What happened after CAHOOTS?
September 15, 2026 - CAHOOTS stopped operations in Eugene on April 7th, 2025. What was the impact of this loss? Our research partners at the University of Oregon, Rori Rohlfs, Claire Herbert and their teams, analyzed publicly available call data and interviewed Eugene residents to publish two powerful reports on the impact of the loss of community responder welfare check service.
The three major takeaways from the report are:
The Eugene Police Department (EPD) is now spending more time on call types previously answered by CAHOOTS, and less time on other call types. Further, EPD response on these call types takes nearly double the staff time of CAHOOTS.
Between EPD and Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County (MCSLC), Welfare Check service has dropped.
Emergency call arrest rates have increased, for call types commonly previously answered by CAHOOTS, arrest rates have doubled.
Most participants in WVCC’s first Listening Session agreed that the City of Eugene should fund community responder services. Community members discussed ways the city could allocate funds—through an updated community safety initiative payroll tax, through a wealth tax, or through a dedicated fund for alternative response—and shared a strong desire to see the city make good on its commitment. Additional funding streams that were suggested included grants, Measure 110 related funding, and community support. Participants suggested alternative funding models such as sustainer/membership models, pay it forward programs, and worker owned cooperatives.
Write to your city councilor you and ask them to bring back community responder services and welfare checks. Help us bring CROWS to life.
References:
Burton, N., Lafay, M., Uhlig, L., Gollier, A., Linnaea, J., Medina, C., & Rohlfs, R. (2026, September 2). After CAHOOTS: Service decline, shifting police attention, and a rising arrest rate. Retrieved from osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/bqtf2_v1
Herbert, C. (2026, publication pending). Calling CAHOOTS: Eugene residents relied on CAHOOTS for welfare-related concerns. Corresponding Author: Claire Herbert, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Oregon. Research Assistants: Vanessa Lepe, Dylan Podrabsky, Madeline Rose, and Mae Sowards
Infographic slides: content created by humans with design assistance from CanvaAI
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