Due to an executive order made by President Joe Biden after George Floyd's death, police departments across the state are coming up with solutions to assist with mental health issues and respond to people in crisis.

The Newburgh Police Department recently moved to make this happen by hiring two social workers to work for the police department.

Tineisha Slater is one of two newly hired social work interns with the Newburgh Police Department. One of her many tasks is to follow up with her referrals.

Slater already has over eight years of experience in human resources, and she is also pursuing her graduate degree in social work.

“I recognized that I enjoyed the type of work that I was doing, which was helping people I felt like I was able to connect with them,” said Slater.

Slater was referred by her professor, and got the job just weeks after applying.

“They wanted to design a program that will reach the people that that they knew needed it. More than just, they needed more than what the police could offer them as far as mental health officers had expressed. And during the interview, what was expressed was that there was a need to help the individuals that had had multiple encounters with the police,” said Slater.

Mental health and substance abuse is a major public safety issue throughout New York. According to the state Health Department, every year, more than one in five New Yorkers has symptoms of a mental disorder.

That’s why having a social worker like Slater is so beneficial.

“I’m here to support the officers in their understanding and education, as to how to assist people that are in crises as a social worker, and to see a perspective from the social work lens,” said Slater.

City Commissioner Jose Gomerez was part of the push to get the city on board to bring social workers on.

“We found an innovative way to get the social workers who are inserted in our police department and sit here on a weekly basis,” said Gomerez.

Gomerez said the professionals trained extensively for the role, totaling about 25 hours.

“They already have social work experience. These 25 hours were about police procedures and policies,” said Gomerez.

Colin Jarvis, executive director at Newburgh Ministry, is very familiar with dealing with people with mental health issues and believes bringing mental health professionals onto the police department will help it tremendously.

“Adding that dimension to the police department in terms of having social workers, you know, accompanying, you know, assessing, intervening when necessary, is, I think, it's a genius approach. And really what it does, it really takes the pressure off of police officers who are trained to do other things, so that it can concentrate in terms of law enforcement,” said Jarvis.

The department has already seen the benefits of having the social workers. Within the last two months, they have received about 40 referrals.