Tacoma doesn’t have a mental health crisis response team. It’s time to pay for one

In a heartbreaking article from Oct. 27, The News Tribune reported on the Pacific Lutheran University football team’s reaction to the loss of teammate Jordan Taff to suicide. Many other currently circulating articles advocate for breaking the stigma around mental health. We wholeheartedly agree with these sentiments and mourn the loss of loved ones who have struggled with mental illness.

Unfortunately, there are inadequate resources available for people seeking meaningful help for themselves or loved ones. These articles often end with resources that include phone numbers and hotlines to call. But mental health deserves long-term, holistic and adaptable solutions.

In addition to breaking the stigma around mental health, we should be doing everything we can to lower the barriers to accessing resources. One of the ways Tacoma can do that is by funding a mental health crisis response team.

By having a fully funded, dispatched mental health team, Tacoma could quickly respond to people in need with staff trained in de-escalation and behavioral health when someone calls 911. This team could meet a person in crisis with care and compassion, giving them the help they need.

Tacoma City Council members and Mayor Victoria Woodards have all signaled their support for such a team, but the numbers in the 2023-24 budget proposal do not back up their claims. The most promising program, housed in the fire department under TFD Cares, is only earmarked for one year of pilot funding. A similar program they tried to launch two years ago had too few applicants. Our hunch is that the jobs did not pay enough or offer enough incentive for people to apply.

Community needs require community responses, and Tacoma needs to deeply invest in its people. There is a certain level of irony in paying social workers and therapists subpar wages, which then puts those people at risk of not being able to access the services they need — even as police receive millions in overtime, often for taking mental health calls.

A non-law enforcement team staffed by community members with lived experience and diverse backgrounds would ensure that people needing help are able to access it. And providing staff with competitive wages and long-term stability would encourage local applicants. This would go far in advancing the City of Tacoma’s commitments to anti-racism and transformation, since we know these issues most deeply impact our Black, brown and LGTBQ+ communities.

It would also make Tacoma a safer place to live. By ensuring this team is not managed by law enforcement, residents could call for help without fearing punishment or arrest. When care is criminalized or coerced, it interferes with healing possibilities, often preventing people from accessing future resources to reach stability. A crisis response team would increase community safety by preventing further crises from happening.

In the article we mentioned at the beginning, Jordan’s dad, Richard Taff, is quoted saying that mental health “affects everybody, and everybody should be concerned.” We agree.

We are concerned, and we are urging the city to prove its commitment to its residents through the city’s budget.

Eve Bowen is a retired public school teacher. Since her retirement in 2007, she has been a member of the social justice group, The Conversation 253.

Devin Kelly is the director of data with the Foundation for Tacoma Students and is beginning his fourth term as an elected officer with the Tacoma & Pierce County Democratic Socialists of America.