Police social workers are part of response to help people in crisis and need

Many police departments in McHenry County have social workers. Sometimes police social workers head out to scenes to assist law enforcement and community members but other times they follow up with people to make sure they have the resources they need.

Sue Blechschmidt has been a police social worker for decades. Blechschmidt works for the Lake in the Hills Police Department as the social services director and has been with the department since 1988.

Blechschmidt grew up in a law enforcement family.

“I never wanted to be an officer,” Blechschmidt said, adding she was more interested in working with the families of officers.

She found police social work when she was in graduate school and one of the psychiatrists in her program connected her with Chicago-area police departments looking for social workers. She said she was comfortable working with police officers due to her background and called the field the “perfect niche for me.”

“We were the first in McHenry County to develop a program,” she said of the Lake in the Hills Police Department.

Blechschmidt’s work often involves victim advocacy, and helping people know their rights. She sometimes responds to calls, but often follows up with people afterward. However, she said she has been responding to scenes more these days.

Blechschmidt recalled one person she helped. A child had been sexually assaulted and Blechschmidt helped as the child navigated the court system and had to face the offender in court. Blechschmidt said that child is now in the social work field.

Blechschmidt works alongside Linda Hein, who has worked part-time at the Lake in the Hills Police Department. Hein said she works closely with officers and sees calls now that are more intense and complicated.

The department has been seeing more mental health-related calls, Blechschmidt said, a sentiment shared by Meghan Mumenthal, a police social worker at the Huntley Police Department.

“I do think mental health calls are being more prevalent,” Mumenthal said.

Mumenthal has been with the Huntley Police Department full-time since 2022. She responds to a variety of calls, because sometimes people are more comfortable talking to a social worker. She said most people are willing to talk with her and the community has bee supportive. “Huntley has been very receptive,” Mumenthal said.

She said the department in recent years has seen a lot of scam calls.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office began a police social worker program in 2022. Woodstock, Crystal Lake and Marengo, among other cities, participate in the program.

McHenry County officials feel the program has been successful.

“One of the most significant benefits has been a two-thirds decrease in the recidivism rates of people who have had police social worker involvement. In the first two quarters of fiscal 2023, the percentage of clients who had less police contact following intervention were 68% and 70%, respectively,” according to a news release from the McHenry County government issued on the one-year anniversary of the program.

Taylor Keegan, a police social worker for Woodstock, Harvard and Marengo, also grew up with a relative who worked in law enforcement.

She grew up hearing about how her uncle worked with social service agencies and said it was one factor in her decision to be a social worker.

Katie Schrems, a police social worker with the sheriff’s office who primarily serves Crystal Lake, Prairie Grove and McHenry County College, said the social workers are “almost seen as separate” on scenes.

In her time as a social worker, Schrems has done everything from connecting senior citizens to support services to helping a family with a funeral following a “tragic death” of one of their family members.

“Every case is so different,” Schrems said.

While social workers enjoy helping people, they aren’t just there for the public. They also support their law enforcement colleagues. Keegan said police officers she works with in Woodstock sometimes swing by her office and get her opinion on how to approach various situations.

She said she built a good rapport with colleagues over her two years in her current position. One of the ways she’s built that rapport is by putting up dad jokes on her door every day for her colleagues to enjoy.

“If I don’t get it up by 8:15 I get yelled at,” Keegan joked.

That rapport has also helped when responding to calls. Keegan said how often she gets called to scenes varies, but said her colleagues need to be able to trust her, and vice versa.

Keegan said one of the joys of her job is “being there for someone.”

Blechscmidt’s work has had a huge impact on her colleagues, and she said she gets phone calls from officers she’s talked to. “’You saved my life’” is one comment Blechschmidt said her colleagues have shared with her.

Social workers in the county believe the field is growing, but also feel a sense of honor of helping their neighbors and colleagues. “It’s a privilege to respond in such a vulnerable way,” Schrems said.