This summer, 33rd Ward Working Families will be petitioning to get a ballot question on November's ballot asking voters to support Treatment Not Trauma.
Right now the City of Chicago relies on the police and private clinics to respond to most mental health issues, but police presence during mental health emergencies can drastically
escalate a situation resulting in the risk of being killed by police being 16 times greater for individuals with untreated mental illness than for other residents
Treatment Not Trauma model creates a city-wide crisis response program that dispatches mental health professionals and an EMT to calls instead of armed police officers and funds a strong public care system able to support individuals after they have a crisis and work to prevent emergencies before they happen.
In order to get this, we'll be asking 33rd Ward voters to sign a petition to get this question on the November ballot: Shall the City of Chicago reopen all of the closed Chicago Department of Public Health mental health centers in support of a city-wide crisis response program that dispatches mental health professionals and an EMT to mental health emergency calls instead of police officers?"
Will you join us for a summer of talking to our neighbors about how we reimagine public safety and community care?
Sign up for a canvass or community event here!