Pittsburgh could soon start training food and retail service workers about how to engage with people in crisis. A bill that directs the city to facilitate such training was preliminarily approved by City Council Wednesday.
District 7 Councilor Deb Gross introduced the bill last week. It seeks to support “retail and food service workers that experience countless interactions with those experiencing crises including, but not limited to homelessness, addiction, and mental health episodes.”
Gross said Wednesday that food and retail workers, many of whom have been dealing with disgruntled customers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been contending with customers in a state of crisis more frequently. She said the bill was informed by conversations with business owners and employees in her district.
“Our small businesses, especially coffee shops … are becoming an informal social safety net, but without the resources,” Gross said.
Council discussed the particulars of the measure during its committee meeting Wednesday. The city’s Office of Community Health and Safety already teaches city employees how to respond to someone in crisis: Gross’ bill would make that training available publicly for local businesses. The city would explore hiring a community education coordinator under the Department of Public Safety to facilitate the training.
Tori Tambellini, a former shift supervisor at the Starbucks in Market Square, testified in support of the bill during the public comment period of Wednesday’s meeting. Tambellini claimed workers there are routinely confronted with incidents they don’t feel equipped to handle.
“There are times when I had to stop making drinks to assist a customer who was having a mental health crisis in our restrooms,” she told City Council members Wednesday. “There were two occasions where I had to administer Narcan to customers in the store or just outside the store.”
Tambellini said the Market Square location also frequently serves people experiencing homelessness.
Laura Drogowski, manager of the city’s Office of Community Health and Safety, said she’s heard from other Downtown businesses who have had to contend with customers overdosing in their bathrooms.
“They want help,” she said. “They had 16-year-old employees who were finding a person who had died in the bathroom.”
Drogowski said business owners Downtown and in other city neighborhoods have questions about how to make their stores safer and how to know when to engage with a customer in crisis. She argued that additional training could help businesses be better prepared to help, instead of immediately calling the police to handle a situation.
But, Drogowski stressed, even after training businesses should call the police if it becomes necessary to keep everyone safe.
“If you don't feel safe, then we do not encourage people to proactively engage,” she said. “We're not training you to become an intensive case manager, a service navigator, a social worker.”
The legislation does not mandate the training, but businesses would be encouraged to take advantage of the resource. It’s unclear if there will be costs for a business to access the training.
Council president Theresa Kail-Smith and Councilor Anthony Coghill abstained from the preliminary vote Wednesday after they both requested more information about program costs and specifics.
Coghill expressed concerns about what specialized training could cost the city, beyond the cost of hiring a community education coordinator. According to Drogowski, the position would replace another vacated role within the same department.
Kail-Smith noted that some community organizations offer similar training and wondered if the city would be doubling efforts already in place. “Just a quick search of just some of the things you're saying … I see things that are available free to the public,” she said.
Council preliminarily approved the bill Wednesday with six members voting to support it. A final vote on the measure is expected next week.
