Madison Police, Youth & Family Services Pilot Social Worker Program

MADISON, CT — Now through the end of May, the Madison Police Department will have social work services available to all Madison residents through a pilot program facilitated through Madison Youth and Family Services. The social worker may reach out to residents as a follow-up to a police report for the purposes of offering further support and assistance to help connect people with any needed programs and services.

In the short term, this pilot is will enable more immediate outreach to residents following an encounter with the police, and the experience of running the program will help the town to develop capacity for this type of service on a more permanent basis. Please note that any outreach from the social worker is separate from the police report, and is offered as a free, voluntary and confidential consultation. For more information, please visit the Madison Youth and Family webpage, or contact the Madison Police Department.

What's the purpose of the pilot program?

In response to the recent State Police Accountability Act, the Madison Police Department (MPD) and Madison Youth and Family Services (MYFS) are partnering towards integrating social work services with our Police Department. Connecticut has seen several different approaches by Police Departments to integrate social work, and there are several college universities that are developing graduate level educational models that would prepare social work students to fulfill these new roles. The State is still working to develop standards and guidance in support of this recent legislation. As the MPD is already well-trained in community policing, we believe the role for social work in Madison begins at the level of identifying and assisting the people who have been involved with police intervention and may also have unmet needs for human services. As police officers often engage with people at a moment of crisis, they are often in a position to observe the conditions surrounding that crisis. Such needs may include behavioral health care, elder care, substance abuse treatment, food insecurity, housing, and/or domestic violence and these issues often contribute directly or indirectly when someone is the subject of police intervention. Positioning social workers in partnership with police officers will more likely lead to identifying and addressing those needs.

MYFS and MPD are eager to develop our own model that utilizes and builds upon existing municipal resources, and to position ourselves to utilize the graduate level intern and training resources that will be more available in the future. MYFS currently has within its capacity to provide a wide array of mental health services and social services, and our staff includes licensed mental health professionals and graduate level interns. There is an existing relationship between MPD and MYFS and great potential to build on that foundation and it is our belief that we are best suited to develop the right model for Madison. It is our collective goal to create one that is best fitted to our own community needs, and one that is responsive, cost-efficient and comprehensive.

Overview of Pilot

Efforts to initiate this new collaboration between MYFS and MPD have been severely hampered by the existing high level of stress and strain on each department due to the pandemic. MYFS and MPD had to be creative to launch a pilot this year, and to that end have created a unique short-term position that was approved by the Town as an “externship.” The program utilizes a current MSW student who will work as the Pilot Program Social Worker. The role may resemble a traditional field placement or social work internship; however, it is not associated with the student’s graduate program but rather facilitated directly through MYFS. The Social Worker will be mostly stationed at the MPD to observe, interact and identify opportunities for social work outreach and then provide that outreach. A person does not have to be the subject of police intervention in order to receive outreach, but rather anyone noted as a part of a police incident. At the conclusion of the Pilot Program, the Social Worker will produce a report that summarizes their programmatic experience so we can continue to develop such services for the future.

Duties and expectations of the Program Social Worker:

• The Social Worker will maintain a weekly schedule up to 16 hours a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
• The Social Worker will routinely interact with police officers and review police reports to identify incidents where there may be people who might benefit from outreach.
  • The Social Worker would then reach out by phone, and offer further consultation, provide case management as needed and with consent, to connect that person(s) with appropriate programs and resources.
  • Any information shared with the Social Worker by the subject of the outreach is separate from the police record, and will be considered confidential and managed in accordance with existing MYFS outreach services.
• The Social Worker can provide police officers with information and resources that may be given as a part of a police intervention.
• At the conclusion of the Pilot Program, the Social worker will produce a written summary of the experience with recommendations towards further integration of social work with MPD.
• Oversight and program supervision would occur through MYFS, and coordinated closely with MPD.