Madison Youth and Family Services (MYFS) and the Madison Police Department (MPD) are expanding thanks to a $114,000 grant that will fund a part-time outreach social worker position.

The Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance grant will fund the part-time position 24 hours weekly for two years. The funding will also cover the cost of necessary equipment and training.

The town launched a pilot social work outreach program in 2022 after determining a "significant and identifiable amount of people within town that have basic and/or social/emotional needs who are at risk for having an encounter with law enforcement and also have barriers to accessing that help. This number primarily includes families that are struggling with behavioral health and substance abuse issues and our elderly residents who become isolated," according to information posted on the town website. The pilot program ran 16 hours per week, and a social work extern, an unpaid intern, was stationed at the MPD. The program established criteria to identify people for outreach following a police encounter. According to MYFS, 50 people were identified following encounters and were contacted for outreach.

With the receipt of federal grant dollars, MYFS anticipates recruiting, hiring, and orienting the new position by January 2025. According to a press release from the Town, the position will receive administrative and clinical supervision through MYFS and will be integrated with MPD to work with both officers and first responders.

According to the MYFS grant proposal, the outreach social worker will be considered a "second responder" who could be requested on-site during a police encounter.

For more information about the program, visit www.madisonct.org/1343/Outreach-Social-Worker.