Seattle committee hears CARE update: officials say 24 responders 'not nearly adequate,' urge sole-dispatch authority

Seattle — The Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee on March 11 heard a wide‑ranging update on the city’s CARE Department, Seattle 911 and the city’s community crisis response effort. Chief Amy Barton, who leads the CARE Department, said the program has grown quickly but remains understaffed and constrained by dispatch rules and coordination gaps that limit its ability to keep people out of the criminal justice system.

"The current headcount of 24 responders is not nearly adequate to meet the need," Barton said, adding that CARE aims for 24‑hour, seven‑day coverage and faster connections to treatment and crisis beds. Barton said she needs the authority to send CARE responders without automatic police accompaniment in many calls and pressed for clearer lines among dispatch, police and health partners.

Why it matters: CARE is the city’s civilian alternative for many behavioral‑health and nonviolent crisis calls routed through 911. Committee members and the department described a system in which multiple outreach teams, separate records systems, and labor agreements limit the city’s ability to send the most appropriate responder quickly. Council members said those delays translate into recurring emergency calls, repeated overdoses and people left in visible crisis on sidewalks.

Barton told the committee that CARE responders have attended more than 1,700 calls to…