The Fifth Branch

There’s a drumbeat of change across the U.S. as more and more communities look for new ways to respond to people in crisis. Traditionally, armed police have been first responders to people suffering from mental illness, drug overdose and homelessness. Now, communities are crafting new approaches that include sending unarmed clinicians alongside or instead of law enforcement. There’s increasing excitement about these alternatives, but little evidence on their effectiveness or how to implement them.Tradeoffs spent a year talking with national experts and communities across the country on the cutting edge of alternative crisis response. Our new series embeds with one city — Durham, North Carolina — to provide an in-depth look at how it's reimagining crisis response and what lessons it can offer other communities. Using Tradeoffs classic mix of data and human storytelling, this series explores Durham's new crisis response through the eyes of two locals deeply invested in this work: the city's homegrown police chief trying to reform and protect the police, and an unarmed responder hoping to provide more compassionate crisis care than he received during his own struggles with homelessness, mental illness and addiction. We also put Durham's experience in context of other communities trying similar efforts across the country to highlight emerging best practices and persistent challenges.*****Tradeoffs is an award-winning nonprofit news organization on a mission to help the folks on Main Street, Wall Street and Capitol Hill have smarter, more honest conversations about health policy. Founded in 2019 by former Senior Health Care Reporter at Marketplace, Dan Gorenstein, Tradeoffs’ journalism combines data, evidence and storytelling to help people better understand the complicated, costly and often counterintuitive world of health care.Learn more about us and find transcripts for each episode at https://tradeoffs.org; and subscribe to Tradeoffs for your weekly dose of health policy news and analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interested in voices who can shed light on innovative crisis response strategies, particularly those with firsthand experience in implementing unarmed clinician programs or similar initiatives in their communities.

Note: Guest insights are created with AI assistance.