Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UA students lend officers helping hand
Social work interns assist Springdale department
SPRINGDALE — The Springdale Police Department received many calls about “Stevie.” His angry outbursts were becoming increasingly violent, said Capt. Derek Wright.
But a review of 911 dispatch logs by University of Arkansas, Fayetteville social work students showed the episodes were happening at the same time of day, he said. Further investigation found the time was when Stevie’s health care workers changed shifts.
The students worked with caregivers to change the routine between shifts, and the Police Department gets fewer calls about Stevie, Wright said.
Interns Kelly Krout and Eugenia Franco have worked with the Springdale police for the last semester — the first social work interns for the department.
Krout and Franco use their training to connect residents with community resources to meet their needs. They also go on calls with officers to work with people in mental health crisis.
From his own training in crisis intervention, Wright knew an estimated 10% of the population suffer with serious mental health issues, he said.
Law enforcement has become the catch-all for people society can’t handle, Wright said.
“Because law enforcement can’t say ‘no.’ But this places a burden on officers because they are problem-solvers at heart. They want to help, but do not have the time or the resources,” he continued.
The Springdale department has not reviewed the number of calls where the interns have assisted because of the newness of the program, Wright said.
“But they’ve touched hundreds of people — literally hundreds — in just one semester,” he said. “They’re a great diversion from jail and the justice system for many people.”
Krout and Franco also have given him a mantra to remember, to take on the streets with him, Wright noted.
“All behaviors make sense in context,” he repeated.
Patrol officers immediately accepted and cooperated,
“It’s been really neat to watch officers buy in. They start to see what we can do, what we’re available to do. They will be better to hand off a situation that’s not necessarily in their skill set.”
— Intern Kelly Krout
Wright said.
“Even the most skeptical officers want to know when they are going to be coming back.”
Krout and Franco’s internships will end with the school year, and no interns are ready to serve over the summer, said Ananda Rosa, a professor and field education program director for the School of Social Work.
“We’re trying to come up with a way to make them fail, so they will have to stay with us,” Wright teased.
RESOURCES RICH
Krout said a typical day at the Police Department found her checking email, hanging out and giving feedback to dispatchers, catching up on referrals and riding along with patrol officers if something happened.
“And there’s always something,” she said.
Wright noted individuals with mental health issues can be some of the most vulnerable in society. They get involved in petty, nuisance crimes, often involving alcohol such as public intoxication and drunk and disorderly conduct, Wright said.
“Then they go into the court system where they are faced with warrants, fines they can’t pay and jail. It becomes a never-ending process,” he said. “Mental health touches every demographic: race, income level, job status.”
The social programs are becoming many and more organized across the region, but there’s still a huge gap in connecting people in need with those resources, he said. Krout said she and Franco are trained to make the connections — something officers don’t have time to do.
Krout was involved in a recent case with the state Department of Human Services taking a 2-year-old into care when her mother had to be admitted for inpatient mental health treatment. Krout rode with the parent and child to the hospital and waited three hours for a Human Services official to arrive to take the child.
Prior to the ride to the hospital, Krout was on the scene providing crisis intervention for the mother, whose boyfriend had been killed.
Without the intern, a patrol officer would have remained with the child, Wright said.
The interns are helping to keep officers on the streets doing the jobs for which they were trained, he said.
Franco said society still deals with the effects of covid-19, which saw people lose their jobs.
“A lot are not knowledgeable about where to go,” she said. “And even before their own economies turned downward, they didn’t do well with mental health.”
Bilingual, Franco also has helped many who called the Police Department because their utilities had been shut off for nonpayment. She has put them in touch with local agencies that could help.
When the temperatures dipped this winter, the social work interns helped the homeless and arranged rides to shelters and hotels, provided vouchers for those nights in hotels and made sure those people who wanted to stay homeless were safe.
They received money from the Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care to buy tents, sleeping bags and warm socks, Wright said.
“Done,” he said. “Simple fixes alleviated the problem. Now a homeless person would not get a criminal charge of trespassing at the laundromat and get into the cycle of the justice system.”
Franco said a simple phone call introduced the Medicaid transportation services to a man who didn’t drive and needed a lift to the doctor.
“Or sometimes they just need just need to talk through a crisis,” Krout said.
Wright said the interns started their work with the Springdale police focusing on the top 10 people who called — or like Stevie, prompted calls — to dispatch.
“We tell them to call us directly, not dispatch,” Franco said of the constant callers.
One such person called dispatch dozens of times a day when experiencing psychosis. Krout was able to talk to the person, build a relationship and have him agree to go the hospital.
But his rent came due while he was there.
“She worked with the landlord,” Wright related. “It was fixed. One simple phone call kept him from being homeless.”
The social workers also have appeared in court as advocates for those who need help, Wright said.
“They talk to the prosecutor, the judge to lessen charges or make arrangement for payments. We are really seeing an impact.”
Rosa noted the School of Social Work in 2021 had piloted an internship program with the Fayetteville Police Department. The city in November received a $250,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to hire two full-time social workers for two years and still offers its internship program.
“The whole point of internship is to take what they’ve learned in the classroom and put it into practice,” Rosa said. “And the police department has everything, all the social issues like homelessness, mental health and food insecurity. All those social issues could lead to legal involvement.”
Franco is pursuing a bachelor’s degree with plans to attend graduate school for her master’s degree. Krout is a graduate student who plans eventually to enter the mental health field.
Rosa said the school does not have any students ready for a summer internship. Students must have taken certain prerequisite classes to be trained for field work with a police department.
BARRIERS BASHED
One of Franco’s first calls involved a young female experiencing psychosis.
“The officers did not know how to approach her,” Franco related. “But she felt safe with me and she felt comfortable with me because I was a female and I was not the police.
“The officers trusted my judgement,” she said.
When the woman agreed to go for inpatient treatment, police sent the emergency medical technicians home. Franco and an officer took her to the hospital.
“I was in the right spot and the right time,” she said. “She was willing to go, but at the same time, I was advocating for her all the way through.”
“We were at a really good point in the community,” Wright said. “Barriers we were hitting were bashed. The hand-off of service was nearly flawless.”
Krout noted she always feels safe with the officers’ presence.
She said officers ensure the situation is safe before bringing in the interns. She said an officer always stands close when she is talking to a person or family in crisis.
“Officers want to see a change in the community,” Wright continued. “And they’ve really allowed the interns to step in, connect with the people, build relationships and get them to safety through the hardest time of it.
“Officers are relieved, thinking ‘OK, I don’t have to be the one who solves this,’” Wright continued.
Krout noted as they’ve built trust with officers, the officers have become more willing to let the interns do their work. Officers have become more proactive, referring troubled individuals or families to the social workers the next day.
“It’s been really neat to watch officers buy in,” she said. “They start to see what we can do, what we’re available to do. They will be better to hand off a situation that’s not necessarily in their skill set.”
Wright told the story of one man an intern had convinced to go to the hospital for inpatient care.
“He wanted to leave the hospital the same way he entered — in a police car,” Wright revealed.
So an officer drove him home, took him in the house and stayed until he was settled, Wright reported.
“It was an easy ask,” Wright said. “It’s things as simple as that.”