In Chicago, members of the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement program are supposed to provide medical health services to people in a crisis situation, but a whistleblower has shared serious concerns about the program, and the mayor's office has yet to respond.
In an exclusive interview, a whistleblower said the mental health crews want to work — but are being held back from helping people by limited hours and red tape.
CBS News Chicago reached out to Mayor Brandon Johnson's office just after 7 p.m. Thursday in advance of the 10 p.m. newscast, when the first report on the whistleblower's concerns aired.
The mayor's office criticized the amount of time they were given to respond, but by Friday afternoon, they still had yet to answer questions about the CARE program.
Many who work with the CARE team saw the story and their response was positive.
Mayor Johnson touted the plan to send behavioral health professionals to respond to 911 calls regarding mental health crises during his campaign, but a whistleblower who has worked with CARE said the team is short-staffed, operates in only seven of the city's 22 police districts, and rarely helps Chicagoans in need.
"The program is being set up to fail in a way that these obstacles are being put in place so that, when it comes to 2026, someone can say, 'Well, this didn't work. Let's use this money in a different way,'" the whistleblower said.
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