and
support
this.
This
carceral
model
it
doesn't
work.
It
harms
people
and
I.
Also
for
myself.
L
There
are
other
possibilities
at
our
fingertips
at
yours.
We
owe
it
to
ourselves,
especially
individuals
and
communities,
most
impacted
by
policing
to
give
this
pilot
and
model
an
honest.
Try.
Sorry
I
wrote
this
in
my
journal,
so
my
handwriting
is
kind
of
bad.
We
can't
give
it
a
fair
shot
without
substantial
investment
from
the
city.
The
2.6
million
dollars
is
a
fraction
of
the
police
department
budget.
It's
like
three
days,
that's
wild,
so
that's
it
just
please
fund
it
fully,
give
it
a
try.
Thank
you.
AQ
Hi,
my
name
is
Olivia
Nichols
I
live
in
JP
and
work
with
the
Asian
American
Resource
Workshop,
a
pan-Asian
Community
organization
based
in
Fields
Corner
Dorchester,
and
we
organize
with
Asian
and
Asian
American
communities
across
Greater
Boston,
we're
here
in
support
of
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
and
joining
everyone
here
today
in
demanding
that
the
city
and
city
council
moved
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police
budget
to
fully
fund
a
pilot
year
for
this
initiative,
aarw
works
with
Southeast
Asian
refugees
and
immigrants,
who
have
been
over
policed
and
criminalized
by
law
enforcement
that
has
funneled
our
people
through
the
prison
to
deportation
pipeline.
AQ
AQ
AF
N
N
Many
youth
at
BPS
are
struggling
with
a
mental
health
crisis
and
keep
silent
and
are
afraid
to
speak
up,
especially
to
mandated
reporters
because
they're
afraid
of
having
the
police
called
without
their
consent.
They
have
nobody
to
turn
to.
It
would
be
helpful
to
have
someone
to
listen
to
your
troubles,
meet
your
needs
and
respond
responsibly
without
taking
you
away
without
your
consent
or
harming
you
in
any
way.
N
AR
AR
And
supporting
the
community-led
Design
Group,
the
city,
school
and
Boston
Liberation
health
I'm,
proud
to
be
here
in
this
pack.
The
room
with
beautiful
people
here
at
City
Hall,
as
Cleo
showed
you
and
y'all
can
keep
hearing
them.
Clapping
we're
demanding
that
the
city
moves
2.6
million
dollars
from
the
police
department
to
Pilot
the
community
LED
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model
that
community
members
designed
over
the
past
year.
The
city
council
must
amend
the
mayor's
budget
and
the
mayor
must
accept
this
change
as
well
as
cut
the
police
budget
from
its
ridiculous
395
million
dollars.
AR
Instead
of
raising
it
to
405
million
the
Boston
Police
Department
gets
about
a
hundred
thousand
calls
a
year,
including
about
two-thirds
categorized
as
non-criminal
non-violent
drugs,
alcohol
or
driving
motor
vehicle.
Many
groups,
including
citizens
for
Juvenile
Justice,
have
broken
down
how
he
could
respond
to
many
incidents
without
police.
AR
They
respond
to
situations
such
as
sick,
injured,
medical
or
verbal
dispute.
We
don't
need
police
in
these
situations
or
in
mental
health
crises.
We
need
caring,
Community
responders.
Like
many
people,
I've
struggled
when
I've
encountered
a
situation
when
someone
needed
help,
but
there
wasn't
a
clear
place
to
call.
For
example,
I've
seen
police
try
to
kick
people
off
the
train
when
they're,
intoxicated
until
I
said
I
would
ride
with
them
to
where
they
needed
to
go.
AR
Another
time
when
someone
said
they
needed
a
ride
to
their
rehab
program,
I
ended
up
walking
with
them
to
the
program
since
calling
the
police
wouldn't
have
helped.
