The town of madison proposes to implement an outreach social worker (OSW) position as a social work professional to be integrated with the madison police department

The project represents a cross-system collaboration between the madison police department and the madison youth and family services department (myfs). The purpose is to establish the OSW position in order to enhance the local human services system. For the town of madison, the goal is to improve overall public health and safety by removing barriers to help and resources. This position will assist madison residents and others that have an encounter with the madison police and who demonstrate a need for outreach, such as a behavioral health issue, substance abuse issue, victim of violence and/or in need of assistance with basic needs. The outreach social worker will receive administrative support and clinical supervision through myfs, as IT serves as the lead human services department for the town of madison. The OSW will be placed within the madison police department, as is consistent with other developing integrations of social work with law enforcement and will utilize a second-responder model. The OSW will be able to provide outreach following a police encounter, respond to real-time crisis events, provide on-site client engagement and stabilization, conduct follow-up interactions and provide case management. The project includes the establishment of the position itself and will collect data to demonstrate its impact as IT is implemented. Collected data will be utilized to evaluate the programs impact in relation to more effective client engagement, improved access to resources, and more timely connections to health-related treatment and social services, as well the impact for law enforcement and the public.