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Morgantown police social-worker outlines outreach partnerships, crisis filings
Summary
Chief Kelly Powell described cooperation with ACT teams, peer specialists and shelters, said 13 mental-hygiene petitions were filed since January 2026 (12 granted), and urged broader coordination and capacity for outreach casework.
MORGANTOWN — Chief Kelly Powell told council the city’s outreach work relies heavily on partnerships with peer specialists, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams and local shelters, and that those relationships enable crisis responses and referral pathways.
Powell described frequent coordination with Valley’s 24-hour crisis team and said, "Since January 2026, 13 of those have been filed," referring to mental-hygiene petitions; all but one were granted. She credited a peer specialist from West Virginia Sober Living (Alan Young) for providing intake and transportation support and described ad-hoc team responses when people relapse or require hospital transfer.
Councilors pressed Powell on partner outreach frequency and coverage; Powell said West Virginia Sober Living is a consistent presence and noted a recently added outreach worker from the Coalition to End Homelessness in Monongalia County is helping with hard-to-place individuals. Powell and council discussed limits of capacity in smaller communities, the need for more caseworkers and the importance of case conferencing to coordinate services for complex clients.
Speakers agreed that while many organizations provide services, sustaining coordination requires a staffed infrastructure rather than too much reliance on volunteer effort and intermittent programming.