Instead
of
helping
with
mental
health,
the
police
and
prisons
break
people
down
I,
remember
a
young
person
who
got
out
of
dys
and
was
traumatized
at
his
time
locked
up
there
and
his
friend
who
didn't
have
housing
but
refused
to
go
to
shelters
because
of
how
it
triggered
his
experiences
of
being
locked
up
at
South
Bay.
AR
One
of
the
worst
situations
I've
been
part
of
was
when
the
police
harassed,
young
people
and
vote
in
Geneva
in
2010
after
their
friend
was
killed.
Young
people
and
community
members
gathered
gathered
at
the
street
Memorial
and
many
clearly
needed
help.
Many
youth
workers
do
Outreach
at
people's
homes
and
in
neighborhoods,
including
at
Street,
memorials
to
see
what
people
actually
need
helping
connect
people
with
mental
health
support
jobs,
housing,
helping
bring
food
and
water
and
holding
memorial
events.
What
police
do
instead
is
criminalize
people
in
2010
police
targeting
targeted
one
of
the
people.
AR
They
are
struggling
with
his
friend's
death
and
it
escalated,
and
instead
of
that
police
person
getting
the
help
he
needed,
he
ended
up
shooting
himself
during
confrontation
with
the
police.
How
many
people
do
any
of
us
know
who
got
support
with
their
mental
health
because
of
calling
police
versus
having
caring
people?
Who
could
respond,
not
just
in
the
moment,
but
on
an
ongoing
basis?
AR
It
has
only
helped
to
destroy
people's
lives
and
communities.
Why
continue
to
throw
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars
to
this
destruction?
We
need
hundreds
of
millions
to
go
to
Mental,
Health
crisis
response
to
youth
jobs,
affordable
housing,
participatory
budgeting,
everything
else,
our
communities
actually
need.
AR
Finally,
we
need
to
make
sure
that
the
city
doesn't
corrupt.
This
model,
where
this
model
came
from
was
years
of
organizing,
which
reached
a
high
point
in
2020
during
protests
nationally
and
locally
after
George,
Floyd
and
Brianna
Taylor
were
murdered
by
police.
The
city
finally
decided
it
had
to
do
something,
including
looking
at
responding
to
crises
without
police.
Community
groups
pressured
the
city
to
put
money
into
funding
this
community-led,
Design
Group,
and
it's
that
group
of
community
residents
who
came
up
with
this
model.
AR
We
need
the
city
to
continue
honoring,
that
Community
leadership
by
funding
this
model,
including
a
community
oversight
board
that
approves
the
final
program
to
make
sure
the
city
doesn't
take
it
in
a
different
direction
that
involves
the
police
or
institutionalizes
people
without
their
consent
fund,
2.6
million
dollars
for
the
Mental
Health
crisis
response
community-led
model.
Now.
Thank
you.
B
Thank
you,
George,
just
a
pause
there.
We
had
scheduled
for
Dr
solo
jakutu
to
remain
till
four.
Unfortunately,
we
she's
well
or
fortunately,
she's,
given
us
a
little
bit
of
extra
time,
and
we
appreciate
it
Dr
bisola.
Thank
you
so
much
for
being
here
with
us,
where
we
we're
staying
and
obviously
the
administration
is
still
here
listening.
This
is
being
recorded,
Tim
is
staying
with
us
and
consolara,
as
I
understand
is
still
with
you,
so
we
are
listening
and
we'll
amplify
your
messages.
Dr
busola.
B
Thank
you.
So
much
for
being
here
have
a
wonderful
day.
All
right.
Let's
continue
with
our
testimonies
who's.
AA
Hello,
my
name
is
Thea.
My
pronouns
are
some
of
my
identities
are
I?
Am
a
sex
Survivor
I'm,
a
foster
care,
Survivor
trauma,
Survivor
and
African
descendant
a
youth
worker,
a
community
organizer
and
a
freedom
fighter
so
similar
to
bacteria,
whether
visible
to
others
or
not?
There
are
social
determinants
that
push
folks
towards
mental
physical
and
emotional
unwellness
systems
in
place
that
push
people
to
Breaking
points.
