Kaplan announces State proposed budget includes $10 Million to Fund MACRO: Oakland’s Civilian Crisis Responders
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2021
Contact: Kimberly Jones, Chief of Staff to Vice Mayor Kaplan
(510) 681-8641 | Kjones3@oaklandca.gov
Oakland, CA -- Oakland Vice-Mayor Rebecca Kaplan is today thanking the State Legislature, and specifically Senator Nancy Skinner, for amendments to the Budget Act of 2021, which includes an allocation of $10 million to fund Oakland's Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (“MACRO”) program. We urge the Governor to approve it.
On May 4, 2021, Vice-Mayor Kaplan wrote a letter to the Senate and Assembly Budget Chairs advocating for funding MACRO. It states:
“In Oakland, we understand the urgent need to improve access to mental health services for nonviolent crisis calls, rather than criminalizing community members who already find themselves in a vulnerable state…
...We respectfully ask that you continue your support of our city by funding our unarmed crisis intervention team -- Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (“MACRO”). In coordination with several grassroots communities and with an outpouring of community support, the City of Oakland is launching MACRO to respond to non-violent crisis calls…
We are working towards ensuring that this program is set up to uplift lives in our city. MACRO is being launched as an internal program within the Oakland Fire Department, the personnel would be non-sworn and preferably from our city’s most impacted communities. The City of Oakland has funded the program to launch in East Oakland, but there is great need throughout our city.”
On behalf of the City of Oakland, Vice- Mayor Rebecca Kaplan expresses her gratitude to Senator Skinner for advocating on behalf of the City, and the State for prioritizing the needs of our communities by proposing $10 Million funding for MACRO, and encourages the Governor to approve it.
Screenshots of excerpts from budget:
SB-129 Budget Act of 2021:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB129
Vice Mayor Kaplan’s 5/4/21 Letter: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:38b8e016-7147-4baa-9078-0df221b2079e
Links for more information about MACRO:
