Lansing responds to divestment demands with health workers

New budget emphasizes public safety reforms

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Two community health workers will be stationed at the Lansing Fire Department this summer to help connect residents with social services rather than sending in cops and paramedics for calls to address issues such as homelessness, substance abuse and mental health.

The City Council approved a partnership between the city and the Ingham County Health Department as a $120,000 contractual line item in the FY 2021 budget, which takes effect July 1. Mayor Andy Schor said it serves, in part, as a response to calls to defund the police.

“I don’t want to see Lansing criminalize homelessness or drug addiction or any of those social problems. Putting those folks in jail doesn’t get them the help they need,” Schor explained. “This is a way to redirect those calls. I don’t support reducing the Police Department’s budget, but I do support getting more dollars to social service agencies in hopes that we can reduce those calls.”

As part of the arrangement, Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail will hire and oversee two community health workers to work alongside 911 dispatchers to ensure that some non-emergency calls in the city of Lansing are redirected to social service agencies instead of unnecessarily sending in paramedics and armed police officers to deal with non-emergency issues. Vail said the efforts are geared toward providing earlier access to community support that can help to mitigate the root causes of crime, ultimately reducing dependence on police.

The two fulltime positions are expected to be filled before fall, Vail said.

“They won’t provide direct services other than conversations with people, connecting them to various resources to get them the help they need,” Vail said. “It can be tough to navigate mental health services and these different agencies — including at the Health Department. This puts advocates in place to help people navigate these systems and access the services they need.”

Schor’s latest spending plan also includes the addition of a second social worker embedded in the Police Department who will assist officers on the ground with those same sorts of non-emergency calls. The community health workers, instead, will work from a distance.

“They’ll help direct calls and where to go. The social workers at the Police Department are embedded. They literally go out on calls and directly help people. The folks at the Fire Department will be more focused on helping people navigate the system, directing them toward social services rather than the penal system. We want to match problems with real solutions.”

Vail said the two new employees won’t need to have any specific college degrees or formal training in social work. Instead, they’ll serve more as peer-to-peer mentors that better understand how to navigate a complex web of city-, state- and county-level social supports. The salaries for the two new positions will be $32,500 to $40,000, Vail said. 

“This will really help when a call comes in that doesn’t require an emergency dispatch,” Vail added. “We’re talking about access to resources on housing, education, health, transportation — even employment. We’ve had community health workers help people through eviction notices and connect folks with doctor’s appointments. The system can truly be overwhelming.”

Added Fire Chief Greg Martin: “If we aren’t tying up an ambulance, then they’ll be more available to respond to critical calls. Sometimes we get calls that are medical issues, but not an emergency medical issue. This really allows us to better address those lower priority calls.”

The new budget includes funding for another Police Department staffer to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests and expedite the unfettered release of public records. The Council also set aside $240,000 to fund one year of the city’s share in a multiyear anti-violence program called the Advance Peace initiative. Led by a California-based nonprofit, the program aims to use mentoring to support young people and reduce gun violence in the city.

An amendment from City Council President Peter Spadafore also slides $20,000 from the Lansing Regional Sister Cities Commission to a new quarterly expungement clinic through the Office of the City Attorney. The funding will cover at least four workshops aimed at assisting residents with clearing misdemeanor convictions from their record in accordance with state law.

Additionally, the Council approved policy language from Councilwoman Patricia Spitzley that directs the administration to consider additional funding next year for the Police Department’s Cold Case Unit, which investigates homicides that remained unsolved for one year or longer. 

Schor’s latest proposal also called for $300,000 to be invested into a new permanent “Equity Committee” following a yet-to-be-released plan from his Racial Justice and Equity Alliance. Schor said the cash would be spent mostly on employee training, assessing the racial landscape in Lansing and soliciting community input as longer-term plans continue to unfold.

A proposal from Councilwoman Carol Wood shuttled that cash into a contingency fund that will require further approval from the City Council before it can actually be allocated to those needs.

The Council also approved policy language from Councilman Brian Jackson that outlines how the city will continue to “reimagine policing” and how city officials remain dedicated to approaching public safety in “a holistic, proactive way that addresses the root causes of crime.”

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