DECEMBER 29, 2023 CRISIS RESPONSE Ann Arbor cancels pilot unarmed response RFP; Care-Based Safety's single proposal dropped Groundcover News has been reporting on the City of Ann Arbor’s American Rescue Plan Act for two years, starting with its initial award of $24.1 million in March 2021 and community engagement in January 2022. Although the federal funding is time-limited — all dollars must be allocated by December 31, 2024 and spent by December 31, 2026 — the city attempted to do a somewhat thorough community engagement process to democratically spend the funds. (See February 1, 2022 issue of Groundcover News.) The results of the citywide community engagement produced new, interesting projects to fund. One was a Guaranteed Income Pilot (see September 22, 2023 issue of Groundcover News). Another was a City Unarmed Response Program, which would be the first of its kind in the state of Michigan. On April 5, 2021, “Resolution Directing the City Administrator to Develop an Unarmed Public Safety Response Program” was passed by Ann Arbor City Council. It ordered that the program would be launched through an RFP, or request for proposals. An RFP is a public posting — often from the government — announcing that bids from contractors are being sought to complete a project. The RFP also includes the guidelines for the project itself. Typically an RFP follows a standardized process including the public posting, application period, deadline, review period and final selection. $100,000 and over two years were spent on community engagement to inform the RFP draft. The language was unanimously approved by the City Council on June 20, 2023. As of the deadline of September 21, local crisis-response non-profit Care-Based Safety was the only applicant. (Read more about CareBased Safety and their work in Ypsilanti in the March 10, 2023 issue of Groundcover News.) October, which the RFP outlined as a tentative deadline for candidate interviews, came and went and Care-Based Safety still had received no contact from the City nor feedback about their proposal submitted on September 19. In a closed session meeting on December 18, Ann Arbor staff canceled the RFP and said that they will LINDSAY CALKA Publisher open a new RFP with an “updated scope” in 2024. A staff-level decision does not require a vote of the Ann Arbor City Council, and no such vote was taken. In this same meeting, the city hired its new police chief, Andre Anderson. “Bureaucracy is a tool of white supremacy,” Liz Kennedy of CareBased Safety stated at a community conference held online on December 22 in response to the cancellation. “The city did not follow their own process; they should be accountable to us.” Care-Based Safety was informed of the RFP cancellation via email, and they requested direct reasons on why their single application was dropped. Reasons given via email correspondence were: • “The scope of the RFP needs to be updated,” • CBS’s proposed timeline is not “fully operational,” • their services do not meet “clearly expressed” community needs and • that “experience and references did not meet usual expectations.” A press release was sent out by the City of Ann Arbor on December 27 entitled, “City of Ann Arbor Reaffirms Support for Unarmed Crisis Response Program.” The release reads, “City Administrator Milton Dohoney Jr. indicated that the city found it unacceptable that it would take at least five years for the unarmed crisis response program to fully ramp up under the approach submitted by CBS. In addition, the city found it unacceptable that calls for service would only be answered on limited days during limited hours leaving the city without a functioning unarmed crisis response after 11 p.m. and for much of the weekend.” CBS noted in a social media post uploaded on December 23 that the RFP never stated “fully operational,” nor do they define what that would look, or not look, like. CBS also challenges, “If fully operational means city-wide or 24/7 access, it would be unethical and a set-up for failure, to immediately provide 24/7, city-wide service for an untested program, immediately or even within two years. More importantly, the community deserves to be able to inform and shape that work and co-create its expansion.” Despite this setback, Care-Based Safety plans to seek other funding and continue their work through two main activities: community-building and care-based response. One attendee at the CBS December 22 press conference inquired about seeking funding from another source, such as through private donations or grants. Co-directors Kennedy and Luna NH agree that will be necessary, but expect it is unlikely enough to sustain the organization and its service at the scope of the RFP proposal. Regarding grants, Kennedy noted that very few grants are posted that fund this type of work locally. And when they are, community based groups are in competition with the Sheriff’s department. This year, the Sheriff’s department was awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services for their Co-Response Unit, which dispatches armed police officers with unarmed community mental health workers. “The Sheriff’s department is expanding services by co-opting community based projects,” Kennedy said. This leaves peer-led and grassroots organizations under-resourced and unable to develop the capacity to access institutional funding. At the time of publication the City of Ann Arbor has not provided the updated scope nor timeline of the second RFP, but have stated to release such information in January. It is unclear whether there is enough time to conduct due process before the ARPA funding allocation period ends at the close of 2024. Archived issues of Groundcover News can be viewed at groundcovernews.org GROUNDCOVER NEWS What’s Happening at the Ann Arbor District Library Open 10am–8pm Daily Hang out in any of our five locations across town, browsing books, magazines, newspapers, and more, or check out movies, CDs, art prints, musical instruments, and home tools— you name it! Study and meeting rooms, fast and free WiFi, and plenty of places to sit and hang out. Fifth Avenue Press AADL founded Fifth Avenue Press in 2017 to support the local writing community and promote the creation of original content. The imprint publishes works by authors who live in Washtenaw County. Consider submitting your finished manuscript to Fifth Avenue Press today at fifthave.aadl.org. Book Clubs To Go Book Clubs To Go is a service available at each AADL location that provides the convenience of complete kits for book discussions. Inside, you’ll find 10 copies of the featured book, one movie DVD, and a resource folder. Request a kit today through the online catalog or by calling (734) 327-4200. FEATURED EVENT STEP IT UP! THE FRENCH DUKES A CELEBRATION, PERFORMANCE, AND READING Saturday, Jan. 20 • 2–3pm Downtown Library Join us for a celebration of the French Dukes! Author Debbie Taylor will kick things off with a reading of her picture book, Step It Up! The French Dukes! Set in 1960’s Ann Arbor, inspired by the reallife French Dukes Precision Drill Team. Members of the original team will talk with Debbie about their experience, followed by a short performance. 5
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