October 25, 2024 |City of Lynn, City Services, Lynn Calm Team, Lynn Police Department, News, Public Safety

City aims to launch Lynn Calm Team this fall

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The City, in partnership with Eliot Community Human Services, aims to launch its alternative to police response, the Lynn Calm Team, this fall. Eliot has posted two positions for the Lynn Calm Team and hope to identify candidates quickly.

The full-time positions are for a Community Outreach Manager and a Community Support Specialist. Both require the applicant to be proficient in English and Spanish.The Collins Center at UMass Boston is serving as the project manager for the City as it implements the Lynn Calm Team or LCT for short, which will respond to situations involving conflict resolution, substance abuse and mental health issues.

“We are excited to see this initiative become a reality,” said Mayor Jared C. Nicholson. “Given the innovative nature of the work, we have approached it thoughtfully and deliberately. I am confident that we will assemble a team that is well prepared to perform this important work.”

The City worked with a marketing agency, to develop a logo and branding strategy for the Lynn Calm Team that signifies empathy, safety, equity and approachability. There was a community-engagement process that included feedback from a variety of stakeholders.

“As a member of the committee, I’ve trusted the process. The team that I’ve been working with has been dedicated to making sure that the resource we are creating will meet our needs. A tremendous amount of effort has gone into the design so that CALM is truly the vision of our community” said Dalene Basden, of Children’s Friend and Family Services in Lynn.

Barbara Atim Okeny, President of Diverse People United, said “unarmed response teams ensure that people are met with compassion and it also prevents loss of life through non-lethal de-escalation strategies.”

The City wants to continue involving the community and therefore, will be hosting two upcoming meetings to update the public on their progress.

The first meeting is Monday, October 28th at 5:30pm at the YMCA community room (40 Neptune Blvd). The second meeting will be conducted completely in Spanish on Thursday, November 7th at 5:30pm at the Lynn Housing Authority community room (10 Church Street). Faustina Cuevas, the City’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, said Lynn has benefited from the experience of other communities.

“We have studied best practices as we moved forward with this initiative including being part of the Harvard Kennedy School’s “Alternative 911 Emergency Response” community of practice. We continue to learn more about what will and will not work in our community, and look forward to doing a soft launch this fall.”

Any questions about this initiative can be sent to Faustina Cuevas, fcuevas@lynnma.gov.

The job postings can be found at bit.ly/3Nx5jFc and bit.ly/3Nx5tfM, and below.

The above press release was submitted to us by Mayor Nicholson’s office.