2 years later, questions surround the Office of Community Health and Safety
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The idea is a good one. A team of social workers to unburden the police, interceding with people with whom they are better trained.
But two years after the Peduto administration announced the creation of the Office of Community Health and Safety, the workers are hard to find.
"On paper, it exists," said Beth Pittinger, the executive director of the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board. "As an idea, it exists, but we have not observed them out in the field anywhere."
Community leaders who supported the creation of the office have grown impatient.
Although the City Controller's Office said the office has spent $800,000 a year hiring administrators and some social workers, they don't seem to be on the streets or available to law enforcement.
This is at a time when people experiencing homelessness is on the rise downtown and a police confrontation with Jim Rogers had tragic consequences.
"You can't fault the strategy," Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb said. "The strategy is a good one. We need that level of response in our community."
"It's taken more time than initially thought to make fully effective, but I also think we've been making very big strides," Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said.
Though it did not create the office, the Gainey administration inherited it and embraces its mission. Pawlak acknowledges the past delays, but he said the office is now getting into gear and partnering with a pre-existing outreach program run by Allegheny Health Network.
The plan is to bolster the program of street health care workers and counselors, expanding their reach from three to all six police zones. And eventually, the plan is to have this round-the-clock network respond to calls in tandem with police officers.
"We're going to be significantly expanding our ability to provide that relief to those first responders over the course of the next two years," Pawlak said.
Though some would say they're already overdue.
"I don't know what they're doing. I do know there are many models of co-response that are available. By now, we should have had one in place," Pittinger said.