On the ground with Richmond’s new crisis response leader

Just days before an encampment housing more than 30 people along the Greenway Trail was shut down by the city of Richmond, Michael Romero drove his black truck into the area to connect with its residents.

“You know what, that’s C.O.R.E. right there,” Romero realized, as he spotted another truck parked in the middle of the path. “This is part of what (my) team design is supporting — peripheral services that are managing these types of situations.”

Romero, the newly hired leader of Richmond’s Community Crisis Response Program (CCRP), was referring to an array of county workers from Contra Costa County’s Coordinated Outreach Referral, Engagement group and A3, Contra Costa Health’s behavior health response group. These groups, which respond to homelessness and mental health crises, were talking with unhoused residents of the area, attempting to connect them with county services.

Before Romero’s program was founded, C.O.R.E. and A3 teams — as well as Safe Organized Spaces (SOS) — have shouldered the bulk of the work of connecting the city’s most vulnerable populations with critical services such as temporary housing and mental health services.

Ever since Richmond established the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force in 2020, during the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, the city has been planning its own version of a new public safety approach that seeks to avoid relying on police to respond to non-violent, non-medical incidents.

The 21-person task force  — comprised of residents, community organizations and law enforcement — eventually recommended a four-pronged approach before it was disbanded in June. 

This approach includes providing services through the following groups:

• YouthWORKS, which connects young people with job opportunities and other life readiness skill-building programs;
• The Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), which works to reduce gun violence;
• Unhoused intervention services through SOS; and
• The program Romero was hired in May to lead, CCRP.

With Romero on the job, a key part of this new approach is beginning to fall into place. It’s expected that crisis intervention workers will be starting community outreach by the end of the year or early next year, according to city sources close to the program.

CCRP team members won’t be responding to violent calls or medical emergencies but will focus on nonviolent, non-emergency calls, according to Romero. They will also collaborate with the city’s first responders and dispatchers as well as the county’s C.O.R.E. and A3 crisis response teams.

In an interview with Richmondside, Romero detailed his journey to becoming CCRP’s leader and the difference his team hopes to make.

Romero worked with patients in criminal justice system

Romero began working in mental health and substance abuse in the mid-2000s as an industrial therapist at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk near downtown Los Angeles.

“I worked with individuals who were deemed incompetent to stand trial,” Romero said. “Our goal as a treatment team was to design a mental health treatment plan, manage their symptoms and prepare them to work through the legal system.”

During his time at Metropolitan, Romero helped patients gain work skills to prepare them for reintegration into the community.

He then moved to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino where he worked with individuals who had been found not guilty by reason of a mental disorder. 

Needing a break from the rigors of mental health work, Romero stepped away from it in the early-2010s and organized live Mixed Martial Arts events on Native American lands around the United States. 

After a few years, he returned to the mental health and substance abuse field, working for Orange County’s mental health response nonprofit, Be Well OC, one of the first mobile crisis response teams in California and amongst a handful in the nation, Romero said.

“I finally found my passion providing outreach services to folks needing support on the streets,” he said.

Romero was with the response team from its launch in August 2021 until earlier this year, managing the program’s day-to-day community operations. The program eventually expanded to six other Southern California cities.

BeWell’s program, similar to CCRP’s, sent workers out in two blue vans to respond to non-violent, non-emergency incidents and to provided continued support. They were helping people needing temporary housing, mental health medications and support for substance abuse issues.

As Mobile Crisis Response Manager for the Huntington Beach branch of BeWell, Romero often researched what other cities were doing, trying to glean ideas.

“I was driven to ensure our teams were using all the tools we needed to maximize outcomes,” he said.

In researching Richmond, he saw that the city was looking to hire a CCRP program director.

“I thought, ‘What a gorgeous area,’ ” he said. “I further researched everything we know that is Richmond.”

Drawing from his upbringing in similar industrial cities such as Whittier and La Puente in east Los Angeles County, Romero felt inspired to apply for the job.

“I prayed on it and sent in my resume thinking, ‘If this is where God wants me to go, let’s roll,’ ’’ he said. He also discussed the possible move with his 21-year-old son Vaughn, who encouraged him to not pass up the opportunity.

After surviving a hiring process he described as “nerve wracking,” he eventually landed an in-person interview with a panel of city departments which included Richmond Police Assistant Chief Tim Simmons, Richmond Deputy Fire Chief Aaron Osorio, ONS, Richmond’s Human Resources Director Sharrone Taylor and Deputy City Manager of Community Services LaShonda White.

To prepare, Romero researched ONS and its Director Sam Vaughn, who was instrumental in working with the reimagine task force to develop the CCRP program model.

“As I learned of ONS, I thought ‘Wow, this is my calling,’ ” he said, explaining that he admired how the program had made progress reducing gun violence in Richmond. “I dug deeper on ONS and was blown away at the department and the legend that is Sam Vaughn.”

Romero said he feels a connection to Vaughn, who he now collaborates with. Richmond is now one of 10 jurisdictions in the country that have both an ONS and a CCRP program. Vaughn also sharing his son’s name made him feel it was more than a coincidence.

“Michael and myself embraced each other very quickly, before he actually started to be fair,” Vaughn said, recalling those initial interactions with Romero. “The reason for this is we see the world through the same lens. He is compassionate, fair, fearless and loves the people he serves. His charisma is contagious and his presence makes Richmond a better city.”

