A nonprofit says it’s ready to bring CAHOOTS-like services back to Eugene if it can secure city funding.
CAHOOTS, the mobile crisis intervention service, shut down in Eugene in April. This came amid financial turmoil at its parent organization, White Bird Clinic, and the loss of city funding.
Former CAHOOTS workers then formed a separate nonprofit, Willamette Valley Crisis Care, to try to bring the program back.
WVCC co-founder Alese "Dandy" Colehour said with CAHOOTS gone, other medical services in Eugene are under increased pressure, with sometimes tragic results.
“The stories we've heard are pretty heartbreaking—people needing to wait excessive amounts of time for a response, if they even get a response,” said Colehour. “We heard one story recently of someone who actually died. They were waiting for eight hours and could have benefited from a CAHOOTS-like program.”
Now, Colehour said WVCC has a fiscal sponsor, a board of directors, and crisis workers waiting to be hired. They said the nonprofit has raised around $45,000 in grassroots funding, and has a $25,000 contract to map out safety resources in other cities.
Colehour said the program is applying for grants and looking for more consulting work, to provide multiple funding sources to support its planned mobile crisis services.
But before it can launch a CAHOOTS-like program, Colehour said WVCC is waiting on the City of Eugene to release a request for a funding proposal.
"The sooner that we can get services started, the better off our program is going to be in the long run," said Colehour. "Our training is very intensive, and we really need experienced staff who can train up new people. It's difficult for us to ask anybody to wait around."
This summer, Eugene’s Budget Committee asked the City Council to direct city staff to look for $2.2 million in potential funding for crisis services, and bring back options by the end of October.
City of Eugene spokesperson Caitlin Wallace said the councilors never formally made that request, but the work is ongoing.
“Staff from Eugene Springfield Fire and Eugene Police Department have been working to assess system gaps and plan to share the results of the assessment with City Council before the end of this month,” wrote Wallace in an email to KLCC.
KLCC asked White Bird Clinic, which continues to operate CAHOOTS in Springfield, whether they planned to apply for potential Eugene city funding.
CAHOOTS’ Program Coordinator Justin Madeira told KLCC that White Bird would evaluate a request for proposal from Eugene if it happens.
“It’s hard to say without seeing Eugene’s priorities in service model, budget, and expectations whether an application would be made,” said Madeira. “We of course continue to hope for expanded crisis services in all communities.”
WVCC co-founder’s inclusion in recent retaliation lawsuit
Recently, KLCC reported on a lawsuit against White Bird Clinic, in which a former CAHOOTS worker claimed she’d been retaliated against for reporting a coworker’s sexual misconduct.
The plaintiff, Megan Plett, named Laurel Lisovskis, who she identified as her supervisor, as a participant in the retaliation. Lisovskis is one of the co-founders of Willamette Valley Crisis Care.
Plett claimed when she asked not to work with the accused coworker, Lisovskis didn’t ask why. Plett said Lisovskis cut Plett’s shifts to keep them separate, but did not adjust the coworker’s hours.
Plett claimed when she later tried to report the sexual contact to Lisovskis, she shut down the conversation, and no action was taken.
Additionally, in its investigation into Plett’s claims, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries noted another complaint which had mentioned Lisovskis by name.
A former CAHOOTS employee claimed the same accused coworker had exposed himself and peed into a cup in front of them. They said when they reported the incident to Lisvoskis, she “merely laughed” and "noted that it would probably happen to another trainee in the future."
In a statement to KLCC by email Wednesday, WVCC said it was “committed to creating a work environment that centers the safety and well-being of our clients and employees.”
“We strive to be an organization that is aligned with our mission and values including in our personnel practices,” wrote the organization.
WVCC also told KLCC that the White Bird employee who was accused of sexual misconduct is not employed or contracted by their organization.
KLCC doesn’t normally name victims of sex crimes, but Plett’s lawyer, Matthew Ellis, identified her in a statement, and provided permission to use her full name on her behalf.
KLCC is not identifying the accused co-worker by name because he wasn’t listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, and hasn’t been criminally charged in connection with the claims.
