Press Release: STAR PROGRAM: COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS SPEAK OUT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2021
Contact:
Vinnie Cervantes, DASHR 720.413.0124 | vinnie@dashrco.org
Ana Sofia Cornelius
ana@denverhomelessoutloud.org
STAR PROGRAM: COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS SPEAK OUT
Community members and partners of Denver’s STAR program make demands of the city.
Denver, CO – On June 1st last year, Denver launched the STAR program to provide an alternative crisis response for issues related to mental health, substance use, and homelessness. The pilot program has been successful in its limited capacity, however much is needed to make it a program that will be truly effective for the city. STAR is currently in the process of expansion. Throughout the design and implementation of the program, community members and organizations have been at the table to help drive the decisions. This is in alignment with the spirit of the STAR program and the program that it’s inspired by CAHOOTS.
An expansion committee was initiated in August, but community members have experienced dismissive behavior and hostility while being part of a collaborative table. Even with barriers from the city, the expansion committee still forwarded some visions for expansion to the Denver Department of Health and Environment. We have been waiting for updates since February. We were surprised to learn of those updates at a recent Safety and Housing committee presentation to city council on 3/24. Community stakeholders were neither notified nor present at the meeting and components of the presentation for expansion were not in alignment with what had been established through our work with the city.
Because of this, and a larger pattern of dismissing community voices or making decisions without them, community stakeholders of the STAR program are holding a press conference on Thursday April 1 at 10:30am on the steps of the city and county building (1437 Bannock Street). Efforts to communicate our frustration have been met with insufficient responses. As a result, we will be sharing our community narratives and issuing demands of the program and the city to adhere to the values it has established for STAR.
Our demands:
• Structure: Immediate adoption and implementation of the initial proposal for the advisory committee and its membership.
• Decision-making: No further decisions to be made regarding STAR without community driving the conversation.
• Narrative: That the city administration, elected officials, and media honor the concept of a community-driven program by prioritizing and including our voices.
We recognize STAR’s impact and need in Denver, and there’s still a lot of work to do to ensure it is truly a community-driven program that serves the needs of those most impacted by systemic violence.
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DASHR is an organization focused on creating and supporting community-based responses to conflict and crisis. We work to transform the narrative of public safety.