A great resource for a ‘unique community’
As the University of Minnesota devotes more resources to bolstering safety and security across the campus community, a new addition to the University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) will expand the scope of that effort.
Luke Sloan is a senior social worker with Hennepin County, and about 10 weeks ago he began a new role as a social worker embedded in the UMPD. His focus will be addressing the mental health needs of individuals (e.g., the homeless or those experiencing substance abuse) who have interacted with law enforcement.
Many of those individuals, Sloan says, are people “who have historically fallen through the cracks—folks who have regular contact with emergency services, namely police, yet somehow have little to no contact with social services.”
He has a wealth of experience, having worked at an in-patient residential treatment setting, in child protection, and embedded both in the Hennepin County jail and in two other police departments in Hennepin County.
Sloan calls his strategy at the U of M a “back-end case management” model. “I’ll get a referral from a patrol officer, and then I will follow up and offer voluntary case management services,” he says. “Of course, they have to consent.”
He already has one great success story under his belt. Sloan was referred by a veteran officer to an elderly veteran who had essentially been living on campus and sleeping on a heating grate for about 40 years. The man will be moving into housing in a couple of weeks.
“It’s great to get such a big win for this individual and this program right off the bat,” Sloan says. “And I think [that example] illustrates the need.
“It’s really cool that funds are being mobilized to this issue. Personally, I’m really excited to be a part of it, because I think it’s a really big deal.”
Sloan says he may go on ride-alongs with officers, and would be available for consultations with UMPD staff wanting to tap into his expertise. The ultimate goal is to build solid and effective relationships within the department.
“Seemingly, social services and law enforcement are very different, but in reality there’s a huge overlap,” he says. “We’re working with the exact same people. Both of our institutions are here to just help the community. And so bridging the seeming distance between the two is another objective of this.”
He also recognizes the strains that police officers face these days, since “everyone has a strong opinion on them one way or another,” he says. “Supporting the community while also supporting [the officers], from my angle, is also a component of this.”
Sloan grew up in the Chicago area and has been in the Twin Cities since 2005. He received an undergraduate degree in social work from Metro State University and his master’s in social work from the University of Minnesota. He also plans to get additional licensure as an alcohol and drug counselor.
“It’s really cool to be back on the campus here in this capacity after having done my graduate studies here,” he says. “It feels like an honor.”