San Rafael renews contract with crisis response team

A team of trained crisis counselors and emergency medical technicians that began responding to nonviolent distress calls in San Rafael three years ago is showing success, officials said.

The Specialized Assistance for Everyone Team, or SAFE Team, is designed to relieve police officers and firefighters from certain behavioral health crises, homeless disturbances, substance abuse and quality of life issues so they can focus on the most life-threatening emergencies.

The unit is responding to 3,000 calls annually, which accounts for about 8.5% of the San Rafael Police Department’s total call volume. With that support, police responses for the most critical incidents have been made 12% faster, said San Rafael police Capt. Todd Berringer, who oversees the program.

“They bring deep experience in behavioral health and crisis response,” Berringer said. “The SAFE Team has become a fully integrated and essential component of San Rafael’s emergency response framework. By diverting these incidents from traditional law enforcement-only responses, the SAFE Team has significantly reduced patrol workload while improving outcomes from individuals in crisis. The data tells a compelling story.”

The SAFE Team, which began as a three-year pilot, is composed of a two-person mobile team that is available 12 hours a day. The crisis counselor and emergency medical technician operate out of a van stocked with medical equipment for response.

The unit has successfully prevented people from admission into hospital emergency rooms 235 times and has prevented arrests 183 times. The unit’s response has also prevented 337 ambulance transports, keeping those life-support services available to others who need it, Berringer said.

The city initially budgeted $2.45 million for the three-year pilot period. It ended up costing about $1.88 million, Berringer said.

On Feb. 2, the San Rafael City Council unanimously authorized a one-year extension of the team’s contract. The program is run through the nonprofit Petaluma People Services Center. The $775,000 agreement expires June 30, 2027.

However, San Rafael is facing funding constraints and a projected $3.5 million city budget deficit next year that will worsen if not addressed.

Last year, the city received a $483,282 grant, which in part is being used to sustain the SAFE Team for an additional year. The program is also fueled with opioid settlement funds, which will soon be exhausted, and the city’s cannabis fund.

“It’s important to emphasize that these funds are time limited,” Berringer said. “Without new dedicated revenue, the city will be challenged to sustain this program at its current level over the long term.”

Berringer said if funding was available program managers would ideally want to extend it to a 24-hour service model, or at least have 18-hour coverage so two teams could overlap shifts to cover breaks.

“I think that the most alarming thing people would find is that the funding only lasts for a little more than a year,” Councilmember Maribeth Bushey said. “So we have got to be laser focused on that next tranche of funding, and ideally to expand the hours, because this program is really working for the police department, for the city of San Rafael and for all of San Rafael’s residents. So we need to move it forward.”

San Rafael resident Ken Dickinson told the City Council he has met the SAFE Team and he is a fan. However, Dickinson said he is concerned because the council met in closed session before voting on the contract to discuss litigation involving the SAFE Team service provider.

He is also concerned about the city’s expansion of homelessness-related services, which will require costs for staff time, legal resources and long-term planning at a time when the city is facing a tight budget.

“At the same time, the scope and geographic reach of these services are likely to grow, particularly with the development of the 350 Merrydale interim shelter,” Dickinson said, referring to a project to create a temporary village of cabins to shelter homeless people at 350 Merrydale Road.

“My request to the City Council is that the city take a more integrated and transparent approach, one that connects service expansion with sustainable funding, infrastructure readiness and proactive risk management so the public can better understand how these pieces fit together,” he said. “Compassionate services and sound governance are not in conflict, but they do require careful alignment.”

The litigation against Petaluma People Services and the city involves a crash that occurred on Jan. 24, 2024. The suit alleges that an employee ran a red light at Second and Irwin streets while driving the SAFE Team van and struck a car, causing injury to its driver.

Representatives of Petaluma People Services Center declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

The council took no reportable action during the closed session meeting on the litigation, City Attorney Rob Epstein said. City officials declined to comment on the case, which is scheduled for trial in August.