CRESS Programs at Risk Amid Budget Cuts and Grant Loss

Report on the Meeting of the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC), July 9, 2025

The meeting was held over Zoom. Find the recording here.

Present
Erica Piedade, Everald Henry, Lissette Paredes. Absent: Allegra Clark (Co-Chair), Debora Ferreira (Co-Chair). Piedade served as acting chair. 

Staff: Camille Theriaque (CRESS Director, Committee Liaison), Pamela Nolan Young (Director, Office Diversity, Equity and Inclusion)

Because a quorum was not present with two absent and two seats on the committee vacant, the committee could not take any official action but was still able to receive reports.

Announcements and Charter Review
Erica Piedade mentioned that town council candidate papers are now available from the town clerk’s office. She suggested creating two or three specific questions for the committee to ask candidates about their support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), CRESS (the town’s civilian responder service), and for eliminating structural racism in Amherst’s institutions. While no exact questions were finalized during this meeting, the committee agreed to brainstorm and develop these questions at their next meeting, to help voters understand candidates’ positions on these critical issues.

Piedade added that Amherst’s Home Rule Charter is being reviewed for possible amendments.  This review takes place only once every 10 years in years ending in four. The charter is the governance document dictating the operations of Amherst town government, including budget processes. The town’s Charter Review Committee will hold a final public listening session to collect feedback on the charter on Wednesday, July 23 at 7 p.m. in the Bangs Community Center.  Feedback can also be submitted via written comments, through the feedback form on the committee’s web site. No specific amendments to the charter were proposed during the meeting, but the community will be encouraged to comment on what they think should be changed.

Member Report and Budget Concerns
Piedade reported on attending a Town Council Meeting on June 16, where the budget was approved despite discontent from those supporting CRESS.

Piedade shared that she had the opportunity to speak with some town council members about the possibility of the CSSJC making a presentation at a town council meeting.  She noted that during their discussion, several questions came up that CSSJC members could have answered if they had been present and she emphasized the importance of finding a way to get on the council’s agenda well before budget discussions begin. She suggested that doing so would enable the committee to provide updates on their work, including their collaboration with CRESS and DEI, and give council members a chance to hear directly from committee members.

She noted apparent bias in a presentation from the Amherst Police Department suggesting  that CRESS might be unnecessary, but  underscored that CRESS is meant to be an alternative to the police that can  be much more effective and efficient in specific instances. It  also should reduce the  caseload for the APD as well as the fire department.

Everald Henry agreed and emphasized the need for the town council to fully understand CRESS’s benefits which do not diminish the APD, but offer collaboration to support the Amherst community.

DEI Department Updates
Director of DEI, Pamela Nolan Young, provided updates on department activities.

She noted that as the fiscal year comes to a close, many town departments have completed their specialized, departmental DEI training, including Police, Fire, Jones Library, Recreation, Town Hall, and DPW. The department is finalizing their annual report summarizing the year’s accomplishments, which will be publicly available on their webpage once reviewed.

Amherst’s first annual pride parade was held on June 22, garnering an estimated attendance of over 1000 participants, including vendors and entertainment. Photos are posted in the July DEI newsletter.  

She announced that there will be a raising of the Disability Pride flag on July 16 at 4 p.m. outside of Town Hall in celebration of Disability Pride Month. Afterwards, at 5 p.m., there will be a free screening of the documentary The Ride Ahead in the Bangs Community center sponsored by The Amherst Commission for People with Disabilities.  More information here.

The department co-sponsored the annual community reading of the Frederick Douglass speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”, at South Church on July 5. More than 40 readers participated. Young suggested future enhancements to the event including promoting the involvement of more BIPOC community members, increased youth participation, and potentially the creation of a modern translation of the text to make it more accessible to those who are challenged by the 19th century language.

DEI has completed work with Dr. Barbara Love on her Liberatory Visioning Project and her full report can be found here.

Young discussed the proposal for a Resident Oversight Board for the Amherst Police. Consultants have completed the first stage of work with a stakeholder group and a report has been sent to the town manager. The town manager is scheduled to review the report with legal counsel and they will then make a recommendation to the town council.

The DEI department has completed their part of the process and sent a report to the town manager. The town manager will review this report and once a decision is made concerning establishing of the board, , consultants will conduct training for initial board members. 

Regarding the Youth Empowerment Center, DEI is not directly charged with developing the center’s plan. They have hosted youth empowerment events, notably at the Amherst Global Village Festival and they plan to increase youth events to three to four per quarter in the  upcoming fiscal year. Specific events will likely start in September or October and the department is  taking a pause in August to plan and strategize.

