Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Group seeks to turn Arizona's primaries into nonpartisan elections

    States such as Washington and California have nonpartisan "top-two" primaries, in which the top two vote getters move on to the general election regardless of their party affiliation. In Washington, voter turnout in primary elections has jumped from 18 percent in 2003, before the law went into effect, to nearly 55 percent in 2020.

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  • Program aims to bring diversity from classrooms into courtrooms

    In an effort to diversify Arizona’s disproportionately white judiciary, legal professionals are volunteering in the state’s Legal Futures program to do outreach to high school and college students. The students spend face-to-face time with the professionals learning about career pathways and often leave with contact information to stay in touch.

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  • Arizona program hopes to be nationwide model for healthy babies

    Health Start connects expecting mothers and their babies with a trained public health coach who provides resources and information about their child’s development and acts as a sounding board for their questions. These health coaches work and live in the same communities as the mothers and work outside of the traditional medical setting, operating more like a trustworthy friend, making mothers feel more comfortable and open with their concerns.

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  • Program turns Tucson police into 'street-corner problem solvers'

    Tucson’s Place Network Investigations program puts dedicated teams in areas where crime is more likely to occur, using community engagement to learn more about residents’ needs and their concerns around local crime. Tucson's program has also partnered with community organizations to offer services as part of public outreach, such as vaccination clinics and food distribution, but some have criticized the initiative as over-policing of marginalized communities.

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  • Online network matches inmates with services after release, similar to a dating site

    The Inside Out Network is an online service that allows people who are incarcerated to search for and connect with organizations providing re-entry support, helping them begin to create a plan before they are released. So far, at least 1,600 people incarcerated in Arizona have enrolled in the program.

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  • Tucson crisis center expanding services for faster mental health care

    The Crisis Response Center provides mental health and crisis care services as an alternative to emergency rooms or jails. The center is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and offers a variety of services focused on recovery for children, teens and adults struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse. The Center is set to expand ahead of the new 988 dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Once expansions are done, the Center will have the capacity to serve between 400 and 600 extra visits a month, on top of the 800 to 1,000 adults who visit the center each month.

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  • Pima County programs help keep drug users out of jail, save taxpayers money

    Tucson’s Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison program, or DTAP, offers intensive treatment and recovery services to certain people convicted of nonviolent offenses as an alternative to serving a sentence behind bars. Participants also receive support and counseling around job and life skills, transportation, and other critical needs, and at least 119 people have successfully completed the program since 2011.

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  • Tucson police chief says mental health workers in 911 center would ensure callers get the right response

    In 2019, Mesa police began diverting calls about suicide threats to a crisis line, where trained mental health professionals could provide counseling or dispatch a mobile crisis unit. Then they placed mental health professionals side by side with police dispatchers to triage 911 calls on the spot. Police now handle many fewer suicide-related crises, saving the city money and giving people more appropriate care. In Tucson, a mobile crisis team operates more independently from police. After two social workers were abducted at gunpoint by a man in crisis, the police chief argued to adopt the Mesa model.

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  • Arizona program gives low-income parents a chance at career advancement

    Single mothers in Arizona are getting access to wraparound services that give them an opportunity for social and economic mobility. The Pathways for Single Mothers provides comprehensive services that include childcare, transportation, tuition, and an emergency fund.

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  • Push on to boost mental health support for first responders

    The Peer Support Team at Northwest Fire District connects firefighters with a trained peer support specialist to talk confidentially about mental health. The program also connects firefighters in need with additional resources like therapy and counseling. In an effort to change the mindset most first responders have toward mental health, there are currently 50 trained peer support specialists throughout the state and more than 1,000 across the country.

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