Eureka’s CARE program reports first‑year gains, says 76% of crisis contacts were diverted from 5150 holds

Jacob Rosen, presenting the CARE one‑year update to the Eureka City Council on March 12, said the alternative mental‑health response has expanded staffing and reduced emergency holds for people in crisis.

Rosen said CARE logged 784 client contacts in 2023, working with 145 individual clients, handling 192 crisis encounters and recording 570 case‑management contacts. "We're diverting 76 percent of individuals we contact for crisis from being placed on a 5150," Rosen said, describing the program's goal of avoiding involuntary holds by using de‑escalation, warm handoffs and follow‑up support.

Rosen outlined staffing changes and partnerships that enabled the expansion. He said he started in August 2022; additional staff joined in January and the team moved into a new Waterfront Annex (the old Coast Guard building). Rosen said CARE has integrated into police radios to improve field coordination with the Eureka Police Department and described monthly joint meetings with Uplift and EPD's CSET unit to solve recurring problems. "We've integrated, fully into police radios," he said.

Rosen described outcomes by type: roughly a quarter of contacts were crisis responses tied to law‑enforcement dispatch, 37 percent of calls had a medical component and about 11 percent of contacts resulted in arrest. He said about 35 percent of CARE clients show anosognosia (lack of insight), and roughly 65 percent of contacted clients are unhoused or lack permanent housing. Rosen gave examples of medical causes that can mimic psychiatric symptoms, citing urinary tract infections and thyroid problems as common complicating factors.

The program received a three‑year, $625,000 grant from the CareStar Foundation to support its recent expansion, Rosen said, and the city now has more staff in the field. That extra capacity will allow CARE to develop triage and safety protocols for a two‑person alternative response team meant to replace officer‑led responses when appropriate. Rosen said the next administrative steps are finalizing triage rules, further training and securing funding for two additional positions needed for seven‑day coverage.

Councilmembers praised the work and pressed Rosen on operational details. Councilmember Fernandez asked how CARE and CSET coordinate on 5150 decisions; Rosen said determinations are collaborative and that clinicians employed by county behavioral health—not city employees—currently have legal authority to place 5150 holds, a gap officials said they are addressing. Councilmember Walton asked what "diversion" looks like in practice; Rosen described de‑escalation, resource connections and warm handoffs to existing treatment teams.

Rosen also said CARE assisted with emergency weather overnight centers and crisis‑intervention training in the region. He urged the council to support efforts to secure additional funding to hire one more case manager and one more clinician to move toward seven‑day coverage.

The presentation concluded with council thanks and an offer from Rosen to provide more detail about SB 43 trainings and county coordination.

Rosen's presentation began during the council’s presentations segment and concluded before public comment; councilmembers did not take a formal vote on the presentation itself.