“There was definitely something spiritual about this team-family match up,” Romero said.

How will crisis response look and work?

Romero understands the importance of swift action in his support work, a principle that will apply to the newly formed crisis team as well.

“It’s time to get to work,” he said, emphasizing that the initial 18 months will be critical for implementing the Community Crisis Response Program — which will also look to re-brand its name once it is up and running.

A public poll, which closed on Tuesday, helped them compile feedback on a list of four potential names and let residents submit their own suggestions. 

According to Romero, the future crisis responders — who have yet to be hired — will drive a pair of black and orange vans, a color they hope will be easily associated with the program. So far they’ve hired Associate Administrative Analyst Joan Binalinbing, who was raised in Richmond.

The city is in conversations with union representatives to finalize the other positions, and job descriptions are still being developed.

Romero eventually hopes the team adds a clinical supervisor position, someone who specializes in psychological services that would be available to both the public and his team.

“I like the idea of being able to offer this to Richmond and the team. It’s pretty damn cool,” he said.

Another position he hopes to have initially is that of a case manager who would specialize in following up with cases.

Romero said that the program will lean heavily on hiring team members who have a balance between education and lived experiences. It is still to be determined how many full-time positions the program has as negotiations continue with emergency dispatchers, the police officers association and the firefighter’s union.

“We have found in this type of work that the people selected will ultimately define the program,” he said. “Every call that we respond to could turn into anything you can imagine. You must be able to navigate a crisis that could (draw on) all your past experiences to support someone or a family that needs your help.”

Additionally, he described a three-inch thick comprehensive data collection book given to him by Vaughn, describing it as the “bible” for ensuring the program is operating in the most needy areas. The document, compiled since 2021, provides a detailed analysis of 911 calls both nationally and specifically for Richmond.

The data, gathered through collaborations with organizations such as the Reimagine Task Force, Harvard University, and justice reform and advocacy organizations such as the Vera Institute and Urban Strategies Council, aims to guide CCRP teams to areas where services are most needed.

Romero said the data reveals specific patterns. For example, it shows a spike in welfare check calls in Richmond’s Iron Triangle area between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The information will help determine initial service schedules, potentially improving outreach to underserved communities.

Although the data doesn’t show why certain calls happen at certain times of the day, Romero said the information will help him and the program’s leadership team strategize their locations so they can offer a quick response.

“Back home in Huntington Beach we used heat maps and hot spots that were fruitful. We also had to learn how to deliver services and define new areas that would benefit from our outreach,” he said, adding that it’s helpful that Richmond already has that information.

The data will also be constantly updated so that the team can see certain trends around the city. The ultimate goal, Romero said, is to develop rapport with dispatchers who will eventually be able to see how many times the CCRP has visited a home and defer to them to make that non-violent, non-medical follow-up with residents.

“It comes over time and building relationships where the dispatchers will ultimately know to send us out on that (call) because they know from the address history what to expect from that location,” he said. Additionally, the program is working with the West Contra Costa Unified School District to be able to respond to certain calls for mental health support for students at local schools.

“We have to build that relationship not only with the district but also with the school psychologists, school nurses, principals,” he said. “Those are the type of relationships we have and want to build because before officers would be called for a kid being aggressive at school. If our schools have an alternative response (to armed officers) — whether middle school or high school — they’ll be able to call us instead of law enforcement.”

According to Romero, he and Vaughn are still working with first responders on developing how calls will be received by dispatchers and parceled out to the agencies — whether that be CCRP, C.O.R.E., A3, Richmond police or Richmond fire departments.

Romero already working with residents

Outside of meetings with Vaughn and city and county stakeholders, Romero said he’s been rolling up his sleeves visiting homeless encampments, like the one on the Greenway Trail, to learn what residents need, whether that be medication or getting connected with city or county services.

“What’s happening now in the interim as we are waiting for these positions is that we are available to city staff for whatever,” he said.

That Tuesday morning, Romero said, he was at the Greenway Trail encampment — known to area residents as Targetville — providing additional support to the agencies involved, including  BART officials, Contra Costa County officials and Richmond police Crime Prevention Manager Michelle Milam.

One resident, who had been living at the encampment for a number of years, decided to accept an offer for temporary housing.

Romero in June met a 47-year-old woman who was living in an encampment along Harbour Way. He was able to get her contact information and began getting to know her, though she denied his offer to help.

When Romero returned the next day, she was no longer there but was seen a couple days later in the Hilltop Mall area. 

Alongside C.O.R.E. and A3, Romero said they spoke with her again, working with her daily until eventually she eventually accepted help and was taken to Contra Costa County West Valley Behavioral Health.

There a psychiatrist gave her long-acting medication to help stabilize her mental health, and she was given a room at the Bay Area Rescue Mission. Eventually she became well enough to ask for help getting back to family members in southern California, according to Romero.

Her case is just one example of how the team hopes to address non-violent, non-medical incidents in Richmond and make an impact — especially once he earns trust in the community and among collaborating agencies.

“Richmond is one of the toughest cities in the nation that has been underserved. Collaborations are everything,” he said. “We welcome having eyes and ears on us every minute and every hour of every day we suit up to serve. Being proactive means working closely with our dispatch staff and bridging the gap of voluntary options in Richmond and Contra Costa County.”