When communities come together to provide alternative solutions to arrest and incarceration, transformative care is possible. That’s why JustCARE is one of the most impactful programs in Seattle, changing the lives of unsheltered folks with complex needs while adapting to the unique challenges of COVID-19.
At face value, its approach seems simple enough — bring a coalition of community organizations together to provide shelter (in the form of vacant motel/hotel rooms), basic needs, medical care, and social services. Yet, it’s an incredibly powerful model of care that has produced transformative results among Seattle’s most marginalized groups. How, and why does it work so effectively?
JustCARE was built from the models of the LEAD (2011) and CoLEAD (2020) programs. In this piece, we take a deeper look at these predecessor programs to understand why JustCARE’s model is so effective.
LEAD (2011)
JustCARE’s approach can be directly traced back to Seattle’s LEAD program. LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) is a pre-arrest and pre-booking diversion program that began in October 2011. Specifically, the program enables law enforcement officers to redirect individuals engaged in law violations arising primarily from behavioral health conditions (such as substance use or mental health issues) to community-based services instead of using legal sanctions like arrest and jail.
LEAD was a direct response to two issues of importance to community members and key stakeholders. The first issue was extreme racial disparity in the criminal justice system (especially in terms of arrest and prosecution for low-level drug offenses). The second was increasing dissatisfaction with open-air drug sales and consumption, coupled with the sense that criminal justice system-driven responses were inadequate.
By giving unsheltered individuals with behavioral health conditions the support they needed instead of sending them to prison, LEAD was able to make a tremendous impact in their lives and the community as a whole. It was a radical approach because it addressed the root issues. Incarceration exacerbated people’s physical/mental issues and tore apart families. LEAD’s approach was to address non-violent law violations by utilizing non-coercive and non-punitive public health based intensive case management. Sending these individuals to structured community care programs allowed them to move forward and break the cycle of contact with law enforcement.
Independent evaluations (available here) found these outcomes.
- Reduced the criminal justice system involvement (arrests and convictions on new offenses) of program participants
- Less costly than approaches relying on the criminal justice system
- Well accepted and regarded by participants.
Since its inception, LEAD has expanded rapidly.
- Expanded to cover all of downtown Seattle (including Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District) in 2015
- Began operating in the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct (covering Capital Hill and the Central District) in 2017.
- Expanded to the SPD North Precinct in late 2018
- Expanded to Burien in 2019.
- Replicated in over 35 jurisdictions from Maine to Hawai’i ranging in size from under 15,000 to over four million (see here for a current list of cities replicating LEAD).
- Funded at the state level in California, Colorado, North Carolina, and Hawai’i.
CoLEAD (2020)
CoLEAD was created in April 2020 to adapt LEAD for the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the issue of law enforcement diversion, there was an urgent demand of preventing COVID-19 transmission in high risk neighborhood encampments.
CoLEAD’s model is to provide lodging for participants through partnerships with motels and hotels in Seattle. The program also provides person-centered, trauma-informed, harm-reduction-oriented services to unsheltered individuals with complex healthcare/trauma histories and challenging behaviors.
This approach allows participants to follow COVID transmission guidelines and minimize social contact while addressing their varying needs including physical and behavioral healthcare, primary care, and access to medications, social services, and employment or education opportunities.
Addressing the basic needs of participants, CoLEAD is an alternative to punitive measures commonly associated with behaviors of vulnerable populations (low-level law violations or sustenance crimes). From these interim settings and through intensive case management, CoLEAD supports participants in identifying short and long term goals as part of planning for longer-term stability and housing options while connecting them with immediate and necessary health and social services.
The CoLEAD model proved to be effective at helping unsheltered folks off the streets and providing them with the care they needed, but there was a critical issue. Neighborhoods, businesses, and public officials were asking CoLEAD to replicate efforts across Seattle, but there weren’t enough resources to rapidly increase capacity. The program wouldn’t be able to expand to meet the needs of a larger population.
Then, the community stepped up.
JustCARE (2020)
The JustCARE program expanded the reach of CoLEAD care to serve a wider and more diverse population. Utilizing the CoLEAD model of care, a coalition of community organizations and government agencies came together through the JustCARE program to provide a larger pool of services and resources. More than 120 individuals have been placed into hotels and provided with intensive care management support.
Different organizations have taken on a variety of roles including:
- Field outreach
- Rapid screening
- Hotel placement
- Neighborhood support
- Operations management
- Awareness and publicity
By taking the CoLEAD model and expanding it to community organizations, JustCARE has allowed neighborhoods to directly align with specific site plans to best meet the needs of each community. It has been an essential component not only in transforming the lives of Seattle’s most marginalized communities, but also in unifying communities in the fight against COVID-19.
But JustCARE Needs Your Help
In less than two weeks, JustCARE funding will run out. This will force more than 120 individuals back into encampments. The funding cuts will erase the progress that JustCARE has made for these individuals and Seattle’s communities by sending people back onto the streets.
Here’s what you can do. We need your help to sign the petition for JustCARE. Then, share it on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social media platforms that you use. Please spread the petition and ask others to share it as well! If we can generate enough awareness, then we CAN secure funding for JustCARE.
Sign the petition here: [PETITION LINK]
