What We’ve Learned so Far from St. Petersburg’s New CALL Program Supporting SPPD with Mental Health Professionals for Citizens in Crisis

What We’ve Learned so Far from St. Petersburg’s New CALL Program Supporting SPPD with Mental Health Professionals for Citizens in Crisis

On November 4, BPW Welcomes Megan McGee to discuss the CALL Program, a new approach to some 911 calls with a focus on community mental health services. Megan McGee is the St. Petersburg Police Department’s (SPPD) Special Projects Manager. Part of her role is the daily administration of the new program, Community Assistance and Life Liaison (CALL) program with SPPD’s partner,  Gulf Coast JFCS.   The CALL program sends mental health professionals to assist with nonviolent and non-criminal calls for emergency services.  CALL’s first responders are called Navigators, they de-escalate, assess, and link to services.  Additionally, Navigators provide follow-up contact to ensure the individual is receiving services and no longer in crisis.

To check out Megan’s Presentation to our group click here.

Megan is also responsible for over $4M in grant revenue last year for the Department, with a special emphasis on programing for Victim Services, Human Trafficking, COVID response and Community Policing Initiatives. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Central Florida and Graduate Certificates in Federal Contract Management from Villanova University.  Her prior career was in child welfare and human service program evaluation.  She has been a St. Petersburg resident for nearly twenty years, has two wonderful children and a shelter dog who grew too big.