Stamford Awarded $550K Grant To Enhance Mental Health Initiatives

STAMFORD, CT — The city of Stamford has received a three-year, $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to add another social worker to the police department, and improve public safety responses and outcomes for people with mental illness.

Mayor Caroline Simmons announced the receival of the federal funds during a press conference outside the Stamford Government Center on Dec. 29. She was joined by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Stamford Director of Public Safety Ted Jankowski, Capt. Diedrich Hohn and Asst. Police Chief Silas Redd from the Stamford Police Department.

The funds will help build upon initiatives put in place by the SPD beginning in January 2020 to help those dealing with mental health issues. The city decided to act after seeing a rise in mental health calls, and after speaking with relatives of those who have been affected.

"I receive morning reports. In those reports, there are always mental health incidents. It was an area we needed to fight for improvements to meet the needs of the community," Jankowski said.

To that end, the way the dispatch center handles 911 calls has been revamped, and the majority of officers have been trained in crisis intervention.

In May of 2021, Stamford contracted with Recovery Network of Programs (RNP) to embed a social worker within the Stamford Police Department who responds to mental health calls to help people in need.

Since then, the social worker has followed through on over 200 incidents that have occured to ensure that the people who are having a mental health episode receive the services they need, Jankowski said.

It was the first public/private partnership in the state dealing with mental health response, and has decreased the number of mental health-related calls to the police department by 24 percent over the past year, according to Jankowski.

"A police officer who has been the de facto mental health professional — they respond to these calls, and it could be intimidating to somebody who is having a mental health episode or an incident. They come in with a ballistic protective vest, and they do have weapons. Reducing the number of calls has benefited the community," Jankowski said.

Because of the success of the initiative, another social worker and interns will be hired using a portion of the grant money.

The funds will also be used to conduct a systems-wide needs assessment to identify service gaps, enhance training for all relevant staff, conduct an extensive outreach campaign to engage service providers, conduct "Mental Health Fairs" and employ "a robust social media campaign and a progressive training regimen," the grant description said.

"We all know how important mental health is, and how much the past two years in particular have underscored the rise in mental health challenges in our community and substance abuse challenges. We are grateful for the SPD and all the work they are doing," Simmons said. "We want to do everything we can to support our community with appropriate responses and making sure we have mental health expertise within our police department."

Blumenthal said Stamford "is at the forefront" in developing these unique mental health initiatives.

"I'm going to be very blunt: being a cop has never been more important or more difficult. As we go through this pandemic challenge, the rates of mental health issues have been increasing. Opioid challenges, overdoses and substance abuse disorders have been skyrocketing," Blumenthal said. "All of these mental health and substance abuse disorder challenges require new skills and different training, and the police have been adapting."

Blumenthal hopes other municipalities around the state and the country can follow Stamford's lead. He praised Hohn for advocating for the grant. Hohn met Blumenthal over the summer and asked for help.

"I think the city deserves this, I think the department deserves it. Mental illness is not going anywhere. It's getting worse, and resources are getting narrower. We're grateful for this grant," Hohn said. "Mental illness has no bias, and that's what we're seeing in our community. That's why this grant is so special. We're going to be able to affect and help every aspect of the community with this grant."

A new social worker is expected to be hired within a year, Hohn said.