10 Years of Impact: Community Assistance and Life Liaison
The CALL Program was conceptualized in the summer of 2020. Community members and city leaders, including former Mayor Rick Kriseman, and St Petersburg Police Chief, Anthony Holloway saw the need for a civilian response program that would divert 911 calls about mental health crises away from police officers and over to trained mental health professionals. The City then partnered with Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services (GCJFCS) to run it.
In 2022, the Foundation for a Healthy St Petersburg funded a study through the USF Center for Justice Research and Policy to evaluate the program and provide key recommendations. As a result of that study, CALL expanded their program hours and brought on a Youth Specialist to reduce unnecessary contact with the criminal justice system for youth. Several years later, CALL has been nominated for a prestigious national award.
What makes CALL particularly unique and innovative is that it is not a co-response between the police and social workers. It is a diversion of nonviolent and noncriminal police calls referred to community navigators, generally with no law enforcement presence (a civilian response program). Calls are thoroughly screened, and navigators are trained and licensed to handle these community needs directly and independently.
Issues often better suited for a CALL navigator include mental health crises, homelessness, substance abuse, neighborhood disputes, panhandling, illness, dementia, elder care services, truancy and other juvenile issues. Navigators respond in pairs and are always able to call in for police assistance if they feel it’s warranted.
Since May 2021, CALL has responded to a majority of nonviolent, noncriminal calls during the hours of 8 AM-12 PM. As a result, the number of individuals who have had to be Baker Acted (involuntarily committed) has reduced given that community navigators are trained to treat mental health issues at the scene. They help people move through life changes and situations that might otherwise lead to further trauma.
The program is the difference between a person in crisis tying up the 911 dispatch line over 100 times in a week, with law enforcement going out to respond to each call, or a person in crisis getting a CALL navigator who can treat their mental health or other pressing needs, link them with wraparound services, follow up with the individual, and provide them with a direct contact number for assistance in the future.
“When you have police and community on the same page, something is working,” said Dr. Sandra Braham, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, in an earlier interview. The St. Petersburg Police Department has been sharing the success of this model with other departments. In 2022, they helped the The Vera Institute for Social Justice create a national toolkit. And Chief Holloway was also invited to join the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center’s first-ever, national “Expanding First Response Commission” to support the need for non-law enforcement responses to people in crisis.
Just this week, the St. Petersburg Police Department shared the news that the CALL program was nominated for the First Responder Community Impact Award, a national recognition for agencies making a positive difference in mental health care.
Megan McGee, St. Petersburg Police Department’s Police Special Projects Manager explained in an earlier interview, “The CALL program is an investment in the people of St. Petersburg. It provides the right type of response for mental health, economic concerns, and substance misuse; and frees our Officers to reduce crime – do the job they are trained to do. The goal is for SPPD to keep our City safe and the CALL Team to keep our City healthy and supported.”
Public voting for the First Responder Community Impact Award is open until November 9th.
Photo credit: Tina Russell/Vera Institute for Justice