Violence
and
oppression
cannot
be
divorced
from
holistic,
Wellness,
impacts
and
outcomes.
AA
These
violence
systems
originated
centuries
and
surface
centuries
ago
and
surfaced
in
the
health
impact
of
those
corres
to
pay.
The
price
Mental
Health
crisis
responders
are
vital
to
the
Humane
treatment
needed
to
repair
this
harm.
Reparations
police
are
not
doing
Mental
Health
crisis
response,
they're,
causing
Mental
Health
crisis
by
terrorizing
people,
training.
AA
Folks
who
deal
with
these
challenges
to
support
in
a
way
that
folks
Empower,
who
created
the
conditions
for
these
practices,
can't
do
it
we're
not
accepting
no
remove
2.6
million
for
this
pilot
from
the
police
overtime
budget
budget
into
this
pilot
to
fund
this
model.
That's
my
testimony.
Thank
you.
B
AI
AS
Hi,
hello,
everyone,
my
name
is
birhane
I
am
a
youth
worker
and
also
a
young
adult
24.
I'm.
A
student
I
am
an
older
sister
too,
to
many
people
in
Washington,
Lee
and
I.
AS
I
am
I'm
here
to
to
talk
about
I'm
here
to
to
ask
you
all
to
start
prioritizing
safety
and
the
mental
health
of
young
people
in
Boston,
specifically
like
this
is
the
time
to
do
it
like
I,
think
having
undergone
the
a
deep,
a
destabilizing
times
as
a
as
a
globe
like
having
gone
through
the
pandemic
or
still
recovering
and
still
undergoing
the
pandemic.
AS
I
I've
witnessed
a
lot
of
young
people
who,
who
have
just
been
very
overwhelmed
and
have
just
been
very,
like
a
need
both
as
like
someone
who
is
a
youth
worker
and,
like
close
to
my
like
a
family
and
a
friend,
I
I,
often
don't
have
a
place
to
call
because
those
things
the
the
things
that
the
like
the
top
partners,
that
I
need
the
the
clean.
When
I
call
like
social
workers
at
specific
hospitals.
AS
They
have
long
lines
when
I
call
I've
called
like
different
initiatives
like
there's
just
so
many
halts
in
the
system
and
I've
like
for
the
past
three
months.
I've,
unfortunately
experienced
directly
like
the
feelings
of
those
of
those
systems
and
like
I,
think
because
of
the
community
that
I
have
behind
me
both
who
are
in
this
room
and
who
are
not
in
this
room.
I've
like
been
able
to
to
like
support
people
but
I
think
about
the
people
who
don't
have
that
I
think
about
people
who
would
be
supported
with
this
model.
AS
Who
can
call
for
free
without
worry
about
language
barriers
without
worry
about
financial
barriers,
without
worrying,
about
I?
Think
about
young
people,
who
can
call
warm
lines
that
this
model
would
be
able
to
offer
like
this.
This
community
based
Mental,
Health
crisis
response
model
is
like,
was
designed
and
and
was
designed
and
took
like
young
people's
needs
into
consideration.
AS
The
young
people
I
support.
They
went
out
and
surveyed
the
other
young
people
and
asked
them.
What
do
you
want
and
they
asked
for
warm
lines?
They
asked
for
someone
to
text
every
every
young
person,
I
talk
to
every
day
will
always
say
like
they
want
someone
to
check
in
with
any
and
I.
Am
you
don't
do
that
with
with
like
the
police?
You
can't
do
that
with
the
EMT.
AS
P
Hey
y'all,
my
name
is
I,
am
here
today
to
share
a
testimony
in
support
of
fully
funding
a
pilot
that
is
sorry
fully
supporting
a
pilot
that
is
community-based.
Mental
health
crisis
response
model
at
2.6
million
I
am
here
as
a
member
of
the
city
school
and
as
a
Dorchester
resident
I
believe
that
it's
critical,
that
we
prioritize
mental
health
and
invest
in
community-led
solutions
that
do
not
involve
the
police,
the
current
police,
mental
health
response.
