One year later

Monroe’s embedded social worker program has yielded new approaches to helping the community’s homeless in its first year. 

If a person suspected of committing a crime, whose charges will be addressed in Monroe Municipal Court, has been taken into custody, they may be released to inpatient treatment through the Community Outreach Team, according to the Monroe Police administrative director Debbie Willis. Their case will be addressed once the person has completed the intensive program.

Monroe Police Sgt. Ryan Irving and embedded social worker Elisa Delgado, who signed on last spring, make up the city’s Community Outreach Team, and go out on patrol twice a week. Together they check in at encampments, work to get unsafe and disordered locations cleaned up, provide rides to services and complete other tasks.

Their overall approach hasn’t changed in the past year; patience remains a priority. Irving said the team works to make themselves available when people are ready for their help. Repetitive contacts creates that potential for comfort, he said.

Delgado splits her time between Monroe and shifts with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Last May, after a month at the job, her immediate focus was to build a rapport and confidence among the community.

Irving said the municipal court referrals were first introduced last quarter. It took the team time and building trust to prove diverting people into treatment can be effective in preventing reoffenses. Additionally, the city pays to house people who are convicted in the county jail, and the cost is higher if they have a mental illness or struggle with substance abuse.

Irving worked to monitor sites where homeless people were living before Delgado was hired. He found he was often interacting with the same people again and again. Once homeless encampments were closed, they would crop up elsewhere in the city.

“People in crisis who suffer from mental illness, substance abuse and other issues still remain in crisis when you move them,” he said during a presentation to the Monroe City Council last winter.

Irving felt providing a direct link to social services could be more effective. He began by reaching out to churches and organizations in the area. The Volunteers of America Western Washington Sky Valley and Catholic Community Services would arrange to send out staff with him once or twice a month.

Irving was eventually able to make the case for a more permanent solution. He was honored with the Chief’s Award in March by soon-to-retire Monroe Police Chief Tim Quenzer, the highest recognition an agency employee can receive, for his work with the community outreach team. He said it was Irving’s research and dedication that convinced Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas, the council and himself the program was worth pursuing.

Quenzer received a message from a resident this winter regarding the team’s efforts. The author’s friend, whose son was living on the streets, had reached out to Irving. The mother wouldn’t hear from the man for months, and was constantly worried for his safety.

“He was on drugs, couchsurfing and shoplifting to get his next fix,” the resident wrote. “Sergeant Irving contacted this man and just wanted to talk, well it took a few tries and finally with outreach from his family also, he decided he needed help and didn’t want to live the life he was living anymore.”

Irving was a crucial link in getting the man back home. It will be a daily struggle for the family to help the man heal, but to “go from not knowing where your son was to having him accept help has to mean the world to his family,” according to the letter.

After months of planning, the City of Monroe and sheriff’s office entered into a two-year interlocal agreement last June. The position will be reviewed for renewal ahead of the agreement’s expiration date. A number of goals were identified in the plan, including reducing the number of homeless people in the area, and helping people who struggle with mental illness, addiction, veteran status, housing, medical and financial concerns.

Monroe Police were looking to build relationships with regional social service agencies. It was also expected the embedded social worker’s presence would give law enforcement more time to focus on criminal issues in Monroe. The city contributes $50,000 per year, half the cost of the position.

Last Tuesday morning’s patrol started with a drive around the city. Irving and Delgado were looking for a client with whom they had an appointment. He hadn’t been seen for a few weeks. That is a challenge with planning — many people Irving and Delgado work with aren’t easily reachable.

Irving and Delgado parked an unmarked MPD truck on a dirt road behind the Evergreen State Fairgrounds late Tuesday morning. They had stopped on the way and asked a Washington State Department of Transportation employee to join them from the office nearby. The trio walked a short ways into the woods.

A large tent was set up partway up the trail, made of tarps, sheets and a deflated blowup mattress, all strung up on branches and sticks. A man and woman were told they were living on the property illegally. The woman agreed to go in for a chemical dependency assessment in Everett; Irving and Delgado returned an hour later to pick up their client.

At a second site, set up along the Skykomish River, they encouraged a man to seek medical treatment for an injury to his hand. He declined the ride they offered to the hospital, but agreed to get his injury checked out.

“I think it’s just about getting them to where they are ready to go,” Irving said.