Oak Park Heights police introduce coordinated response team with embedded social worker

Oak Park Heights police introduced a coordinated crisis-response team and introduced an embedded social worker to the city council on March 11.

Sergeant Zok, speaking for the Oak Park Heights Police Department, thanked the council and mayor for supporting the new team and introduced Kibby Claflin as the department's newest embedded social worker. "It's been the most warm and welcoming opportunity," Claflin said, describing work in crisis response, crisis stabilization and prior embedded assignments with other departments.

Tracy Thompson, clinical supervisor at Washington County, said the county launched coordinated response teams in October 2021 and has since expanded them to multiple agencies, adding that those teams serve mental-health and substance-use calls either by responding in progress when available or by conducting follow-up on police reports. Thompson noted there is no state funding dedicated to the co-response teams, and that counties and cities have chosen to organize the service locally.

City council members thanked the presenters and expressed support; there was no formal council action tied to the presentation. The council did not vote on establishing additional program funding during the meeting.

The county supervisor said the program's design aims to pair law enforcement with behavioral-health responders so officers have access to on-scene clinical expertise and follow-up resources for individuals with behavioral-health needs. Council members asked staff to continue coordinating with Washington County as the local team begins operations.