Social work and police work have been teamed up for over five weeks now in Cookeville and some 45 cases have already been worked.
UCHRA Substance Abuse Solutions Director Glen Sayes said he’s been overwhelmed by the programs possibilities. Sayes said a system has been created to help the city keep track of the work being done.
“We give them a weekly report, we take in a list of every single person we’ve called on, what their status is,” Sayes said. “What services or referrals have been made for that person and we break it down for the city, so the city knows every single person that we are currently working with.”
Sayes said during their interactions 19 people have been assisted with transportation, 15 assisted with housing and 13 people assessed and recommended for treatment programs. Sayes said housing assistance is the biggest need at this time as referrals continue.
“We’ve just run out of places for people to be, even when they want help and they want to get into a program,” Sayes said. “The Mission has been doing all they can, but they’re under COVID restrictions and so a lot of the time they’re not allowed to take anyone in.”
Sayes said that housing assistance might be the biggest challenge, but it is almost a standard practice that people contacted need substance abuse help. Sayes said 38 people they have contacted have been referred to substance support programs.
“They just need to get connected with other people, maybe a 12 step meeting or 12 step group,” Sayes said. “That’s been the single highest, just referring to other support that they can have to deal with the substance abuse problem they may have.”
Sayes said there is now a need for more volunteers to help with paperwork and phone calls to refer people in need. Sayes said he would also like to have more people in who have experiences similar to those the program tries to serve.
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