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Safety Committee considers county co‑response grant to pair social workers with officers
Summary
Councilmembers and chiefs discussed whether North Royalton should pursue a Cuyahoga County co‑response grant (up to $50,000 community/$200,000 consortium) to place social workers or peer specialists on certain calls; chiefs questioned local call volumes and long‑term funding sustainability.
The Safety Committee on March 17 heard a presentation on "First Call Cuyahoga," a county grant that funds co‑response teams pairing social workers or peer support specialists with law enforcement on select calls.
Committeemember Mary Gorjanc described the program’s intent and grant structure: single communities may receive about $50,000 while consortia can receive up to $200,000 for two years (possibly three), and applicants must show plans for future funding beyond the grant term. Councilmember Paul Marnecheck said he supports exploring the program to connect residents to services and reduce unnecessary law‑enforcement responses.
Police Chief Keith Tarase cautioned that current dispatch categories—such as the broad “welfare check” label—inflate counts and make it hard to identify which calls are appropriate for co‑response without more precise categorization. He said the department provided statistics to the committee for review.
Fire Chief Robert Chegan, who researched the Shaker Heights pilot, compared call volumes: Shaker Heights had about 37,000 calls with 3,300 flagged; North Royalton’s dataset had roughly 11,000 calls with 968 flagged, and Chegan said only 470 of Shaker Heights’ calls ultimately fit the program parameters (about 1.2 calls per day). He said the demand in North Royalton appears substantially lower and underscored questions about who would fund the program after the grant ends.
What the committee will do next: No formal application or commitment was announced; the presentation and chiefs’ feedback will inform whether staff pursue the county funding or seek partnerships with neighboring communities.
