DENVER – As Denver’s Mayor Mike Johnston continues to navigate the city’s multi-million dollar budget shortfall, members of Denver’s STAR Community Advisory Committee worry the mayor will cut nearly $1 million from the STAR Program’s budget.

STAR , which stands for Support Team Assisted Response, is the city’s acclaimed program that serves as an alternative to policing, sending mental health clinicians and paramedics to low-risk dispatch calls.

The program has served as a model for other cities across the country.

But now, Vinnie Cervantes, a STAR Community Advisory Committee member who helped create the program said he’s worried this budget cut will cost lives.

“We don't know where exactly they plan for those cuts to come from for STAR, but what we do know is that STAR is only answer

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