SAFE Team Statistics & Report (March 2023 – March 2024)
The San Rafael Specialized Assistance For Everyone (SAFE) Team launched on March 27, 2023. This program is a collaborative effort based on the CAHOOTS model deployed in Eugene, Oregon, which is the leading model for emergency crisis intervention and prevention.
2024 STATITICS:
• Calls for Service Handled – 3152
The SAFE Team serves both the housed and unhoused community. 48% of calls for service involve the unhoused community.
The SAFE Team prioritizes calls for service involving community members in crisis. People in crisis could be experiencing suicidal ideations, depression, mental health trauma, grief, post traumatic stress, or many other conditions that may require someone to reach out.
The SAFE Team was able to assist 75 Suicidal subjects and conducted 982 welfare checks.
One of the goals of the SAFE Team is to divert clients who have minor medical complaints from the Emergency Department to free up staff and first responders for higher priority incidents. The SAFE Team is able to render care for low level medical complaints, take preventative measures or transport to a health clinic for follow-up care. Since the SAFE Team’s inception, there were:
• 113 Emergency Department Diversions
• 152 Ambulance Diversions
The SAFE Team also handles calls for service involving chronic inebriants and illicit substance abusers by transporting them to detox centers, providing drug/alcohol counseling, or transporting to staff service. This prevents the community member from being arrested and possibly entering the justice system.
• 125 Jail/Criminal Justice Diversions