By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
nweditor@buglenewspapers.com
@NilesILNews
The Park Ridge City Council voted 5-2 to allow the police department to make its social worker position full time.
The change was part of Park Ridge Police Department Chief Frank Kaminski’s fiscal 2017 budget request. The police chief argued that making the position full time would allow the social worker to spend more time in the community and help bring more attention to local mental health services.
Although the request made it through the budget workshops, several aldermen expressed reservations during the April 11 committee of the whole meeting. A job description presented by Kaminski included community outreach aspects, which surprised aldermen. Many of them also wondered if it would make more sense to have two part-time positions, instead.
During the April 18 meeting, Kaminski submitted a memo elaborating on the rationale behind the job description. As previously reported by the Bugle, the police chief told aldermen that he wanted to make the position full time in response to recommendations from the Healthier Park Ridge Coalition.
In the memo, he wrote that one of the recommendations was to have a “point person” who would be able to interact with the community and mental health service providers. Kaminski wrote that there were several reasons why a social worker was a good fit for that role.
“The position already receives referrals from our officers on the streets and has an awareness of the issues,” he wrote. “The police department is a 24/7 operation. The social worker has access to all other services in the community, and those working relationships aid the social worker in determining which resources are best for people. In addition, by addressing these concerns, referrals and contacts would increase, and one social worker would offer continuity of services, as opposed to a two-person part-time model.”
As the city council prepared to vote on the budget, First Ward Ald. Dan Moran made a motion to leave the social worker spending at the 2016 level. He said that, even after reading Kaminski’s memo, he wasn’t convinced that the full-time position wasn’t two different positions being welded together.
Kaminski said that trying to split the responsibilities would hinder the social workers.
“It’s just like handling an investigation,” he said. “To bring in two detectives, you got two people doing the same things.”
Sixth Ward Ald. Marc Mazzuca said he agreed with Moran, saying that he felt that two different aspects of the job required two different sets of skills.
Kaminski disagreed. “In my personal experience, it’s not just marketing,” he said. “It’s working with the community.”
Second Ward Ald. Nicholas Milissis said he still felt that aldermen weren’t adequately informed about what the position would entail. But ultimately, he was persuaded that there was a need to have the full-time position as Kaminski described it.
“I believe that the need for a full-time equivalent is there,” said Milissis. “Going back to part time would do us a disservice.”
To him, the fact that it would help the residents outweighed concerns about the process.
“I’m not going to penalize the city or the people who need those services because it wasn’t presented the way I would like,” said Milissis.
Acting Mayor Marty Maloney said he appreciated the discussion. Ultimately, he was inclined to vote against Moran’s amendment.
“I feel like there’s a gap in the city, there is a population that struggles,” he said.
Maloney said the city council will be checking within the next 12 months to see how well the social worker does.
“As well as you should,” Kaminski agreed.
As the aldermen prepared to vote for the amendment, Moran said he could live with his amendment getting defeated.
“I’m glad that it will be getting done,” he said. “I might not agree with the way it’s getting done, but all the work of the Healthier Park Ridge Coalition – I would hate to see it gone.”