P
It's
not
only
costly
but
also
poses
a
significant
threat
to
individuals
experiencing
mental
health
crises
and
as
community
members,
we
hear
time
and
time
again
that
there
isn't
enough
funding
available
for
when
it
comes
to
the
city's
funding
for
community-based
programming
and
resources,
and
on
the
other
hand,
we
have
law
enforcement
asking
for
additional
funding
and
the
to
the
already
like
bloated
budget
that
they
have,
and
the
city
always
manages
to
find
a
way
to
to
give
them
that
money.
P
And
we
see
that
as
such
as
the
proposed
10
million
dollar
increase
for
the
2024
budget
for
the
BPD.
P
We
know
that
this
is
a
falsehood,
that
is,
that
there
isn't
enough
funding
available
for
the
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
model,
and
we
are
only
asking
for
a
small
fraction
of
the
city's
budget,
2.6
million.
So
please,
if
you
care
at
all
about
our
community
or
the
community,
that's
here
fun
the
pilot.
Thank
you.
E
Hi
everybody
hi:
firstly,
I
just
want
to
shout
out
this
room.
E
I
think
one
of
the
things
that's
really
powerful
about
being
this
room.
That
I
just
want
to
make
sure
to
communicate.
Is
the
clear
dedication
and
determination
of
folks
to
insist
and
be
really
clear
that
we
need
this
model.
I
think
that's
incredibly
clear
at
this
point
from
people
who
haven't
gotten
to
speak
and
people
who
have
bravely
stood
up
here
and
share
their
testimony.
My
name
is
Dara
venkatraman.
She,
her
pronouns
I'm,
a
Roslindale
resident,
a
youth
worker
at
the
city
school
and
a
clinical
social
worker
I'm.
E
We
have
to
be
extremely
clear
that
mental
health
crises
are
also
created
by
racism,
anti-black
racism
and
police
violence,
both
as
a
therapist
and
a
youth
worker
I
talk
with
young
adults
and
young
people
every
day
who
describe
their
increased
anxiety,
depression,
post-traumatic
stress
disorder
and
major
mental
illness.
Precisely
because
of
racial
violence,
so
it's
not
that
the
police
are
not
the
right
Force
to
respond
to
Mental
Health
crisis.
It's
that
the
police
represent
the
exact
problem
that
are
leading
to
mental
health
cycle,
while
police
are
called
in
crisis.
E
Police
are
actually
not
the
ones
responding
to
Mental
Health
crisis
right
now.
Community
members
are
the
ones
responding.
The
folks
in
this
room
are
the
ones
responding
without
resources,
but
responding
all
the
time
doing
the
exact
things
that
we
talk
about
in
detail.
In
this
model
there
are
friends
who
are
available
for
each
other,
24
7,
who
will
show
up
for
each
other
late
at
night
there
are
family
members
getting
family
members,
safe,
non-carceral
transport,
to
the
hospital
under
the
conditions
of
major
Mental
Health
crisis.
E
There
are
youth
workers
de-escalating
conflict
with
young
people,
they
know
and
don't
know,
and
there
are
Community
orgs
providing
spaces
for
safe,
syringe
disposal.
These
are
all
things
that
are
happening
right
now
in
this
city,
but
we
need
more.
We
need
a
comprehensive
resource
that
everyone
in
the
city
can
access
at
all
times.
E
So
we
have
an
incredible
opportunity
in
Boston
right
now
for
a
solution
that
is
both
very
grounded
and
very
groundbreaking.
It's
grounded
because
Community
Mental
Health
responses
are
working
all
over
the
country
from
Denver
Colorado
to
Oakland,
where
a
few
of
us
had
the
opportunity
to
learn
in
person
how
macro
is
working
on
the
ground.
E
It's
also
groundbreaking,
because
our
pilot
model
would
create
good
jobs,
put
resources
into
the
work,
that's
already
happening
and
mean
that
our
communities
actually
have
someone
to
call
instead
of
being
left
vulnerable
in
some
of
the
worst
and
hardest
moments
of
Our
Lives.
