City Council
Nonprofit to support teams of police, social workers.
Co-response teams pair social workers with police on mental health calls, but only weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They also cover just three of the city's six police zones. Now, the Department of Public Safety wants council to approve a $483,000 nonprofit donation for Downtown coverage. The public safety director said it would mainly pay for police overtime.
Written by Amy Whipple
- The Department of Public Safety requested council approval for a $483,000 donation from the Baldwin-based nonprofit Community Family Advocates.
- Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said the donation is intended for the city’s Co-Response program, which is run through the Office of Community Health and Safety. Co-Response teams have social workers who respond with police officers to emergency calls for people in mental and behavioral health crises. The teams are trained to both provide appropriate support and reduce the use of force in mental or behavioral health emergencies.
- The donation is specifically for supporting Downtown coverage and would primarily pay for police overtime, Schmidt said.
- Co-response police officers work four 10-hour shifts a week and are currently not overtime eligible, though the department is looking for that to change. Three of the city’s six police zones have access to co-response, and those that do only have teams available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Schmidt estimated that Co-Response currently has fewer than 20 social workers. He said it has been difficult to recruit social workers who are used to working in more controlled environments.
- “We’re looking at these dollars as ways to figure out how we can incentivize folks to come work evenings and weekends, because mental health crises happen 24/7,” he said.
- The money will go through the county’s Department of Human Services, which also received a donation from Community Family Advocates.
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