NORTHAMPTON — In September, the city launched an experiment to try to create an alternative to police responses to address issues of mental health, homelessness and social inequities in the city.

The Division of Community Care, which opened its doors and hit the streets six months ago, was created under the umbrella of the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, following a recommendation from the Northampton Policing Review Commission. The commission itself was formed in 2021 following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, setting off nationwide protests and calls for change to traditional policing.

So what does servicing some of the city’s most vulnerable residents looks like in practice? Members of the DCC, people who have relied on them for assistance, and downtown businesses paint a picture of an organization dedicated to its cause and a welcome addition to the city’s services, but some admit that the organization is still in the early stages of figuring out how to best accomplish its mission.

Walking through the front doors of the DCC’s headquarters in the Roundhouse Plaza near the city’s downtown, one enters a community room with sofas and coffee tables, with basic refreshments such as coffee, water and bagels available. Other features include a public restroom, hats and gloves for the cold winter months, and Narcan available onsite in case of a potential overdose.

In another room, DCC workers, known as community responders, sit one-on-one with residents to help them with specific services, such as applying for food stamps or affordable housing.

The city’s Health & Human Services directory lists nine people who make up the DCC’s community responder team. Carlos McBride, one of the DCC’s lead responders, said members undergo a two-month training period for the position as they are instructed in aspects of dealing with the mental health issues they may encounter on a call.

“We’ve done a lot of training around folks that are talking about suicide. One of my favorite trainings is hearing voices, which is learning how to listen to a person that might be considered, I hate the word schizophrenic, but for a lack of another word,” he said. “The training helped us think about our capacity to hold someone else’s crisis or situation.”

Community responders also engage in daily walks around the city (the word “patrol” is discouraged), collecting any needles they may find around bike routes and frequently stopping to greet members of the city’s homeless population, many of whom already have an relationship with the agency. Responders wear jackets identifying them as being part of the DCC, aiming to establish the agency as a known and trusted community asset.

Several businesses downtown have been given flyers about the DCC and informed about the option to call them as opposed to police if they see a person in crisis. Rose Harasymiw, an associate at the downtown design shop Assemble, said she saw the DCC as a welcome option.

“I’ve recommended them to some folks that are having some episodes on the streets. And the response has been positive,” she said. “I feel like having a trained mental health professional dealing with someone having a mental health episode is always going to be a better alternative.”

Another critical aspect for DCC responders is the emphasis on de-escalating situations, reducing the possibility that a response to a crisis situation will result in physical danger. McBride says if a community responder feels they are in danger, other emergency personnel may be called in.

“We don’t deal with anything that’s violent, or if there’s a serious situation where somebody’s in real harm, we call the EMTs,” McBride said. “We’ve had workshops around de-escalation, listening, paying attention to the climate of an area.”

Kristen Rhodes, the director of the DCC, said that since starting operations, she’s learned that one key to meeting the organization’s objectives is to build and maintain relationships with people who access their services.

“We really spent a lot of time building and growing our community space to not replicate things that folks already had access to,” Rhodes said. “By setting up a space where folks are able to come in and have that sort of security and understanding of what [the DCC] is, it makes doing the work easier.”

Others report having had a difficult time trying to get reach of DCC members. Terri Pajak, who manages the Hospice Shop thrift store, said she once tried to call DCC to get transportation for a homeless person outside their store, but the organization never responded. “I think it’s a good option, but the kinks need to be worked out,” she said.

According to the DCC, from the period of September to the end of February, the department served more than 250 unique walk-ins needing services and received 106 unique phone calls and 30 referrals from police dispatch. The DCC also logged more than 1,400 instances of repeat walk-ins.

“I would say right now, for every one unique point of contact, we have three to four follow-ups,” said Michele Farry, the city’s deputy health commissioner. “So that in itself is indicating that people are trusting and utilizing our services because they self-initiate coming back.”

Beau Nichols is one such person who the department has helped out. Nichols said he had been living in a wooded area behind the bowling alley last winter when his encampment was flooded, meaning he had to swim out of nearly freezing water to escape. The DCC, he said, helped him find new warm clothes to wear at the Salvation Army. “They pretty much saved my life,” he said.

Nichols knows of others who are more critical of DCC services, but said he didn’t agree with them. “People are calling them useless, but really they’re just angry that they’re either not getting their way or a specific thing that they want is [not available],” he said.

Still, community responders acknowledged that with its current resources, there’s only so much the division can do.

“There’s a lot of difficult things, things to handle in any type of social work. There’s a lot of people that need help and not enough resources allotted to help people,” said Dylan Caçador, another community responder for DCC. “But it is very rewarding when you do get the good success stories, even if it’s something that could be seen as simple.”

When asked if there was any one issue that would provide the biggest help to people served by DCC, Caçador was quick to respond.

“Housing. 100%,” he said. “That’s not even a question.”

The issue of homelessness remains prominent in the city, with encampments set up in areas along Texas Road and panhandlers a visible presence downtown. McBride says the focus of the DCC is to simply help those in need.

“We’re not enforcement. We never make anybody move anywhere,” said McBride. “We just like to know everybody, check in with everybody, find out what needs people are missing, and try to address them as best we can.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.