REACH Program Provides Crucial Support and Valuable Resources
Writers / Amanda Chapman, Community Resource Supervisor, Jeffersontown Police, & Tia Pank, Community Resource Supervisor, REACH Program
Photography Provided
When experiencing a crisis, individuals and families often present a single image or “presenting issue.” That issue is the surface of the crisis, but more deeply, it may be related to one or a complex mix of concerns including mental health, substance use, crime victimization or homelessness. In moments of crisis, when police officers are on the front line of complex behavioral issues, they must focus on the presenting image to minimize the current level of risk to all those involved.
“In most cases, officers arrive on scene to assess the situation at hand, then provide them with a solution,” says Sergeant Sarah King of the Jeffersontown Police Department (JPD). “Although officers are diverse in many areas that they are dealing with, at times we simply do not have the resources to assist our community to the fullest extent that we wish to do.”
To minimize the risks in the moment and begin to address the larger picture, a team approach of both sworn officers and trained social workers allow for a more holistic approach that better meets the needs of individuals and the community.
Understanding the complex dynamics, the JPD launched a new program in June of 2022 called REACH. The REACH program is a social-work unit embedded within the JPD that specializes in providing services to victims of crime, people experiencing substance misuse, mental health issues and homelessness. REACH is a combination of three programs that have combined to bridge the gaps between law enforcement and the community – the Angel Program, Victim Services, and Angel Outreach.
Angel Program
The Angel Program is designed to redirect persons suffering from substance abuse from the criminal justice system to treatment resources, remove barriers to recovery, reduce stigma, and develop community trust. The JPD established the first Angel Program in the state of Kentucky in 2016. The Angel Program created an easy access point to treatment and redefined addiction as a disease, not a crime.
“Having spent the past four decades investigating and arresting those responsible for illicit drug trafficking, I am keenly aware that we cannot simply arrest our way out of this opioid epidemic,” says Richard Sanders, JPD chief of police. “It is equally important to focus our attention on the demand for these drugs.”
The main concept of the Angel Program is that anyone struggling with a substance use disorder can walk into the police department, turn in their drugs without penalty and receive help into treatment. A volunteer “Angel” paired with law enforcement would break down the barriers to finding an open bed, arranging treatment and transporting them to the services – an advocate and guide to help them on their path to recovery.
Victim Services
Being a victim of crime can be overwhelming, dealing with the trauma while you try to understand your rights, how to navigate an unfamiliar criminal justice system, and how to locate and obtain supportive services. In February of 2020, the JPD hired the first embedded social worker to create a program for victims of crime. Victim Services partners with victims, officers, investigators and 
community organizations to provide a network of care customized to meet their unique set of needs at no cost to them. The program empowers victims to navigate the complex criminal justice process, while responding to their emotional, physical and financial needs. From the onset of the crime, a victim services specialist is assigned to the case to provide information, support, resources and assistance, as well as link to specialized resources available to help them heal. To date, 1,278 victims of crime have received customized services through this program.
Angel Outreach Services
After four years of providing services to participants through the Angel Program (walk-in model), the JPD experienced a decline in Angel Program participants despite a rise in calls for services related to substance use. Other police departments offering similar police-assisted substance use recovery services nationwide began to evolve, utilizing paid, embedded social services clinicians, and other contracted or in-house assistance to expand their programs. The JPD looked at ways to follow suit to meet the needs of the community. In 2021 the JPD hired two additional embedded social workers, to expand on the Angel Program and to provide outreach services to the Jeffersontown community.
Through the addition of the Angel Program outreach services, the department no longer needed to wait for individuals battling substance use disorders in need of supportive services to walk into the station and ask for help. The new Angel Outreach allows for a police social worker and officer to conduct outreach services in the community directly to individuals in need, and meet them where they are. This proactive approach identifies individuals and families at elevated risk for crisis, and services are offered through five pathways – community member referrals, self-referrals and walk-ins, officer referrals, incident-based referrals, and community outreach. A social worker can talk with a person over the phone or meet them in the community. In being linked to services, people can continue to walk into the station requesting assistance with their needs related to substance use intervention, harm-reduction tools or homelessness.
Officers can request that the social work team reach out to community members that they have met in the community and identified as having an area of need. Officers also call the team out on scene when an individual could use support in the moment related to crime victimization, substance use, mental health or homelessness. Additionally, the social workers conduct outreach throughout the community and will provide assistance to link to services when a need is identified. To date, the outreach has been able to reach and provide services to 348 individuals and families.
REACH
The REACH program is the umbrella organization that operates the Angel Program (walk-in model), Angel Outreach Services, Victim Services, and all social services within the JPD. As an innovative collaboration between police and embedded social workers, the REACH program Responds to community members experiencing victimization, behavioral health crises and substance use disorders to Evaluate for individualized care, Advocate for needs, and Connect to support and services, starting them on a path to Heal.
The REACH program fills gaps in services, and brings expertise and resources to areas in which officers are unable to spend the time needed to support persons in moments of crisis. The REACH program’s concept of multiple pathways to services breaks down walls and difficulties accessing services. REACH social workers meet people where they are, in the street, in hotel rooms, at the police station or over the phone. No matter the pathway, they are available to reduce barriers and help individuals and
families access services to reduce crisis. This proactive approach provides officers the ability to return to their policing duties and calls for services that require rapid enforcement response. The program puts a face to services, and builds rapport and trust. The team understands that people are complex, and so are the barriers that limit their ability to access services and support. The holistic support offered by a social worker assists individuals with the customized services they need, to put them on a pathway for success.
If you or a loved one is in need of assistance after being victimized, or if you are struggling with substance use and/or mental health disorders, a team of social workers is here at JPD to guide and develop a customized plan, meeting you and your family where you are, guiding you to where you want to be. Simply stop in at 10410 Taylorsville Road in Jeffersontown, call 502-267-0503 and press 3, or email reach@jtownkypd.org.
