MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon City Council will take another two weeks and listen to public input before they decide if they want to hire a community advocate for the Police Department to help with mental health, suicide and drug overdose calls.
Police Chief Robert Morgan told City Council on Monday night that the City was awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Knox County Foundation and $20,000 from a private donor to fund the position. Unless it gets additional grants, the City will need to fund benefits for the position this year and in 2022, as well as part of the $63,000 annual salary next year. Benefits would cost approximately $30,000 per year.
Auditor Terry Scott said the community advocate likely would not start work until half the year is gone. Between that lowering the cost of benefits in 2021 and the Police Department’s new 12-hour shifts helping to reduce overtime costs, the department should have enough money in its budget to cover this year’s benefits.
The Police Department gets 900 to 1,100 calls in which a licensed, independent social worker could help city residents, Morgan said. A single social worker serving in the community advocate position can’t handle that many calls in a year, but the chief noted they have to start somewhere.
“We’ve arrested the same person two or three times in one week,” he said. “It’s a vicious circle. So if we can start that continuum of care at the scene immediately, while they are in crisis to get an evaluation from a licensed professional that can make that evaluation, we’re ahead of game.”
The community advocate will reduce the workload for officers, Morgan said.
“This person is not a replacement for long-term care,” he said. “The BHP, the Behavioral Health Partners, this is not a replacement for them. The Freedom Center, the drug and alcohol counseling, this is not a replacement for that.”
The community advocate will refer individuals to agencies that can help them.
In response to questions from Council President Bruce Hawkins, Morgan said they expect the community advocate to work mostly in the evening when most of the mental health calls have been made. But they will study the data to ensure the person hired works when most needed. At present, between 2 and 10 p.m. is the most active time.
“That’s where we have a vast majority of the calls that we’re looking at — the attempted suicides and drug overdoses,” Morgan said, though he acknowledged that they can happen at any time.
This position will be responsible for helping to develop the policies and procedures for the Police Department’s community advocate, so more office hours are expected initially. But Morgan wants the person hired to be going to the scenes of mental health calls to join officers.
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