U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to deliver remarks at Eastern event
Unique police and social work partnership celebrates first year
Willimantic, CT (04/20/2022) — U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will present special video greetings on April 22 during the "Boots on the Ground Capstone Celebration," a semester-ending showcase for a groundbreaking program in Connecticut titled the "Social Work & Law Enforcement Project." The event takes place in Shafer Auditorium at Eastern Connecticut State University.
The first-of-its-kind project partners college social work majors with local police departments to leverage the students' crisis intervention and support skills. It began in fall 2020, when two Eastern Connecticut State University social work student interns were embedded into the Willimantic Police Department (WPD) to support officers on mental health and other nonviolent calls where circumstances could benefit from the skills of a social worker.
The program is also in response to CT Public Act 20-1, "An Act Concerning Police Accountability," passed in July 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. Isabel Logan, assistant professor of social work at Eastern, provided project oversight and worked closely with the students, Willimantic Chief of Police Paul Hussey and Eastern alumnus Lt. Matt Solak '05 of the WPD.
The "Boots on the Ground Capstone Celebration" will recognize the work being done this academic year by participating social work students, faculty and police departments around the state. In addition to student capstone presentations, other remarks will be provided by Logan, Solak, Eastern President Elsa Nunez, Willimantic Chief of Police Hussey, Social Work Professor Robert Madden of the University of St. Joseph, and a representative of the local Windham/Willimantic branch of the NAACP.
Capt. Garon DelMonte of the Milford Police Department and Sgt. Nicholas Rankin of the Norwich Police Department will serve as master of ceremonies. Awards will also be presented.
About the Social Work & Law Enforcement Project (SWLE)
Since being founded, the program has been formalized as the Social Work & Law Enforcement Project (SWLE), with Logan as the project's executive director and Solak as the law enforcement director. The program has also added a practice standards director, Robert Madden and an executive project administrator, Bonnie Solivan.
SWLE participants have expanded to include three more police departments and students from six other social work programs. In addition to the Willimantic Police Department, other police departments that have also joined this unique program include the Milford Police Department, Norwich Police Department and Stamford Police Department. In addition to Eastern, universities that have become part of the program include Sacred Heart University in Fairfield; the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford; Central Connecticut State University; Southern Connecticut State University; Western Connecticut State University; and Fordham University in New York City.
The SWLE began the 2021-22 school year with the first Police Social Work Intern Academy in September 2021. Over the academy's four days, Logan and Solak organized training sessions in safety, de-escalation, social work competencies and micro-aggressions with student interns, licensed clinical social workers, university professors and law enforcement officers working together to advance the new field of police social work.
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving more than 4,300 students annually on its Willimantic campus. In addition to attracting students from 163 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 31 states and 10 countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 65 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal art foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked as the #1 public regional university in New England by U.S. News & World Report in its 2020, 2021 and 2022 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 12 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.
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