St. Pete CALL program receives new grant from NFL to expand services for children

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Making the switch from police to community workers responding to a mental health crisis has worked in St. Petersburg for the last three years through the CALL program, and now the program will be able to help children on those calls in more ways.

The CALL program, which stands for Community Assistance and Life Liaison, received a $450,000 grant from the National Football League, helping Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services keep up its work with St. Petersburg police.

"There is a growing need for youth support, and the program funds that we’re receiving through the Inspire Change grant is helping us to expand our outreach to youth," said Sandra Braham, president and CEO of Gulf Coast JFCS.

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St. Pete police said about 20 percent of the calls are youth-related, the grant money gives them a full-time youth engagement specialist to focus only on working with children and anything that impacts them.

"Whether it is a child needs a uniform for school or, again, if there’s an opportunity for a summer camp or other activities that there may have been financial barriers in the past, it really allows the promotion of positive activities," said Megan McGee, the assistant director of the Administrative Services Bureau of the St. Petersburg Police Department. "This role will be able to help more children, plug them into more meaningful activities to keep them active, busy. We have summer coming up so that’s certainly something that we’re all thinking about to keep youth having opportunities to do positive things."

Workers will see the need and have an answer on those calls.

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"They may then talk to the young person about what are you doing this summer. How are you spending your time? Maybe we refer you to a program or help them make other connections," said Braham. "If we don’t catch them right at the beginning when these opportunities are there for them to enroll for them to do something else, then they sit around waiting and waiting and you get bored. Next thing you know you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The CALL program has seen results. Gulf Coast JFCS said from October 1, 2023, to date, they’ve had nearly three thousand calls. Of those, workers diverted 93 percent of people in those calls from Baker Acts and diverted 84 percent of them from youth having police interaction.

It’s a snapshot of how they hope to keep meeting those in crisis where they’re at.

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"We want to minimize youth involvement with the police department," said Braham. "By having this intervention and giving us other outlets to do with the youth, it’s going to help us and it’s going to help the community."

St. Pete police and Gulf Coast JFCS said the new grant is more than double the $200,000 grant they received last year from the NFL, so they feel their work is being recognized.

They said the money can also be used for school supplies, sports programs or something else children on the calls they answer may need.

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