After a whistleblower raised concerns about short-staffing within the city's Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement program, which is supposed to provide medical health services to people in a crisis situation, Mayor Brandon Johnson's office defended the program, saying it has helped hundreds of Chicagoans.

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.

"It's a huge disservice to people going through a crisis, obviously, to have someone without knowledge show up," the whistleblower said.

CBS News Chicago reached out to the mayor's office just before 7 pm. Thursday, in advance of the 10 p.m. newscast, when the first report on the whistleblower's concerns aired, but the mayor's office didn't provide a response until 5 p.m. Friday.

While the mayor's office didn't address questions about staffing or any possible plans for additional hiring, they said the CARE program has helped more than 1,000 people since it began.

"While there are still a number of improvements and adjustments that need to be made to realize the potential of the pilot, the Johnson administration has worked with the Treatment Not Trauma coalition, City departments, and Aldermanic allies to successfully lay the foundation for the future growth and development of this critical program," a Johnson spokesperson said in an email.

Maintaining their anonymity, a whistleblower who has worked with CARE said their team is short-staffed, operates in only seven of the city's 22 police districts, and rarely helps Chicagoans in need – responding to only 12 calls in the last three weeks. 

"It is you, the general Chicagoan, who deserves to know what is happening with the CARE team, with the program that has been lauded by the mayor's office that has been so looked forward to for so many years and which has so much potential. It's important for you to know that that potential is not being reached," they said.

Previously, CARE was able to self-dispatch, meaning they could listen to police scanners and respond themselves in cases of a mental health crisis.

The University of Chicago Health Lab studied care in its pilot form, and said self-dispatch then made up for about half of calls care responded to.

"Self-dispatch were by far the highest percentage of dispatches," said University of Chicago Health Lab director Jason Lerner. "It worked effectively then."

Now, CARE teams are relying on 911 operators at the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications to tell them where and when to respond.

Programs like CARE are popular across the country, including the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon.

"It showed a lot of promise in reducing arrests, increasing connections to support and medical services, and things like that. So there's a lot of promise," Lerner said.

In a case study originally published in 2024, but that was updated in 2025, the non-profit National League of Union Cities explored CAHOOTS, which has since been decimated by budget cuts.

Before that, in 2024, they had one van on duty 24 hours a day. In comparison, CARE operates in Chicago Monday through Friday between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

In 2021, CAHOOTS was able to divert 15% of calls police would otherwise have responded to.

In Chicago, the dashboard previously active to track CARE's progress has been taken off the city's website.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Public Health, which oversees the CARE program, said it currently has seven teams to respond to mental health crisis calls citywide.

"District-specific CARE teams currently operate in Police Districts 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, and 19. In addition, we have two Citywide/Special Cases teams that provide coverage across the city and is not limited to any geographic area and responds to complex behavioral cases around the city through referrals," they said.

The full statement from the mayor's office is below:

The CARE pilot has successfully supported over 1,000 unique individuals in crisis since its inception. While there are still a number of improvements and adjustments that need to be made to realize the potential of the pilot, the Johnson administration has worked with the Treatment Not Trauma coalition, City departments, and Aldermanic allies to successfully lay the foundation for the future growth and development of this critical program.

CARE teams consistently provide support at the encampments for unhoused residents around Chicago. CARE provides harm reduction services through our Substance Use Teams, conducts Mental Health Assessments, Kit Distribution, and basic medical care to unhoused individuals. 

In the aftermath of traumatic incidents, such as the recent shooting in Douglass Park, CARE provides mental health support to the people who were traumatized by the incident.

The CARE team follows-up with those who have received CARE services, ensuring that Chicagoans experiencing mental health crises have ongoing support.

There have been no arrests when CARE is on the scene. This fact speaks to the core mission of the CARE program which is to provide treatment and care to Chicagoans experiencing mental health crises, rather than taking punitive measures.

Due in part to the prevention strategies Mayor Johnson has championed, over the past year there has been a decline in the number of reported mental health incidents here in Chicago, in line with the broader progress we have made in bringing down violent crime overall.