Case Study: From a traffic stop to a new car seat, KCPD social services program showing success.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In December 2016, the Kansas City Police Department launched a pilot program to embed a social worker with a group of officers. Today, that program is a fixture of the department, with social workers housed in each of the city’s six division stations.

In November 2018, one of those social workers, Tori Cawman, worked on a special case thatserves as an example of the work they’re doing every day. Cawman is stationed at KCPD’s central patrol. She got a note one day at her desk, after a pair of officers stopped a woman for speeding in a school zone. “When they pulled the mother over, they found that her daughter was not restrained properly,” Cawman said. The woman was very upset, and police learned that her car seat had recently been destroyed in a house fire. Cawman made some calls, and was able to find a replacement.