DOAP Overview:

The DOAP Team offers transportation and crisis support for those dealing with addiction issues. The team provides system navigation, and addiction and housing information to those they connect with. The DOAP team consists of two Outreach Workers who respond to calls from the public, businesses, emergency services (EMS, CPS) and other facilities or agencies identifying an individual on the street in need of non-emergency assistance. The goal of the program is to provide a service that reaches individuals struggling with substance use at the street level, to improve the conditions under which people are living and to address their immediate safety. There are times when the DOAP team is the best response for a situation and able to divert individuals from law enforcement or healthcare services BUT they are not always the best response even if the individual in need of support is unhoused. Here are some examples:

 

DOAP IS the best response

  • an unhoused individual in a vulnerable state (likely under the influence) is in need of transportation
  • highly intoxicated individual is stumbling down the street / stepping into traffic
  • an individual having a poor mental health moment/series of moments is in public and appears vulnerable but no criminal activity is occurring and no weapons are involved
  • an unhoused individual is sleeping in the doorway of a business
  • an individual/group of individuals are readying themselves to use substances in a public space

 

DOAP is NOT the best response

  • someone is overdosing
  • someone is bleeding heavily and requires medical attention
  • An independently housed individual needs a ride home from the hospital after receiving treatment
  • An individual with access to alternative resources wants a ride to a business or residence
  • An individual under the influence is attacking store front windows / attempting to break into a residence DOAP does not respond to situations of extreme violence
  • A caller suspects an individual on the street may be deceased i.e. is unresponsive DOAP Team is not a medical response