A city of DeKalb program that pairs social workers with police officers during 911 crisis calls is reducing the prevalence of those calls ending up with someone in the hospital emergency department, data shows.

The DeKalb Police Department has extended its existing partnership with social workers from the Northwestern Medicine Ben Gordon Center to offer more individualized crisis response.

The ongoing program is designed to help people get support from mental health providers, addiction recovery services, housing programs, area hospitals and other community organizations close to home when police intervention may not be needed following an incident.

The City Council’s recent decision helps provide funding to pay social workers to co-respond to incidents with police officers when deemed appropriate. An amendment to the agreement allows the partnership to continue through Dec. 31 and allocates $194,183 to make it happen, city documents show.

Sabrina Nicholson, behavioral health services director for the Northwestern Medicine Ben Gordon Center, said the program is all about linking people to the help they need most in the moment.

“Our program has social workers who will follow them along for roughly 30 days or so,” Nicholson said. “So, they will be in frequent contact with them following the incident. Whether it’s a co-response, whether they’re on scene at the time of the event, or it’s a referral after the fact from the [police department] officers, our social workers will respond either by phone or in person and work with that individual to identify the root cause of what led to that crisis or that 911 call to try and help them link to services.”

Nicholson said the program’s significance to the community is clear.

“It really just highlights the continued need for the social work program for the city of DeKalb,” Nicholson said. “It’s very evident ... just how much need there continues to be in the city of DeKalb. This [police department] social work program was born here at [the DeKalb Police Department]. And then, it has branched out to other police departments.”

A specialized pilot program – building on the partnerships started in 2018 – took place this past summer, calling for a co-response between a dedicated police officer and a social worker. They’re meant to respond to incidents together.

When people are reluctant to seek out support, this is where the intervention of police officers, in tandem with social workers, comes into play.

Officials said the pilot program proved to be effective.

According to data from last summer’s pilot program, there’s been a 15% reduction in the number of people being transported to an emergency department when a social worker responds with police. That’s compared with 37% of the time following incidents when an officer responded alone and a social worker followed up after the fact, data shows.

Mayor Cohen Barnes commended the work of the city’s police in partnership with social workers from Northwestern Medicine.

“You all have filled a great gap that was out there,” Barnes said.

Nicholson pointed to the importance of the training that police officers and social workers receive to prepare them to respond to calls together.

“Our [police department] social workers are trained in motivational interviewing so that we can meet individuals where they’re at,” she said. “If someone’s not ready to receive care, we’re going to work alongside them to try and help them get to that point where they may be open or willing.”

The city’s goal is to employ three full-time social workers, one for each shift, officials said. Currently, the program relies on one social worker and a social work team lead who are both embedded in the police department.

City Manager Bill Nicklas touted the partnership and what it has achieved so far.

The program first got its start in 2018 with the support of aid provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, city documents show.

“It’s been a very effective program,” Nicklas said. “There are some things we still haven’t realized with it, and we’d like to.”

Nicholson gave thanks to the city for its support of the program.

“We could not be more grateful for that support,” she said.