The State College Police Department is moving forward with adding a social worker position after receiving a $150,000 state grant for the initiative.
The borough and Centre County collaborated on the grant application to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency in September. Kari Hull, county director of criminal justice planning, told the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that the grant was awarded last week.
Centre County is the recipient of the grant and it will be directed to State College Police Department for implementation. Commissioners unanimously approved accepting the grant award.
It will fund a lead social worker’s salary and health benefits for 2022 and 2023. Police Chief John Gardner said the position has just been posted and several applications have already been received.
“We’re really excited this program is coming to fruition,” Hannah Babiss, local government fellow for the borough, said. “We’re grateful to PCCD to have been awarded this grant opportunity. We’re really looking forward to starting the police social worker program and expanding upon mental health services in the State College Police Department.”
Babiss explained last fall that the grant would help establish a social work program within the police department to provide preventative services and case management for individuals interacting with law enforcement and dealing with issues related to mental health, homelessness, substance abuse and family management challenges.
“…We see this individual aiding and assisting us in not just mental health calls but a lot of clients we deal with, whether they’re homeless or individuals we end up interacting with that maybe police isn’t the best place to [manage] it,” Gardner said on Tuesday. “I view it as maybe … we can divert people away from the system but also, more importantly, get them connected to the services that are best suited for them and by the same token freeing up police officers so they aren’t dealing with the same individuals time after time after time.”
Police departments in Centre County receive hundreds of mental health-related calls a year and Gardner said “it’s not slowing down,” causing services to be “stretched to the limit.”
“As I said back in September when I was here, I think police in this region do an exceptional job but they need help,” Gardner said. “I think this is that first step in that. Hopefully this is not the only police department that does this. This could be the building block where we have this throughout the county.”
Commissioner Michael Pipe said he believes there can be continued collaboration among the county and local law enforcement agencies to address social service and mental health resources.
“This really is going to be pioneering for our area,” Pipe said. “We’re wishing much success to this, seeing this start. And I think there may even be continued collaboration as we look at … these themes which are traditional entities within the criminal justice system needing additional supports… There are many opportunities for us to reform and improve, so this is exciting.”
The intersection of law enforcement and mental health issues, along with the availability of resources, has been a focus for years within the county, particularly since the fatal police shooting of State College resident Osaze Osagie in 2019.
“We’re very excited to partner with the borough of State College and the State College Police Department in bringing something to fruition that community members have been advocating for for several years now,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said. “Police work is very difficult to start with. I’m sure any assistance that can be rendered by other entities is very well received. As a resident of the borough myself I’m very excited about this possibility and hopefully it can be a success and we can expand it throughout some of the other departments in the county.”
