The Fremont Neighborhood Council hosted its monthly meeting March 25 and Amy Barden, chief of Seattle’s Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department, took center stage as guest speaker.
Barden’s presentation was far from the normal, death-by-Powerpoint type of briefing. Rather, she used her dynamic and charismatic public speaking skills to evangelize the CARE Department, weave in her personal narrative, and convey to Fremont residents key take-aways.
The CARE Department was established in 2023 by Mayor Bruce Harrell as part of the city’s effort to diversify emergency response services, aiming to reduce reliance on police and fire personnel and instead use trained crisis responders. With the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Fire Department, CARE is the third branch of public safety.
Chief Barden jointly oversees the Community Crisis Responder (CCR) Team and the 9-1-1 Communications Center.
“What people know about it is – this team that’s the biggest division by far – Seattle 9-1-1. That’s 160 folks,” Barden said. “Sometimes people look at the budget, the $33 million dollars, and they’re like, wow, these CARE responders get paid. Like, no, that’s a little portion, $2 million.”
Barden noted that she’s the only Chief in the country with this responsibility of overseeing dispatchers and CCRs.
But it’s a logical partnership because the dispatchers are a critical piece to assigning the right people at the right time, whether they’re CARE, police or fire or a combination. “They [dispatchers] are treated like secretaries,” Barden said, noting how 9-1-1 dispatchers are often neglected. “Dispatchers are usually trained by cops. They’re trained to be cynical. They’re trained to air on the side of extreme caution, and like, let’s just send police.”
Shifting from these stereotypical, out-of-date paradigms, CARE uses evidence-based methods to respond to low-risk, mental health-related calls. Their approach prioritizes both compassion and effectiveness, as dispatchers must determine who is calling, assess their needs, and identify the most appropriate first response.
Barden said that their focus is on triage but getting someone long-term help for drug addiction is vexing, especially with fentanyl. “What is mental health, and then, what is the impact of this drug? Narcan is not a solution,” she said. “What we’re doing is we’re saving someone’s like an accidental drowning again, again.”
There’s a focus from politicians on measuring outcomes but in reality, there’s no system to refer to, Barden said. She asked attendees to watch the recording of the Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee meeting on March 11, where Barden had to defend the program against council members who were cynical about CARE’s progress. She claimed the city was on track to self sabotage yet another program, early in its existence. Instead, CARE should be treated like the 99 tunnel, a lengthy project that had challenges but maintained government support.
On March 19 Barden announced that the 24 CARE officers were officially city-wide, with the addition of Southwest and Southeast Seattle. North Seattle received its CCRs in February.
“What we’re doing in North [sic] is we’re really studying the crisis hot spots,” she said. “Where are the calls coming from, especially the calls that are not criminal in nature.”
Barden introduced the five CARE CCRs who also attended the meeting, nearly a quarter of the citywide team. They were available after the meeting to speak with attendees and answer questions.
“I’m just hitting my two-year mark in this role. I joke that I’m aging like Obama,” she said. “But it really is the joy of my life to advance appropriate progress.”
You can find more information about the CARE Department here. For non-emergencies, the public is encouraged to call the City of Seattle non-emergency line at (206) 625-5011, which is answered by CARE Team members.
Editor’s Note: The author of this article serves as the Treasurer of the Fremont Neighborhood Council. This report aims to provide an objective summary of the meeting’s discussions.
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