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B.R.E.A.T.H.E. JUSTICE 36^HAY 17 AH 8:51*
May 16,2022
RE: Public Health Department Proposed Operating Budget FY 2023 Dear Mayor Gordo, Pasadena City Council Members, and Public Safety Committee Members, As a collective ofPasadenans, including physicians, striving for justice and equality in our City, we write to urge you to modify the Recommended Operating Budget's General Fund appropriations to the Public Health Department to cover the cost of programs and services for violence prevention and homelessness before adopting it.
Fiscal Year 2023's Recommended Operating Budget again appropriates zero General Fund Dollars to our Public Health Department.
Pasadena can and must do better.
We agree with Councilmember Williams that every effort must be made to secure maximal grant funding for appropriate programs and services. ' We also concur with Vice Mayor Wilson that major steps must be taken to analyze health-related programs mn by other departments that would have improved efficacy under the Public Health Department's domain.' Mayor Gordo, we recognize that Pasadena's Public Health Department is unique and would benefit from greater County and State funding contributions.' However, in order to live up to our Public Health Department's vision of being the model of health excellence and community wellness, it is essential that we adequately and reliably invest in our Public Health Department with General Fund Dollars.
Former City Manager Steve Mermell stated, "I do foresee a time when we'll need to put general fund dollars into the health department. . .I'm hopeful, through the pandemic, that people start to realize that we can't take public health matters for granted."' Councilmembers, that time is now. 1) Appropriate General Fund Dollars to Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention, Violence is a Public Health Crisis.2.3.4 Victims of violence do not just suffer from direct physical injury and loss. Shidies show that they also have increased rates of psychiatric illnesses, like Post-Tramnatic Stress Disorder, and medical illnesses, like cancer.4
According to the CDC, living in a coimTiunity experiencing violence is also associated with increases in risk of developing chronic diseases, as concerns about violence may prevent some from engaging in healthy behaviors, such as walking, bicycling, using parks and recreational spaces, and accessing healthy food outlets. Violence scares people out of participating in neighborhood activities, limits business growth and prosperity, strains education, justice and medical systems, and slows community progress.5
Violence is a leading cause of death and nonfatal injuries among adolescents and young adults.5 Studies show that Public Health models for vio\ence prevention work. They are safe, affordable and effective. They save lives and save cities millions of dollars.4.6. 7 Despite 85 million General Fund Dollars appropriated to the Pasadena Police Department last year, many Pasadena residents continued to be traumatized by violent crimes.
Meanwhile, zero dollars from our General Fund were invested in our Public Health Department, according to the Fiscal Year 2022 Operating Budget, and we had no Public Health Model Violence Prevention Prograin because of an expired grant.9
Councilmembers, when will your actions align with your statements about striving for a safer Pasadena? We urge you to modify the Recominended Operating Budget to appropriate General Fund dollars to our Public Health Department to cover the cost of a long term, evidence-based, non-police-affiliated Violence Prevention Program that will actually help create the Safer Pasadena that we all desire to see.
Please stop putting our conununity's safety in the hands of grants that come and go.
For less than 2% of PPD's annual operating budget, Pasadena could implement a viable, affordable, evidence-based. Public Health Model Violence Prevention Program with proven results. This could save lives and save millions of dollars, just like other cities around the globe.4.6'7 We also implore you to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide monetary support for Pasadena's non-police-affiliated, Public Healtli approach to violence prevention.
2) Fund Public Health Department Outreach and Facilitation of Support Services for Victims/ Witnesses of Public Acts of Violence.
As a City, we must do a better job of supporting those impacted by violence. Please fund improved outreach and facilitation of support services for Pasadenans who have witnessed or experienced public acts of violence. Our community members are hurting. This is especially true of our children who have witnessed shootings and those who have lost loved ones to violence.
A simple phone call or visit from a Public Health Department representative providing information on supportive services offered by community based organizations could go a long way toward promoting the healing process, and could help deter some of the chronic physical and mental health conditions associated with violence.9 Such outreach could also help prevent affected individuals' future involvement in violence, creating a safer community.9
3) Appropriate General Fund Dollars to Public Health Department Programs and Services for Unsheltered Residents.
We are calling upon the Public Safety Committee and City Council, at large, to modify the Recommended Operating Budget to increase General Fund Dollars to cover the cost of programs and services for our unsheltered residents.
Fully fund the GEM-Link and TAY-Link programs and increase staffing for these programs and the PORT Program.
