NASW-TX: Police Social Work: A Social Work and Criminal Justice Collaboration to Address Mental Health

Course overview

Presenters will discuss a collaborative project at a large Texas public university, addressing the need for police social workers to divert mental health, non-violent offenses from the criminal justice system. Key takeaways: Attendees will be able to: 1) Explain the need for police social work as an essential field of practice to promote social justice through diverting non-violent offenses around mental health and related behavioral crises from involving law enforcement and 2) Engage social work practitioners around how police social work can positively impact vulnerable populations receiving community-based mental health services.