Bucks County Testing New Program That Will Pair Social Workers With Cops

A new Bucks County pilot program will pair social workers with police officers to help people in crisis.

The program is a partnership between the Bucks County Human Services Department and the Bensalem Township Police Department. If the program is successful, it could be expanded to other departments within the county.

Social workers Rachel Agosto, who comes from the Lenape Valley Foundation, and Walter Bynum, who recently worked in behavioral health in Philadelphia, will respond to calls with police in Bucks County’s most populated municipality starting in mid-December, but they are already training with police.

County officials said the social workers will respond to a variety of issues, including mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and aging. The social workers will be able to connect those in crisis with relevant resources and have been conversing with area nonprofits that offer help.

The social workers will also be able to take advantage of Bensalem police officers who can act as translators in Spanish, Russian, Polish, Arabic, and Hindi. They can also use a phone translator line to help those who may not speak English.

The county is covering the social workers’ annual salary of $58,000 each per year, a car, police radio, and bullet-proof vest for two years.

Agosto and Bynum will be called Human Services Co-Responders.

Bensalem Township Public Safety Director Fred Harran welcomes the new co-responders and thinks it will only help police officers that are often tasked with responding to calls that don’t require police intervention.

“Not every police encounter has to end in an arrest,” he said.

“This is a program cops are thirsty for,” Harran stated, noting his 1980s police training left him unprepared for dealing with people in crisis when he first hit the streets.

The co-responders will compliment officers’ crisis intervention training, the public safety director said.

“Our police officers will always respond when someone calls 9-1-1 for help,” District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. “Thanks to our new county pilot program in partnership with Bensalem Public Safety, once the police answer a 9-1-1 call and make sure all are safe, our new county co-responders will ensure that our citizens get the exact services that any non-police emergency may require.

Bucks County Commissioners Chairperson Diane Ellis-Marseglia, who is a social worker, said the pilot program is an investment in the community.

“Enlisting these co-responders is probably the most significant thing we can do in county government to keep our police and communities safe and healthy,” she said.

“By shifting social service issues to social workers, we simultaneously improve our emergency response while allowing our police to do the job they are trained to do: law enforcement,” Marseglia said. “As a commissioner and a social worker, this is one of the proudest moments I have shared with the county.”

Harran thanked the commissioners, county human services officials, township officials, and the district attorney for supporting the program.

“We are so looking forward to this new style of policing,” he said. “It will truly help us better serve our community by providing resources to people in need that often police are unable to. Bensalem prides itself on being proactive and instituting new and innovative initiatives.”

Weintraub said he first heard about a similar program in Dauphin County while reading a news article. Harran and Ellis-Marseglia both had thought about having social workers aid street cops in assisting those in crisis. The recent calls for action after police killings of those with mental health problems pushed along the creation of the program.

“This will also free up our police officers to resume their patrols and protection of the public more expeditiously,” the district attorney said. “This new program is a win-win for everyone, and I hope to see it expanded countywide.”

The two social workers said they are ready for the challenge and know that they’ll be forging the path forward for the program.

“Working in this field for the last 20 years, I probably seen the majority of the incidents that police see on a regular basis. where we’re able to de-escalate based on relationships. In this pilot program, we’re not just responding to calls but building relationships with everyone we’re coming into contact with. If they do call 9-1-1, we can say ‘Ms. Marion, let’s work this out,’ so the police can leave,” Bynum said.

Agosto explained that social workers have different training than police to deescalate situations and get people toward help.

Harran said the safety of the social workers will be a priority for his department.

Officers have already put together a list of 13 to 14 people police have recently had contact with who can be helped by the new social workers.

During the two-year pilot program, the co-responders and peers will look at data they collect and evaluate it with academic partners to determine impact. Dr. Patricia Griffin, an assistant professor and director of graduate criminal justice at Holy Family University, will lead the evaluation efforts.

Harran and Ellis-Marseglia said they are not for defunding the police, but instead wish to improve the way departments operate.

There have been calls for Bucks County to do more to help those in crisis and need after several high-profile incidents in the lower end of the county.

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