We
urgently
need
2.6
million
to
be
cut
from
the
law
enforcement
budget
and
moved
into
a
pilot
model
of
this
community-based
Mental
Health
crisis
response
this
year.
Thank
you.
E
B
B
We'll
continue
to
hear
our
testimonies,
our
hearing
is
scheduled
to
dismiss
Tim
as
well
at
4
30,
just
a
heads
up
and
but
again
the
administration
is
here
we're
here,
and
this
is
being
recorded
for
all
counselors
to
review
Tim.
Thank
you
so
much
for
being
here
with
us
and
I
look
forward
to
reconvening,
if
necessary,
in
not
working
sessions.
B
Thank
you
all
right
and
who's
next.
M
I,
oh,
that's
me
hi.
My
name
is
Teresa.
Y'all
already
know
why
I'm
here,
I
grew
up
in
Boston
I,
currently
work
with
the
Asian
American
Resource
Workshop,
as
a
youth
worker,
as
a
youth
coordinator
for
Vietnamese,
Youth
and
Young
adults
in
Dorchester.
In
the
past
six
months
alone,
I've
had
three
family
members
experiencing
mental
health
issues.
As
a
result,
they
were
institutionalized
without
consent,
had
unpleasant
interactions
with
police
and
are
left
with
those
that
we
cannot
afford.
We
need
responses
to
mental
health
that
are
non-carceral
accessible
and
meets.
M
AT
AT
Clearly
we're
going
to
use
that
but
money
to
create
this
pilot,
because
clearly
the
police
can't
do
their
job,
which
is
to
protect
us.
So
why
not
have
people
from
our
community
take
care
of
our
community?
Since
we
know
what
we
need?
Yes,
people
will
be
trained
clearly
and
plus.
I
think
this
is
something
all
of
our
community
can
benefit
from.
AT
There
has
been
too
many
times
where
people
are
dying
from
the
police.
Your
workers,
let
me
make
that
clear.
You're
workers
I
lost
what
I
I
lost.
My
train
of
thought
hold
on
I'm,
actually
scared
to
call
the
police.
If
you
want
me
to
be
around
with
you,
I
grew
up
with
my
brother
being
harassed
by
your
workers,
so
yeah,
so
I
asked
how
many
people
had
to
die
from
the
police
for
y'all
to
understand.
The
police
officer
are
not
trained
for
this.
AT
AI
AU
I'm
Theresa
I
go
to
vla
and
I'm
representing
the
city
school,
so
I
know,
and
I
have
heard
of
a
lot
of
individuals
in
my
community
who
have
had
a
violent
encounter
with
the
police
concerning
a
mental
health
crisis.
Most
people
of
color
are
harmed
or
killed
at
the
end
of
the
police
during
any
kind
of
Confrontation,
but
we
still
allocate
billions
and
billions
of
dollars
towards
them.
I
witnessed
the
effectors
the
effect
of
Health
disparities.
AU
2.6
million
dollars
should
be
given
to
the
Mental
Health
crisis
response,
a
non-carceral
consent
and
community-based
model,
which
is
designed
to
help
marginalize
people
dealing
with
mental
health
issues
while
replacing
a
violent
and
ineffective
system.
The
Mental
Health
crisis
response
is
going
to
have
a
positive
and
life-saving
impact
on
the
members
of
communities
of
colors,
including
me,
because
we
are
receiving
the
help
that
we
that
was
never
provided
for
us
in
the
first
place.
Thank
you.
B
I
assalamualaikum.
AV
Good
evening,
oh
good
evening,
all
my
name
is
Mariana
I'm
16
and
currently
reside
in
Roxbury,
like
many
others
here
today,
I'm
with
the
youth
Justice
power
Union,
and
we
are
demanding
2.6
million-
be
taken
away
from
the
police
budget
to
fund
a
pilot
model
of
community-led,
Mental
Health
crisis
response.
