Eugene’s CAHOOTS crisis intervention service suffers major funding blow

White Bird Clinic plans to dramatically reduce its mobile crisis intervention service, CAHOOTS, early next month. The nonprofit has also announced deep cuts to its crisis hotline.

CAHOOTS currently responds to calls in Eugene 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Starting April 7, however, the hours of service in Eugene city limits will be reduced to just one shift per week.

Amée Markwardt, the interim executive director of White Bird, said the nonprofit hasn’t decided how long a shift will be, or what day it will be scheduled.

Meanwhile, White Bird also plans to lay off more than 20 CAHOOTS workers, keeping just seven full-time staff. The remaining workers will primarily serve Springfield, where CAHOOTS will maintain its current hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

CAHOOTS union representative Chelsea Swift said the effects these reductions will have on Eugene are difficult to imagine. She said it’s like staffing a fire department just one day a week.

“When I work 12 hour shifts in Eugene, I hear every hour, every few minutes, an officer getting on the radio and asking, ‘Is Cahoots available?‘” said Swift. “The calls never stop.”

Financial Concerns

Explaining the decision to cut services, Markwardt said White Bird is facing a severe budget shortfall.

“We really have to take in account, ‘how much money can we operate at a deficit for each program without losing the whole agency?‘” she said.

Markwardt said White Bird has had more difficulty maintaining its federal funding under the new Trump administration.

She also told KLCC in February that she believed the city of Eugene would cut CAHOOTS funding later this year, with or without a fire service fee in place.

However, Markwardt said she’s searching for new funding sources, and hopes these staffing cuts to CAHOOTS will be temporary.

“My plan is we need to see CAHOOTS in this community 24 hours a day,” said Markwardt. “The work they do is so valuable.”

In the meantime, she said workers who are laid off will be given the option to join a relief pool, allowing them to take open shifts. These workers would not be represented by the current CAHOOTS union, according to Swift.

Swift said for years, White Bird has failed to pursue alternative funding opportunities, even as it was apparent that future budget cuts were possible.

“White Bird is really trying to hang on this messaging that they’ll be able to recall us back once they figure out funding,” said Swift. “But they have never figured out funding, or prioritized us.”

Swift said some of the workers that are being let go have been with CAHOOTS for more than a decade.

Crisis Services Line

Meanwhile, White Bird’s crisis hotline service is also facing significant reductions.

The phone-line currently provides on-demand counseling and resource navigation 24/7.

But starting April 7, it will only be available on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. White Bird is also reducing staffing there from 21 workers down to just four people.

Crisis counselor Abigail Barella said people can’t plan their crises around these specific times. She said the hotline gets traffic at all hours, and specifically on weekends.

“We get a lot of calls where nothing else is open, and they just need someone to talk to to get them through the weekend,” said Barella. “This line has so many people that know they can get a human when they call this line, that are gonna really be in crisis when they know that’s not necessarily going to be always the case now.”

Markwardt said White Bird is looking to restore hours and staffing at the hotline if more funding becomes available in the future.

Nathan Wilk is a reporter with KLCC. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

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