NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – It’s the first arrangement of its kind in the state, according to the New Smyrna Beach Police Department: A department pairing an officer with a counselor to go into the woods and visit the homeless regularly, even daily.
The clinician, however, is an employee of the police department, not a contractor. New Smyrna Beach Police Chief Eric Feldman called it “unheard of from a police perspective.”
Typically, counselors who respond to emergency calls with police officers or deputies are employees of a behavioral health facility.
The pair connects the homeless with what they really need – housing, food, work, medication, identification (licenses and birth certificates) in an effort to reduce 911 calls, jail visits, and hospital Baker Acts.
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Kimber Jensen, a mental health clinician and New Smyrna Beach police employee, is half of that pair. She and an officer make up the department’s Community Outreach Unit (COU).
“Sometimes we’ll go back in the camps and we’ll traipse through quite a bit of brush through long paths and all through the woods until you find an individual who might be camping, might be one person,” Jensen said. “It’s physically taxing sometimes, but I love it. I think it’s needed. It’s a way for them to get directly to someone.”
Being a department employee rather than a contractor makes her an equal partner in the department’s effort to end the cycle of homelessness.
“We’re trying to fill in those gaps so people don’t fall through the cracks,” Jensen said. “For instance, if someone does go to jail and then is released, they might have some mental health issues or substance issues that weren’t taken care of. And they’re released and they become repeat offenders that are repeatedly seen coming into contact with law enforcement officers.”
Chief Feldman said New Smyrna Beach has many services and resources for the homeless where they can “get a hot meal seven days a week.”
The COU reminds, and in some cases introduces, the homeless to those services and resources.
“We do go out right to them and we take our services to them,” Jensen said. “We do get calls from the community; we’ll get a call saying I have a homeless person that is camping outside my house or my neighborhood that is causing some disruption. Or a lot of times they’re not causing disruption, just raising concern in the neighborhood.”
Jensen said most of the homeless she’s encountered are willing to listen and even willing to change.
“I think it’s instilling hope in people and also supporting them and continuing to follow through doing what you say you’re going to do. Jensen said. “And following up with them. Because so many have had help. Everyone’s treated on a case-by-case basis. Originally we were going to do short-term case management but what I’m finding is I’m doing it differently with every person I deal with. Most of my success stories are with those people that I continue to check in with and their families. Sometimes daily. It just depends on the person.”
New Smyrna Beach Police Deputy Chief Chris Kirk said the intent of the COU is to assist the homeless “without solely relying on law enforcement action.”
“Kimber knows more resources that most of our regular officers would ever dream of and she’s able to leverage those relationships and resources to truly provide this service to every part of our community,” Kirk said. “So they’re getting immediate service, service that’s dedicated and contoured to their needs and that frees up the rest of our officers to continue to do what needs to be done throughout the city.”
Kirk said the COU focusing most of their time and effort on the homeless reduces law enforcement encounters and hospital visits.
“It’s not just Baker Act [to hospitalize someone for their own safety], drop off, forget, go on to the next thing,” Kirk said. “But we have Kimber following up with that person. Making sure they’re getting the resources they need.”
Jensen said many of the people she encounters in the woods are surprised to see her.
“And then ask can we do anything for them,” Jensen said.
Jensen has several success stories already in the nine months since she started with the COU, including a 12-year-old whose parents had abandoned him. She got results, got him help and got him into a home.
“I have so many cases I could talk about,” Jensen said. “One in particular was with a 12-year-old boy that was couch-surfing, he had a difficult home situation. An officer actually took him under his wing because of multiple police interactions with the family. And then started tutoring him. And then I was brought in by the officer and we were able to get him into a residential facility and out of that situation.”
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