Partner Partner Content St. Joseph County law enforcement, mental health professionals team up to divert people from jail

Law enforcement and mental health professionals in St. Joseph County are bonding over a common goal to keep people out of jail and put them on the road to recovery.

In 2025, Pivotal, a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) based in Centreville, expanded its Police Social Worker Program that began in 2021 under Bullocks predecessor, through the use of the Michigan State Police Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10691 with a new, improved focus on jail diversion and providing therapeutic and crisis services within the jail system itself, says Cameron Bullock, CEO of Pivotal.

When Pivotal took over the grant, the organization created a more comprehensive approach by adding services and resources for incarcerated individuals and those diverted from the criminal justice system, he says.

“We were always a resource in the community for this program. We changed how the entire program is operated.”

The JAG grant funds one of three social workers working with the program in the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department in Centreville. The other two social workers, one in Three Rivers and one in Sturgis, are covered through Pivotal funding. 

The jails and the county’s law enforcement agencies donate in-kind space for the social workers to connect with incarcerated individuals.

“Sometimes their mental health is acute, or there’s something going on in their world that causes a crisis, and it’s not a diagnosable mental health condition. We look at what the symptoms were that caused us to be called out to help,” says Lauren Frank, LMSW, CCJPN, Police Social Worker stationed at the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department. “Sometimes they just need support and someone to listen in the moment. They could have anxiety and depression or schizophrenia. How can we intervene so the community stays safe and these community members get the treatment they need?”

The majority of Frank’s time is spent in the County’s Jail, where she works with incarcerated individuals to get them on a path to recovery and also waits to be called out to assist local law enforcement. In her world, there is no such thing as an ordinary day.

“A lot of the time I’m here to help with someone in crisis. Sometimes when they’re being booked in, they’re in a state where they don’t understand; I’m providing them with a step-by-step process of what’s going on. If they’re involved in a non-violent felony and it’s something where we can divert them to hospitalization or treatment, I offer that to the charging officer and the jail.”

The number of individuals who don’t end up spending some amount of time incarcerated is “very low”, Frank says. Most of them have substance use issues, but there are also those involved in domestic disturbances or stealing food. The latter represents an unhoused population.

Countywide, she estimates that between 30-40 percent of people landing in the jail are experiencing homelessness and houselessness. Because of Sturgis’ proximity to the state line, she says the community sees many unhoused individuals.

Pivotal’s program began in Sturgis under its former CEO because the mental health provider had a “great” working relationship with that city’s public safety director, says Cameron Bullock, who became Pivotal’s CEO in 2022.

Bullock began working for the organization in 2018. He says he thinks his predecessor got the idea after seeing similar programs in other communities.

One such program began in 2014 in the City of Battle Creek under the leadership of former Police Chief Jim Blocker. Known as the Fusion Center, the collaborative began without much fanfare to enable police officers to focus on calls involving criminal activity while giving representatives with organizations such as Summit Pointe and Safe Place the ability to address the needs of residents who seek out the police as their first line of defense.

The collaborative expanded to include the  Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Share Center, and agencies that work on homeless issues, Juvenile Probation, and Homeland Security. 

Pivotal’s program has experienced its own expansion, adding the social worker in Three Rivers in 2023 and Centreville in 2025, Bullock says.

“We recognize people with mental health and substance use disorders that law enforcement might not always recognize as signs and symptoms. With us being there, the interaction between police officers and those with mental health issues leads to better outcomes,” he says. “We have different skill sets, and we have different resources. Where an individual might want to have services, we can get those services started right in the field. This gives them real-time access to services with less barriers.”

Frank gets called in by law enforcement when they have a suspicion that an individual needs mental health services and feel that other community services are needed. Much of her and her fellow social workers’ efforts focus on problem-solving on the spot to keep people from entering the criminal justice system and working with resources that will address that individual’s situation.

“We are teaching the Road Patrol and officer community, ‘Can we look at diversion?’ but that takes time and rapport with our officers for them to trust our judgement,” Frank says. “It’s been a journey for sure, and we are making progress. The three of us are one; all three of us are consistently doing that training.”

Too often, society has the belief that punishment alone is going to “solve our problems,” Frank says. “We need to educate and provide resources and opportunities. We’re making sure that we’re not just throwing a piece of paper at them and saying go do this. We’re showing that their community cares.”

Besides law enforcement, Frank and the two other social workers advocate for individuals in the court system to receive services as opposed to jail time. Sometimes it’s a combination of both.

“The whole goal is looking at recidivism and getting people into treatment,” she says, “Although there are instances where they’re not willing to do anything but jail time.”

During their time in jail, they lose access to their Medicaid funding and services, the only exception being jail diversion. Their access to Medicaid continues when they are released from jail or bond out.

While in jail, they receive Medication-assisted Therapy. If they’re struggling with opiate withdrawal symptoms, they can get treatment in addition to substance use and mental health therapies.

Frank works with them to connect with Pivotal or a private provider.

“We’re coming up with a personal plan for them when they leave the jail,” she says. “Oftentimes I am working with larger cities that are more resource-rich and are able to provide long-term care. In Grand Rapids, we work pretty closely with Guiding Light because they can say ‘yes’ to whoever comes in, which is a lot like Pivotal. We rely heavily on Medicaid funding and take people with Medicaid or no insurance.”

Between 85-90 percent of Pivotal’s funding comes through Medicaid, with its General Fund and client fees making up the remainder, Bullock says.

Of the program, Bullock says, “We are seeing better results. A lot of times people are taken to jail who shouldn’t be there. We have been able to help people get help through the legal system as opposed to being in jail. We’re not leaving them in this void. We’re treating them in jail to coordinate care and get them where they need to go.”

The program, Frank says, affords law enforcement personnel and social workers opportunities to work together and learn from each other.

“We all are impacted by things like fentanyl. It truly takes a village,” she says. “Having law enforcement with mental health professionals brings a balance to us both.”