Public Safety Committee
April 11, 2023
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Steven Falk FROM: Dr. Reginald D. Freeman
Interim City Administrator Chief, Oakland Fire Dept
SUBJECT: Grant Agreement Between State of
CA and MACRO Program
DATE: March 22, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends the City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To: 1) Enter Into An Agreement With The Department Of Health And Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration To Receive Grant Funds (SAMHSA GRANT) In The Amount Of Seven Hundred And Thirty- Four Thousand (734,000) Dollars; (2) Accept, Appropriate, and Administer Said SAMHSA Grant To Fund the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (“MACRO”) Program Costs Including Equipment, Uniforms, And Software
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On March 2, 2021, City Council directed the City Administrator to explore options for expediting the implementation of the 18-month pilot phase of the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO) program.
This report provides the City Council and the public with information specific to a proposed agreement between the City of Oakland and the HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that would allow the City to accept and appropriate a $734,000 grant to be allocated to the MACRO program.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
In 2019, the Oakland City Council allocated $40,000 to research the feasibility of a Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS)-like program in Oakland. The CAHOOTS model operating in Eugene-Springfield Metro Area, Oregon is widely recognized as a non-law enforcement mobile crisis intervention that has seen significant success since its inception.
With the support of the Urban Strategies Council, several stakeholder groups and community members including people in Oakland’s most impacted communities, engaged in nine months of I have carefully considered the issues outlined in your grievance and read relevant provisions of applicable reference materials and have determined that your proposed solution is reasonable and analysis to determine the best pathway forward. This work resulted in a recommendation for a pilot program in two geographic areas of Oakland
Mar 29, 2023
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Grant Agreement Between State of CA and MACRO Program Date: March 22, 2023 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
April 11, 2023
The City of Oakland initially sought community-based organizations to engage in planning and implementation of an 18-month pilot of the MACRO program to serve as a community response program for non-violent 911 calls. The goal is to reduce responses by police, resulting in fewer arrests and negative interactions, and increased access to community-based services and resources for impacted individuals and families, and most especially for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC).
However, following a competitive bidding process and a staff recommendation to the City Council that was requested for scheduling and approval at the January 19, 2021 City Council meeting, the City Council took actions that changed the course of the pilot. In turn, the City Council made the determination during the March 2, 2021 City Council meeting that the City should house the pilot program within the Fire Department and deliver the pilot via City staff, instead of a community-based provider, as the community-driven report commissioned by the Council intended.
On March 2, 2021, the City Council authorized and directed the City Administrator to expedite the one-year pilot phase of the MACRO program.
Governor Gavin Newsom approved the Budget Act of 2021. The State Budget includes $10 Million for Oakland's Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (“MACRO”) program to allow Oakland to provide a strong program of civilian crisis responders.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
This funding is critical to the successful implementation of the MACRO pilot program and directly aligns with the Citywide Priority of advancing holistic community safety by maintaining a non-law enforcement mobile crisis response program in Oakland.
Meanwhile, the grant agreement funds cannot not be disbursed until there is a fully executed agreement between HHS, SAMHSA, and the City of Oakland. Expenditures made prior to the effective date of the appropriation will not be reimbursed.
The funding is critical to the continued operation of the MACRO program through the pilot period and beyond. The funding will allow the MACRO program to address much needed start-up expenditures including:
• Equipping permanent vehicles with sufficient equipment to safely administer care and execute the mission and duties of the program as a street outreach team.
Laptops & IT - The MACRO responders are required to document all their encounters in the field, and to do this must have laptops in the field with them as well as desktop
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Grant Agreement Between State of CA and MACRO Program Date: March 22, 2023 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
April 11, 2023
• computers back at the facilities to report their activities during the shift. Motorola radios, which all need to be the same model with the same frequency access to other first responders in Alameda County, Police, and Fire, costs approximately $7,000 each.
Furthermore, one laptop is kept in each mobile unit to maintain record keeping throughout the shift. Each laptop, or Toughbook, costs approximately $3,800. The MACRO program will be using SAMHSA funds for four radios and five laptops to cover the pilot program, the total for which totals $50,200. Due to approximation of expenditures, MACRO intends to spend $50,000 on the Laptop and IT expenditure. • MDT (Mobile Data Connection to Dispatch) - The MDT is a technological fee in the amount of $30,000 required to received data on the back end of the HIPPAA sensitive reports to save the crews time when logging their calls and to reduce input errors. This is a software that the Fire Department uses as well on its calls which will be duplicated MACRO operations.
• Uniforms - Crew uniforms are necessary to keep the crews safe from their calls, facilitates responders to respond in unhygienic environments, allows them to handle their medical equipment with greater ease, and provides a uniformity to the individual responders for the community to recognize and ultimately keep the responders safe.
Their uniforms also identify them in low visibility situations, including when they respond to crises at night.
• ESO software data input: call/incident recording Call and incident recording for incoming complaint calls and outgoing dispatch calls. For quality control, training, and data collection.
FISCAL IMPACT
The $734,000 in grant funding will be appropriated to the Department of Health & Human Services Fund (Fund 2128), the MACRO program Org (Org 20914), project to be determined (TBD), and in Emergency Medical Response Program (Program PS19).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The Fire Department and MACRO Program leadership conduct regular briefings will elected and city leaders, upon request. Additionally, a weekly update email on the status of the program is sent to approximately 75 local stakeholders who have been involved in shaping the initiative.
COORDINATION
The Fire Department coordinated with the Budget Bureau and the Oakland City Attorney’s Office in the completion of this report.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Grant Agreement Between State of CA and MACRO Program Date: March 22, 2023 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
April 11, 2023
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are now economic impacts related approval of this resolution.
Environmental: There are now environmental impacts related to this report.
Race & Equity: The ongoing coordination to implement the MACRO program will directly support the following objectives related to race and equity:
• Decreased negative outcomes from law enforcement response to nonviolent 911 emergency calls, especially among Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC); • Decreased criminal justice system involvement for people in crisis, especially among Black, Indigenous, People of Color;
• Increased connections to community-based services for people in crisis, especially among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color;
• Redirection of MACRO-identified 911 calls to an alternative community response system; • Reduced Oakland Police expenses and call volume related to 911 nonviolent calls involving people with mental health, substance use, and unsheltered individuals.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: Grant Agreement Between State of CA and MACRO Program Date: March 22, 2023 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
April 11, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends the City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To:
1) Enter Into An Agreement With The Department Of Health And Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration To Receive Grant Funds (SAMHSA GRANT) In The Amount Of Seven Hundred And Thirty-Four Thousand (734,000) Dollars; (2) Accept, Appropriate, and Administer Said SAMHSA Grant To Fund the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (“MACRO”) Program Costs Including Equipment, Uniforms, And Software.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Michael Hunt, Chief of Staff, Oakland Fire Department at [email protected].
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Reginald D. Freeman
Chief, Fire Department