Young highlighted a free, summer youth entrepreneurship program for young people  in grades 7-12 over two weeks in July.  The program will culminate in a Youth Entrepreneurship Pitch Challenge, providing students with the opportunity to present their business ideas to a panel of local business leaders and community members.

Piedade asked who will be responsible for the implementation of recommendations in Dr. Barbara Love’s report, which includes the support of CRESS, the CSSJC and the town’s reparations committee. Young explained that it is her department’s role to give the report to the town manager, and from there, he will decide when it goes to the town council. She also noted that without public support or the report being included in the town manager’s annual goals, movement on the report’s recommendations will be limited given the DEI Department’s scantl programming budget.

Piedede also questioned when the public will have the opportunity to provide recommendations and comments regarding the Resident Oversight Board (ROB). 

Young said she was unsure if there will be an opportunity for the community to have input before recommendations go to the town council. She believes that the public’s opportunity to provide input is when a recommendation goes to Town Council.

CRESS Department Updates
The CRESS program, (Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service), an unarmed public safety department rooted in trauma-informed, anti-racist frameworks, is grappling with significant budget and staffing challenges following the end of its EAPS (Equitable Approaches to Public Safety) grant from the state on June 30. The program has lost two responder positions and its implementation manager, and currently operates with only five responders with another slated to be hired and a notably lean budget. The current team includes five responders, an administrative assistant, and a program director with one responder position to be filled. CRESS is actively supporting the recruiting of  an additional responder to form three fully staffed, two-person teams. Applications are open on the CRESS webpage

In the face of limited municipal grant availability,, CRESS leadership is seeking alternative funding sources. CSSJC members have expressed growing concern about the sustainability of the program under current conditions and the risk of being evaluated by the town council without having adequate resources to fulfill its mission. There is a strong push within the committee to advocate for a comprehensive budget proposal and to document the impact and benefits of CRESS’s work to strengthen future funding requests, including potential state grants.

Despite financial limitations, CRESS remains active in the community. Recently, the team participated in the Amherst Global Village Festival and provided support during the July 3 Independence Day celebration. Regular veteran breakfasts continue to be sponsored by CRESS on the first and third Fridays of each month, and the final CRESS Connections session at the middle school drew more than 50 youth participants. In collaboration with Tory Research, CRESS also held three community engagement sessions aimed at assessing and improving public services.

CRESS programs at risk of discontinuation without the EAPS grant include CRESS Connections, Vet breakfasts, Hotel Stays for Unhoused, and Community Engagement Assessment Sessions with Tory Research.

Looking ahead, CRESS plans to implement a new Qualtrics reporting system to enhance data collection and accountability. The program will continue its community outreach efforts and is determined to maintain its existing services despite limited resources. Securing additional funding remains a top priority for the program’s sustainability and growth.

More information on CRESS activities can be found in the the monthly CRESS newsletter.

Retreat Updates and Public Comment
In a recent retreat, members of CSSJC  gathered with the goal of strengthening internal collaboration and developing strategic approaches to support the program’s future. 

The retreat centered on three primary objectives: enhancing committee cohesion, revisiting the recommendations of the Community Safety Working Group, and crafting strategies to ensure long-term support for CRESS. A key focus was identifying stakeholders, both within town leadership and the broader community, who needed to better understand the scope and value of CRESS’s work.

To that end, committee members committed to specific action steps. These included assigning outreach responsibilities to various members to connect with town departments and community groups, developing targeted questions for town council candidates regarding their stance on CRESS, and documenting the program’s impact to strengthen future budget discussions. The committee also agreed to schedule another in-person meeting to track progress on these initiatives.

Public comment underscored the urgency of these efforts. Martha Hanner, a District 5 resident, voiced strong support for CRESS and expressed concern over what she described as a lack of understanding among some town council members regarding the program’s wide-ranging functions. She recommended a meeting with Town Manager Paul Bockelman and emphasized the importance of clearly documenting CRESS’s diverse activities, particularly its vital role during evening hours (4–8 p.m). Hanner offered her support and contact information to continue the conversation.

In additional discussions, committee members raised concerns about potential evaluations of CRESS by the town manager that may not take into account the program’s resource limitations or the full scope of its services. There was consensus on the need for comprehensive education efforts to better inform both elected officials and the public about CRESS’s contributions to community safety and wellbeing.