New CARE team expands to north Seattle, easing pressure on police with crisis response
by Joel Moreno
Updated Mon, February 10th 2025 at 8:51 PM
SEATTLE — A new team is in place in north Seattle to help people on the streets who are homeless, in crisis, or need help with issues like drug addictions.
Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) recently expanded and its crisis responders are now operating in the North Precinct. These social workers get dispatched alongside Seattle police to help with welfare checks, person-down reports, and other types of low-level crisis calls.
“It’s interesting to get to know each neighborhood and the different needs in each of those,” said Victoria Hanson, one of CARE’s crisis responders who is assigned to the North Precinct. “What we really like to focus on are people who are experiencing like behavioral health crisis.”
CARE teams have been patrolling downtown as well as in the Chinatown-International District and Capitol Hill. In January, the North Precinct was added. These mobile social workers represent Seattle’s newest arm of public safety response, alongside police officers and firefighters.
“I think it’s very important for the community to have a different kind of response and a response that can spend more time,” said Brooke Hernandez, a crisis responder who is also working in the North Precinct. “It’s exciting that we can expand our reach to be able to help out in other areas.”
In the North Precinct, CARE patrols run from noon to 10 p.m. The team can initiate their own calls for service, which typically involves approaching people in need and talking to them about what kind of help could benefit them.
CARE Chief Amy Barden is reaching out to community organizations throughout the North Precinct to identify neighborhoods with the highest needs.
Given the staffing shortages Seattle police still face, finding another way to handle crisis calls without an officer being present is considered a game-changer. This can take a significant amount of pressure off of officers who can focus on violent crimes and other priorities.
In the past, police couldn’t always go to some mental health calls because they were tied up with more serious crimes. The CARE team said they are on the scene and offering help on average within seven minutes of a call.
“Both police and fire are usually on a time crunch,” Hernandez said. “It’s really important to have a team that can come where people know they’re not going to get arrested or they’re not going to be forced to go anywhere and they can actually just talk to us about what they need, and we can spend that time.”
The CARE team is currently working out of the UW police station but will be moving into the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct annex building. Another CARE expansion is scheduled to take place in March, when it starts covering areas in the South and Southwest precincts.