COMMUNITY OPPOSES CUTS TO DENVER’S STAR PROGRAM
COMMUNITY OPPOSES CUTS TO DENVER’S STAR PROGRAM
August 29, 2025
Contact:
Vinnie Cervantes vinnie@dashrco.org
The community members of the STAR Community Advisory Committee (SCAC) have learned of some concerning cuts and changes to STAR that we feel need to be made public and addressed by leadership. Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) was developed by community and city partners in 2020 which sends clinicians and paramedics to 911 calls that would otherwise go to law enforcement. The program was developed out of community demand and design to send more appropriate, more effective responders to crisis, especially in light of a history of police violence in Denver and inadequate behavioral health responses.
What we know is that about $880,000 is proposed to be cut from the STAR program for 2026. This, coupled with the recent layoff of STAR Program Specialist Evan Thompkins, would mean nearly $1 million taken from STAR next year. We condemn the dismissal of Thompkins, as he was one of the very few representatives of DDPHE or the city who worked in collaboration with community in alignment with the fidelity of STAR’s original vision. His dismissal will hurt the program and the relationship between STAR and the community.
This massive cut to STAR’s funding will do tremendous damage to a program that is already underfunded. As of 2024, the STAR program was only able to answer about 50% of the calls that were eligible for the program. The city has regularly been a barrier to STAR’s success, but further hindering the program by cutting its funding indicates that, in a budget crisis, Denver leadership is setting a program up to fail that, when it works, is a cost-saver for the city. The CAHOOTS program, which inspired the development of STAR, touted a $6.4 million savings per year for Eugene, which spends about $100 million on public safety. Although the data was limited, a Stanford study of the STAR pilot showed that STAR cost ¼ the cost of a police response, with areas where it was operating seeing about a 30% reduction in crime. This also led to fewer arrests during encounters involving mental health and substance use and a reduced opportunity for instances of police violence.
We have also learned of potential changes in the structure of the program itself. While we are unsure of specific details, we believe the city to be working to consolidate the program by hiring within instead of contracting with community partners. The city has not demonstrated the ability to carry out this program, much less maintain alignment with its original design and intent, enough for us to trust any restructuring that has been entertained.
Overall, these shifts represent a city that is taking advantage of a national environment that fosters criminality in doubling-down into a proven failure of approaching homelessness and mental health with punishment and expanding policing in ways that contradict decades of evidence and proven harm. This is also reflected in the fact that the Department of Public Safety was untouched by the recent layoffs of 169 city staff and likely will see few, if any, budget cuts in 2026. STAR has inspired hundreds of cities to explore alternative response and create similar programs. The impact of STAR has far-reaching consequences for similar programs and the movement to reimagine public safety.
The SCAC and community groups and partners call for the following:
- Maintain STAR’s current funding levels for 2026
- Create an immediate plan to expand funding to meet the community demand for the program
- Immediately work to codify the SCAC by the end of 2025
- No structural decisions should be made about STAR without the SCAC and broader community’s involvement
The STAR program, in its inception, represented a shift for the city of Denver toward a common-sense, service-oriented approach to crisis, which promised to offer cost savings to the city and an appropriate response to people experiencing mental health distress, substance use issues, and homelessness. More importantly, it represented a positive example of community-government partnership in creating innovative ideas that have influenced an entire field of work. The program should not suffer because of gross mismanagement and misplaced priorities. And it needs to have community leadership as its driving force to be the transformative resource that it has the potential to be.
Signed
STAR Community Advisory Committee
Alternative Mobile Services Association
Ames Stenson, Restorative Justice Practitioner, LSW, MSW, MTS,
Bread and Roses Legal Center
Center for Freedom and Justice Colorado
Chicano Liberation Committee
Colorado CD7 Watermelon
Colorado CD4 Watermelon
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC)
Colorado Jobs With Justice
Community United in Solidarity with Palestine (CUSP)
Dayton Street Opportunity Center
Deb Witzel M.A.- Restorative Justice Practitioner, Trainer, Consultant
Denver Alliance for Street Health Response (DASHR)
Denver Aurora Community Action Committee
Denver Communists
Denver Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
Denver Task Force to Reimagine Policing
Elephant Circle
FACEIT
Forge Consulting
General Strike US Colorado
Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance
Harm Reduction Action Center
Hate Out of Winston (Winston-Salem, NC)
Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND)
Knoxville HEART
Mamas de DPS
Mutual Aid Monday
Nathan Eagan, Restorative Justice Practitioner, Esq.
Our Revolution Metro Denver
Parker Stoke Mental Health Foundation
Partida Nacional de La Raza Unida
Restorative Justice Practice
Showing Up for Racial Justice Denver (SURJ)
Solidarity Warriors Indivisible
The People’s House
Transforming Our Community Alliance (TOCA)
Weavers Denver