VIDEO – THIS IS MY AMERICA –
Aug. 18, 2022 – Officers have partnered with an embedded social worker to try to get people the addiction and mental health treatment they need.
The mission of the Law Enforcement Embedded Social Worker (LEESW) program is to help clients navigate the complex social service system and to remove the barriers that exist between addiction, homelessness and mental health issues to sobriety and housing.
The program has had promising success. Since 2018, the team has contacted 2,868 people. 472 of those accepted help and many now have jobs and housing.
Officer Mike Buell and Rochelle long, a mental health counselor have spent the last five years working together to change lives.
They call the people they contact their clients. They will meet them anywhere, on the street, in a camp or even in jail if someone is ready to get clean.
