Department of Justice awards Shoreline $500,000 grant for RADAR program

The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance has awarded the City of Shoreline, in partnership with Center for Human Services and the North Sound RADAR Navigator Program, a Connect and Protect: Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Responses Grant in the amount of $500,000 over three project years.

RADAR: Bridging the Gap Between Law Enforcement and Behavioral Health

Increasingly the police have become the “safety net beyond the safety net” for people in behavioral health crisis. 

In our community, the RADAR Navigator team seeks to meet people in that moment of crisis by embedding social workers with the police departments of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell and Kirkland. 

We have seen the tremendous impact a social worker can have on a crisis situation, however we are often challenged to quickly and efficiently link people in to treatment at the critical moment when they are willing to accept help.

In the space between a crisis or law enforcement contact, and an available appointment with a provider, many people fall through the cracks- especially those living homeless. 

The RADAR Project will augment the capacity of the North Sound RADAR Navigator Program and the Center for Human services to effectively bridge that gap, by creating a dedicated pathway for people in behavioral health crisis to gain access to the mental health and substance use treatment system.

This funding will create a dedicated pathway to services by supporting a “Treatment Navigator” role at the Center for Human Services for people at this stage of their journey. 

RADAR Navigators will be able to accompany someone directly to an initial appointment with the system of care at Center for Human Services, a committed, culturally competent provider with an excellent reputation with community members because they provide so many corollary services such as family support and basic needs. 

The Center for Human Services Treatment Navigator will build rapport, engage people and conduct the initial assessments necessary to engage in services, improving our ability to connect people to long-term supports.

We are grateful to the Department of Justice for supporting this project, which will target a critical weakness in the continuum of care. This work will help reduce criminal legal system utilization by people in crisis and help community members in crisis move toward more stable lives.