County Proposes Expanding Co-Responder Program To Newtown

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — Bucks County is proposing to expand its successful co-responder program to Newtown Borough, Newtown Township and Upper Makefield.

If all three municipalities agree, a pilot program will run for two years and be fully funded by a grant from the county. After that, it will be up to the municipalities to decide whether they want to continue with the program by assuming the cost.

Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia and the county’s community engagement officer Ivone Kovalsky were on hand at Wednesday night’s Newtown Borough Council agenda meeting to outline the program and to answer questions from the Council leaders.

The program, which has been implemented in 21 municipalities since it was first introduced in 2020, pairs social workers, known as co-responders, with police departments to divert residents with mental health issues away from the criminal justice system while freeing up police for patrol and public safety.

Kovalsky said Newtown’s co-responder would be based at the Newtown Ambulance Squad and would be called by police to situations involving individuals who are suffering from mental health and drug issues.

According to Kovalsky, police would be the first to respond to a call. Once the scene or situation is deemed safe, the officer would then call for the co-responder’s help. If the incident occurs after hours, the co-responder would be called into the situation the following day.

The program is not about replacing officers. It’s about giving officers another resource in dealing with social service and mental health issues, said the county officials.

According to Kovalsky, the program is designed to decrease the time law enforcement spends in response to a situation involving social service needs; provides a more effective emergency response through the addition of clinical-informed support and an enhanced community resource
knowledge base; ensure those who reach out for an emergency response receive a timely and streamlined connection to resources to address their social service needs; and divert individuals with primary social service needs from further penetration into the criminal justice system.

The co-responder would be considered a county employee operating with a county radio and using a county vehicle, said Newtown Borough Chief James Sabath. “Basically they are a resource for the police departments to use.

“All the departments who have used co-responders are very happy,” the chief added. “I have not heard a single negative thing. It’s all been very positive.”

Since the co-responder program was launched in 2020, more than 1600 individuals have benefited, said Kovalsky. More importantly, the social workers have developed more than 6,000 public contacts that police didn’t have to handle.

The program was first piloted in 2020 in Bensalem. It has since been expanded to Middletown, Falls and Bristol townships, Bristol Borough and Tullytown Borough and Warrington, Warwick, and Warminster townships.

The program is also in place in nine Upper Bucks County communities and was recently launched in Lower Makefield, Yardley Borough, and Morrisville Borough.

After the initial two years, the municipalities have the choice to drop the program or continue it by picking up the salary and benefits for the position.

“Everyone who has run the two years has kept the program going,” said Kovalsky.

“It sounds like a wonderful and useful program for the community and I think it’s very needed,” said Council President Emily Heinz. “We’re excited to bring it to our residents.”