Fund more case managers and support staff to enable these programs to provide more effective services and follow-up for our hundreds of unsheltered residents.
Currently, GEM and TAY-Link are not even accepting new unsheltered residents due to funding issues.
It is unacceptable to require crucial Public Health Department programs to solely depend on grants.
Providing adequate funding for tliese programs and services is safer, more efficient, more humane, and cheaper than taxpayer funded emergency department visits, police calls for service and managing homelessness tlirough the criminal justice system.'0
4) Make Plans to Fund a Non-PoIice-Affiliated, Mental-HeaIth-Crisis-First-Response Proeram.
We urge the City Council to make plans to fund a non-police-affiliated, Mental-Health-Crisis-First- Response Program tlirough our Public Health Department that includes Mental Health Professionals who are available 24/7 to all age groiips.
Such a program could have diverted many, if not most, of the 1,994 police department calls for service related to mental health issues in FY 2021.n.'2
Programs like this employed by other cities cost only a fraction of the millions of dollars in city-wide savings they provide, and save countless lives.12
A comprehensive program deploying trained, mental health professionals as part of a Mental-Health- Crisis-First-Response team (like CAHOOTS), combined with long term outreach services such as those provided by our very own Pasadena Outreach Response Team (PORT), could provide the 21st century, life-and-money-saving care needed by Pasadenans suffering from mental health crises. This could also eliminate any perceived need for armed police officer response and the HOPE team, providing Pasadenans compassionate, specialized care and additional savings.12 Please agendize this matter immediately. Seek guidance from experts in non-police-affiliated, Mental- Health-Crisis-First-Response Programs and community stakeholders on this highly relevant Public Health matter.
To put it briefly, Pasadenans deserve adequate and reliable investment in Public Health Department programs and services that create a healthier, safer community in which we can all thrive. Investing in violence prevention and homelessness could actually save Pasadena millions of dollars and directly improve Pasadenans' quality of life, business growth and prosperity.
Councilmembers, we are counting on you to modify the Recommended Operating Budget's General Fund appropriations to the Public Health Department to cover the cost of these community needs before adopting tlie Fiscal Year 2023 Operating Budget.
Respectfully Submitted,
The B.R.E.A.T.H.E. Justice 365 Team
A Pasadena-based collective of physicians, attorneys, clergy, educators and everyday people striving for equality.
References
1. Bermont, Bradley. Pasadena Officials Want More Funding for the Health Department, but not from the City. Pasadena Star News. March 26, 2021.
2. Slutkin, G. (2012). Violence is a contagious disease. Contagion of Violence: Workshop Summary, 94-111. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from: http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207245/
3. Dahlberg, L.L., & Mercy, J.A. (2009). History of violence as a public health problem.
American Medical Association's Virtual Mentor, 11(2), 167-172.
4. Statement of the Violence as a Health Issue Collaborative. (2017). Addressing Violence as a Health Crisis with Health Methods. Retrieved from: httDS://lvr)6u534z5kr2amrOwllt7ub- wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MovementPaperl .pdf
5. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention. (2021).
Community Violence Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/ communifrsryiolence/index.htnil
6. Natividad, Ivan. (2021). Berkeley Study: California Gun Violence Program Saves Lives, Taxpayers Millions. Berkeley Public Health. https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/ research-hiehliehts/berkelev-studv-califomia-sun-violence-Drosram-saves-lives-taxDavers- millions/
7. Cure Violence Global. (2021). The Evidence of Effectiveness. https://cvg.org/wp-content/ UDloads/2021/09/Cure-Violence-Evidence-Summarv.Ddf
8. California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant. Retrieved April 2022, from httDS://www.bscc.ca.e:ov/WD-content/UDloads/Proiect-Summaries-CalVIP-Cohorts-l-2.Tidf
9. David-Ferdon, C., Vivolo-Kantor, A., Dahlberg, L., Marshall, K., Rainford, N., Hall, J. (2021). A Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors. httDS://www.cdc.e'ov/violenceDrevention/Ddf/w- technicalpackage.pdf
10. Linldns, K., Brya, J., Chandler, D. (2008). Frequent Users of Health Services Initiative: Final Evaluation Report, https ://www.chcf. org/wp-content/uploads/2017/1 2/PDF- FUHSIEvaluationReport.Ddf
11. Pasadena Police Department Response to Public Records Act Request #16336. (August 4, 2021).
12. What is CAHOOTS? (2020). https://whitebirdclinic.org/what-is-cahoots/