AMHERST – Amherst’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service (CRESS) has been selected as “one of eight teams selected from across the United States and Canada by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, in collaboration with the Center for Policing Equity (CPE), to participate in a virtual learning community focused on enhancing crisis system alternatives through public health and community-centered approaches,” according to a press release from the town.
CRESS Director Earl Miller was excited to collaborate with other departments around the continent to fine-tune strategies for responding to mental health-related calls.

“The specifics of this are really the response to mental health crises, and the towns and municipalities that are doing alternatives that are including that in the scope of their alternatives to policing. It’s a really fantastic opportunity for us. The work we’re doing right now can sometimes feel like we’re doing it in a bubble. I love Amherst, but sometimes it can be helpful to hear from folks outside Amherst to see what they’re trying, what’s working and what’s not working,” Miller said.

Miller explained that the grant is not financial, but that the knowledge and connections that it will provide will pay off in the long run.

“This one is a new kind of grant, it doesn’t come with any funding, but for us it’s worth a ton of money to have access to these folks, and the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and the Center for Policing Equity (CPE), who are also two fantastic groups…They’re a resource for us, like helping to write policy and procedures and all those things,” Miller said.

He also said that the two organizations have been instrumental in bridging the gap between CRESS and larger government.

“Also helping us to advocate with state and federal government for them to become funding partners [of CRESS] which is a big deal. It’s something that is kind of outside of our scope as a small municipality, but they’re able to talk to state government folks about what support we would need as a town to enhance what we’re doing,” Miller said.

Miller appreciates the organizations’ commitment to anti-racism, a goal shared by CRESS.

“Also, one of their focus areas is anti-racism, which lines them up very neatly with us, so they’re talking about all these things in terms of ‘how would you use this information when engaging with BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and peoples of color] communities or non-English speaking communities in ways that might allow them to feel like they own [the process],” Miller said.

The learning community is not just restricted to CRESS either.

“CRESS, the police department, the fire department, dispatch and public health are all sitting on this group. We meet with them once a week where everyone is involved, and then for instance right now they’re hosting open office hours where everyone can come in and talk about an issue that isn’t on the radar … As we narrow down what are focus is, they also have a commitment to bringing in some folks with some technical expertise, which is really important for us,” Miller said.

This joint approach is important to Miller and the mission of CRESS.

“[We are] part of a larger public safety team, we don’t exist in a bubble. We need to do things in a way that doesn’t create additional hardships for the police department or the fire department or the town. We need to be responsible in the way we step up. What we’re doing is making sure that when we add new components, they’re things we can really sustain,” Miller said.

These meetings touch on all matters related to the job. Research is conducted to accurately ascertain the needs of the community and how to best serve them.

“A lot of what we’re doing now are things like needs assessments, so we’re talking to them about what our dispatch does, what are limitations are…so like the last meeting we had was about doing a needs assessment on dispatching, the new 988 service, doing outreach with homeless folks…even things like public transportation out-of-area, so how do you do warm hand-offs across a big span. One thing we’re talking about is how to get volunteers into our programs in ways that provide meaningful access. We’re looking to launch a volunteer component on the first quarter of next year,” said Miller.

Other than this grant, CRESS has been active in its community over the first three months of its existence, servicing schools, public health and adding a new member to its team

“The school MOU [memorandum of understanding] is signed, it’s official, so we’re working off of that which is really great. We’re adding things every week. This week we did the vaccine clinic that the town [organized], we worked the line on that…it must have been over 500 people we saw, and it was just a good practice, like ‘hey, can we do this thing? Does it work?’ and it ended up being a really valuable time for us…We actually filled our last position, a young woman named Tia Atwell, a fantastic new person, so for the first time since training we are fully staffed up with all eight responders. That’s been a game changer for us.”

He added that the department has resolved its previous issues with dispatch and will be taking 911 calls starting sometime in January 2023.

Miller said that although the future of CRESS is still unwritten, it is growing and succeeding each day, and that being a part of this learning community will allow CRESS and Amherst as a whole to contribute to the larger conversation on public safety.

“‘One foot in front of the other’ is what I would tell folks. We don’t quite know what it will look like in five to 10 years, but we have a good sense that come January we’re going to expand our hours, certainly going to expand our days…making sure we’re not doing things just to do them but that we’re doing them with a purpose and intent…Our intention is to be a part of the national conversation, that Amherst has both something to learn and something offer to this national conversation, so we’re excited to get that work underway,” Miller said.