Worcester rights panel revisits unmet police mental-health policy fixes
Other Committee · Meeting of June 29, 2026
Worcester Human Rights Commission reviews unmet police mental-health policy fixes amid lawsuit. Division of Public Health staff Jennifer Nasjiova and Nikki Nixon detailed three active grants, including a program covering 235 tobacco retailers with a single enforcement coordinator. Former Vice Chair Elizabeth O'Callaghan told the commission that its April 2025 recommendations for Worcester Police Department Policy 830, unchanged since 2011, were "not to my knowledge" incorporated by the department.
Members said a roughly $1 million city-funded co-response pilot pairing clinicians with police, modeled on Oregon's CAHOOTS program, lost funding after Community Health Link's closure. The commission approved its April minutes 6-0 and voted 6-0 to adjourn at 8:09 p.m. Worcester Police Department is due to present again in August.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,604 words
Source: the Other Committee meeting of June 29, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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