Promoting Social Justice & Equity: A Social Work Co-First Responder Mental Health Crisis Team

Overview: Shifting focus from police to a co-social work mental health crisis response results in increased efforts to equitable access to supports and services for city residents and builds community collaboration. This panel will present lessons learned from a social work person in crisis team that incorporates advanced MSW field placements.Proposal text: A 2015 Guardian study reported that police involved death are five times higher for Black males compared to white men (Swaine et.al). Fryer (2018) attempts to reconcile results showing lack of bias related to racial differences in police shootings. However does not acknowledge that implicit nature of bias is hidden from public view. Alang et.al (2018) describes five intersecting components of police brutality: physical injuries/ death, psychological distress, racist public reactions, economic /financial strain and systemic disempowerment. NASW published a Policy Brief titled that Reimagining Policing: Strategies for Community Reinvestment (2020), which calls on Social workers to be agents of change in advocating for police reform models that reduce police encounters that cause injury and death to communities of color. This call to action is taking place through the development of a social work first responder mental health Person(s) in Crisis team pilot program in a mid-sized northeastern city. The initiative to re-imagine a non- law enforcement approach to mental health crisis, followed community outrage after the death of a 41 year old black man experiencing a mental health crisis. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was a “homicide caused by complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint” (Gold & Clossom, 2021). Following community-wide protests, the city brought together community stakeholders to re-imagine a law enforcement alternative, shifting to a human services approach to mental health, substance use and domestic violence crisis, the a social work Person(s) in Crisis Team (PIC) was imagined and planned through community stakeholder collaborative meetings and implemented. Operating 24 hours daily, Pic team social workers provide assessment and interventions for mental health, substance use, and domestic violence incidents, along with follow up case management and collaboration with community service providers. Using a co-responder model with police assessing safety, social work responders assess the presenting issues, using engagement and de-escalation techniques and make connections to needed resources.
The PIC team is also a field placement site for advanced MSW level field placements, with 8 MSW interns placed with the team fall 2021. These internships provide opportunities for MSW students to complete field placements in non-traditional hours with varied and high quality learning practice experiences in community-based crisis work. A diverse group of MSW field students participate in the assessments, interventions, and have opportunities to provide follow up support and engagement with the individuals and the community. Using strengths-based person-centered and culturally humble models of engagement, the Pic Team’s approaches are respectful and empowering, building trust with the community with goals of reducing bias and disparities that often occur when the community policing intersects with mental health and family crisis.
The he Person in Crisis model will be presented as a social justice community model of practice using a co-first responder approach. Outcome data and case examples of MSW student practice and learning opportunities will be presented and lessons learned will be shared to facilitate opportunities for replication.