'Co-responders' help close gap between mental health and law enforcement. These 2 Bucks County towns will joint the program

A Bucks County program that aims to give residents support and services beyond police response during mental health and drug abuse emergencies is expanding. 

Late last year, the county launched the co-responder program in Bensalem with the goal of getting residents the help they might need beyond an initial 911 call. Under the two-year pilot program, two co-responders, who are licensed social workers, go out to various calls, including those about aging concerns and those that are often rooted in mental health and drug abuse issues.

The co-responder program is one of multiple new policing initiatives in Bucks County that came amid national discussion sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a police officer while in custody in Minneapolis in May 2020.

The Bucks program began with a partnership with Bensalem Police last year.

Last week, County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia announced that the county had received a $424,000 state grant that it will use to expand the program to Middletown and Falls. The grant was provided through the state Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services..

In the months since its inception, the program has been seeing success, officials said. Bensalem Director of Public Safety Fred Harran said the two co-responders have made 160 different contacts since the start of the year.

“They’re doing an amazing job," he said.

Harran noted that in one time period before the co-responders started, a resident had called police 26 times. In that same time period after they started, that person only called five times.

“We now have that middle ground between emergency response and long-term mental health care," he said.

“It’s meeting the demand of the community," Marseglia said.

Harran said residents with mental health issues who had called police before are now calling the co-responders for assistance, freeing up officers to do other things.

“It’s a win-win all around," he said.

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With the new grant, the county is able to hire two more co-responders that will work in Falls and Middletown. The two will work in tandem between the two townships, according to Marseglia. One will be based in each department.

“We have a lot of contacts, daily with people who are struggling with mental health issues and the pandemic has only exacerbated that," Falls Chief Nelson Whitney said. "So it’s a great time to bring on a program to try to help.” 

He said that with both Falls and Middletown being so close, it makes sense for the two co-responders to be able to work together.

“They’ll be free to collaborate with one another and work together,” he said. 

In Falls, the county has also implemented a recovery specialist program that embedded two specialists with the department to assist those with substance abuse issues in the township. 

Whitney said there is overlap between the co-responder model and the recovery specialists program, and expects the two to work together in some capacity.

“I think these co-responder models are going to be more and more popular because they provide additional tools that law enforcement doesn’t have," he said.

Rachel Neff, human services director for the county, said Falls and Middletown were chosen because Whitney and Middletown Chief Joseph Bartorilla had expressed interest in joining. 

Bartorilla said the co-responders will be a valuable resource for the department. The Middletown chief said with the co-responders, the department will have an in-house referral that officers can bring social service calls to.

"It always helps to have an in-house person to ensure things don’t fall through the cracks as they sometimes do when social services are needed," he said. "Hopefully this prevents that from occurring."

The co-responders in Bensalem, Rachel Agosto and Walter Bynum, have set the groundwork for the two new positions, and will likely help them when they start.

“Middletown and Falls are the next logical steps to get this program to help the folks in their community as well," Harran said.

The hope right now is to fill the positions sometime this fall, according to Neff.

“We are definitely getting applications," she said, adding that the interview process should start next month.

Marseglia said she hopes the program will grow within the next year, depending on funding.

“I would like to get it at least in three or four more departments," she said.

The funding for both the co-responders in Bensalem and the future co-responders in Falls and Middletown are for two years. Marseglia said she hopes that after that, the departments will see value in the program and fund it themselves.

She urged any other local departments interested in joining to contact the county. 

Other Bucks County Police initiatives

• Bucks County Police Assisting in Recovery, or BPAIR, which was started by Bensalem police, is a program that allows people to come to participating police departments to get connected to help for substance abuse problems. More than a dozen Bucks County police departments participate in the program. More information may be found at www.bcdac.org
• Falls police began having two "co-responder" recovery specialists who go along with officers to overdose and substance abuse calls. The program, funded by a grant by the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission, has the specialists connect those who need help with the appropriate treatment services and provide necessary follow-up.
• Central Bucks Regional Police created a victim specialists unit, which consists of two people who help victims of crime through the criminal justice system. Doylestown Township police, Plumstead police and Buckingham police also participate in the program.
• Plumstead police have a program called “Supporting Treatment and Recovery Program," or STAR, which lets officers refer those who need substance abuse help to Aldie Counseling Center in Doylestown. Buckingham police, Central Bucks Regional Police, Doylestown Township police, New Hope police and Solebury police all participate in the program.