On April 24th, Malora Christensen, Whatcom County Health and Community Services’ Response Systems Division Manager, was our guest speaker and gave 11 of us in attendance on Zoom an informative overview of the County’s GRACE, LEAD, and ART programs.
Malora is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been working in Whatcom County for the past 13 years. Over the years, Malora has worked in the areas of farm worker rights, permanent supportive housing, diversion programs, behavioral health and overall system improvement for our most vulnerable community members. Bufsters know Malora from her time working with Community to Community.
According to the County website https://www.whatcomcounty.us/4179/GRACE-Program, the Ground-Level Response and Coordinated Engagement (GRACE) program is a community-based effort to find solutions for individuals who are high utilizers of emergency and criminal justice systems. The aim is to offer intensive, coordinated services to these “familiar faces” whose needs span beyond any single agency.
According to the County website https://www.whatcomcounty.us/3933/LEAD-Program, LEAD (known nationally as Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion is a community-based effort to find solutions for individuals who are high utilizers of criminal justice systems. The aim is to lead people out of the criminal justice system and into intensive case management where those who are dealing with behavioral health challenges can have their needs met appropriately.
According to the County website https://www.whatcomcounty.us/3934/ART-Program, the Alternative Response Team (ART) is an innovative program that benefits people having mental or behavioral health challenges, and it will also benefit our police personnel, allowing them to respond to other emergent calls requiring law enforcement intervention. Launched in January 2023, this Bellingham program sends a behavioral health specialist and a public health nurse to respond to specific non-violent behavioral health 911 calls.
In addition to discussing the above programs, Malora also provided us with insights on the issues associated with the Whatcom County jail and trauma-informed design, of which there are 3 facilities in the U.S., including the one visited by the County in Tennessee this year.
Malora emphasized the need for the public to lobby elected officials to move off old paradigms and seek the advice and input of subject-matter experts when it comes to rethinking emergency and police response policies and practices.
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