The
current
system,
relying
on
police
to
respond
to
Mental
Health
crisis,
is
quite
frankly,
ineffective
and
often
results
in
more
violence
and
harm
per
especially
to
those
in
marginalized
communities.
AV
We
say
it's
time
for
a
new
approach
that
prioritizes
Compassion,
Care
and
community-based
solutions,
and
this
model
does
just
that
by
providing
individuals
in
crisis
and
appropriate
care
instead
of
treating
them
like
criminals
Additionally
the
model
inclusive
approach
ensures
that
everyone
has
a
voice
allowing
us
to
address
the
specific
needs
of
each
and
every
Community
I
urge
decision
makers
to
prioritize
the
mental
health
and
well-being
of
our
communities.
By
approving
the
allocation,
this
will
be
a
major
step
towards
healing
our
society.
Thank
you
for
your
time.
All
right.
Thank.
O
AW
AW
AW
Please
show
up
in
our
neighborhoods
not
offering
help
but
pain
to
the
people
and
arm.
This
is
the
act
for
pain
in
arms
of
the
community.
This
is
why
I
think
we
need
to
divest
2.6
million
dollars
from
police
and
invest
into
this
new
Mental
Health
Group,
this
new
mental
health
pilot
that
is
led
by
the
community
and
is
for
the
community.
Thank
you.
AE
U
D
Hi,
my
name
is
Mariah
button
I'm
from
Jamaica
Plain,
Boston,
Massachusetts
and
I
also
have
a
story
to
tell
when
I
was
a
teenager.
I
had
a
mental
health
crisis
and
my
mom
needed
to
help
me
and
she
had
called
the
cops
and
well
she
she
dialed
9-1-1
and
the
police
came
and
I.
Remember
feeling
fear
in
my
heart,
because
I
thought
that
in
seeing
police
in
the
media,
I
thought
that
you
know
something
would
happen
to
her
because
they
thought
that
she
would
be
the
aggressor.
D
So
I
thought
that
she
would
be
taken
away
either
in
handcuffs
or
in
life
and
I
thought
that
I
wouldn't
be
able
to
see
her
again.
But
thankfully
we
both
went
home
that
night
and
we
were
able
to
like
live
another
day
and
I'm
thankful
for
that.
D
But
I
just
can't
like
I,
don't
like
the
feeling
of
like
living
today
and
just
thinking
that
that
could
have
happened
when
that
actually
did
happen,
like
the
north
Miami
situation,
where
the
caregiver
was
shot
because
he
was
trying
to
take
care
of
his
autistic
patient
and
it
shouldn't
be
that
way.
So
that's
why
we
are
demanding
the
2.6
million.
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
U
B
Wow,
thank
you,
I
would
clap
for
you
what's
up
I'd
like
to
thank
you
all
for
your
bravery,
for
your
vulnerability
to
be
able
to
share
your
stories.
All
sentimental
and
heartfelt
this
hearing,
I
assure
you,
will
not
be
unheard
or
unseen.
I
will
be
Distributing
it
in
video
with
to
my
colleagues
as
well
as
sharing
it
with
the
public
I'm
going
to
make
public
what
you've
asked
for
today.
B
So
the
2.6
million
out
of
the
police
budget
to
the
preventative
and
recovery
program,
a
diversionary
program,
and
look
forward
to
seeing
you
again
I'm,
going
to
be
coordinating
with
George
and
others
to
make
ensure
that
we
find
a
location
that
it's
in
person
I'm
going
to
make
it
up
to
you.
We
have
to
do
this
in
person.
We
have
to
do
it
convenient
in
it's
at
your
convenient
location,
so
many
Amazing
Stories,
you
guys-
are
young
and
strong
right.
What
what
did
the
guys
from
Tennessee
said?
B
Young
and
sick
and
tired
and
I-
absolutely
applaud
you
for
coming
here
and
to
be
able
to
voice
your
concerns
to
advocate
for
others
and
for
yourselves
and
your
families?
Absolutely
your
stories
are
100
amazing,
thank
you
and
with
that
the
meeting
is
this
hearing
is
adjourned.