She’s a member of Family Service of Rhode Island’s Go Team—a partnership between law enforcement and a group of trauma-informed clinicians that formed in 2004. Go Team members work alongside police to respond to calls in Central Falls, Providence, East Providence, and Pawtucket and serve as a victim’s advocate in emergency situations.

But even after 17 years of this partnership, the Go Team program’s important role and positive impact are still not widely known in Rhode Island. In a time when Americans are calling for more informed, proactive policing, programs like this are still rare nationwide.

“People learn about [the Go Team] and when they learn about it, they can’t believe it exists,” said Zira. “Whenever I have an incident, it’s always the first time I’ve had it. Nothing is ever the same. It keeps you on your feet for sure.”

Without the Go Team, police officers are faced with the work of balancing emotional trauma, mental trauma, physical abuse, immediate needs—all on top of their existing law-enforcement duties. Departments partnering with the Go Team program have had those challenges lifted, creating better outcomes for victims and establishing trusting bonds between clinicians and officers.

“Now they have an ally,” Zira said. “One of the things I say to victims when they’re so afraid of the offenders is that you have all the good guys on your side. It’s really amazing when the department starts to help, they bring everyone in. It’s like you have all these big brothers and big sisters.”

By showing up on the scene and giving immediate support, Zira is able to let law enforcement do what they need to do to stabilize the situation. This allows her to connect crime victims with important resources to meet their immediate and long-term needs resulting from their experience. This might include helping to find a new living situation, fulfill immediate food needs, connecting to local resources, and even help to navigate the legal system in the months ahead.

In 2019, Zira first got involved with Go Team through a former colleague who taught her everything she needed to know. Originally Zira worked closely with existing Go Team members to learn how the partnership worked and work with individuals receiving mental health services through the Providence Center. Many struggled with very complex mental health trauma including a history of abuse. After Zira learned more and built a working relationship with the team, Zira decided to join FSRI.

Much of Zira’s experience comes from her hard work at the Providence police station, FSRI, and in Central Falls. Working closely with police officers, Zira has extended knowledge of what police officers go through, and what a clinician goes through, making them both better able to support members of the community when they need it most.

Both clinicians and police officers come to the table with a certain expertise, and they grow to know the strengths of each and apply it to traumatic situations.

The partnership and bond that forms between police officers and clinicians is very special and is essential for providing better assistance for victims. As Go Team members enter physically and emotionally dangerous situations, trusting each other, working together, and being able to decompress afterward is key.

“You have to have a sense of humor when you’re doing this kind of work because it gets disturbing with what you see,” Zira said.

With recent funding hardships along with a current pandemic, the community has faced more troubled times than ever before. Cuts to the federal Victims of Crime Act funding (VOCA) last year cut federal funding nearly in half for the Go Team program. However, Go Team is still in motion, clinicians are still working effortlessly alongside police officers to change lives and support victims in need of support. FSRI continues to look for funding sources to make sure the program is sustainable now when it’s needed more than ever.

“You’re never really done working with them because maybe they’ll come to you in the future with another problem they need help with,” said Zira. “Our involvement doesn’t end. The initial point of contact is just where it begins.”

To learn about FSRI’s Go Team and how you can help, please visit familyserviceri.org.

Dr. Susan Erstling is the latter. Back in 2004, Erstling developed the Go Team police partnership at Family Service of Rhode Island to have social workers go out on patrol along with the police, through a groundbreaking partnership.

The “[Go Team] was probably so attractive to me because I came from a family of first responders and was quite used to sirens going off in the middle of the night,” said Erstling.

Erstling, now a member of FSRI’s Board of Directors, first came to Family Service of Rhode Island (FSRI) in 2004 to help implement a partnership between law enforcement and social workers for the organization’s new Go Team. Modeled after the Yale Child Study Center’s police-clinician response to children exposed to violence, Go Team sought to address stress, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of trauma through police and clinician intervention. Erstling, who had experience in family therapy and community mental health, brought her expertise to FSRI and worked with others to bring this initiative to life.

“Being exposed to violence– such as the murder of a parent, ongoing domestic violence, death of a sibling, human trafficking, and home invasions– make it hard for children to focus in school, or for parents to focus fully on children’s needs,” Erstling said.

It’s a model for policing that’s getting more attention today than ever before, despite the fact that federal funding for this kind of work has been seriously cut in recent years.

“It seems like right now police community relations are fraying. This type of program enhances both the law enforcement side as well as the community needs. It is built on collaboration, partnership, access to services and all the good things that both our professions bring to the table,” Erstling said.

Since the Go Team has no natural funding streams, constant advocacy is necessary to keep the program functioning. The initiative’s focus on the traumatic effect of exposure to violence has allowed FSRI to collaborate with other organizations. Some of this significant work includes teaching victim impact classes in prisons and working with Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Being in the forefront of local and national trauma services demonstrates FSRI’s consistent community impact.

The “[Go Team] has had an impact on thousands of children and families who have been exposed to traumatic events that normally would derail them from their healthy functioning,” Erstling said.

The program’s success heavily relies on the partnership between officers and clinicians who ride together and respond to calls. Bonding allows individuals to learn about each other and develop a trusting relationship. When officers arrive at a scene, having a clinician present to assist families in ways that the officer may not have time for or is trained to handle is imperative in constructively addressing trauma. This partnership not only alleviates an officer’s workload but also brings peace of mind from the confidence in their clinician’s ability to address the often painful and complicated issues that families face.

Between 2004 and today, Erstling has witnessed the Go Team’s exponential growth – beginning with the Providence Police and expanding to the State Police, East Providence, Central Falls, and Pawtucket police. Community members in need of immediate emotional and social support readily receive assistance from police officers and clinicians who assist victims and guide them to additional services. The initiative partnership has generated other dynamic programs and has developed the organization’s excellence in both trauma work and evidence-based practices.

The previous experience and expertise clinicians bring on the scene help families better navigate their options of helpful, needed resources and their potential ongoing mental, emotional, and physical abuse. As a proactive support system, the team also follows up with individuals to ensure they are receiving effective care.

Actively using resources to confront trauma reduces long-term effects and helps people recover sooner. Additionally, by following up with victims, clinicians and police officers create meaningful relationships that make families more willing to contact the police for future issues.

The Go Team is also continuously evolving and bettering its program. Police officers now include FSRI responders in sergeant classes, department recruitments, and new officer trainings. Officers also take a more effective trauma perspective in understanding victims because of the learned experience they have with the Go Team. Instead of looking at individuals and saying, “what’s wrong with them,” officers are alternatively saying “what has happened to them.” For instance, a child who brings a knife or gun to school may traditionally be viewed as a criminal. This action, however, buds from constant bullying and tormenting, so looking for ways to protect the child from harmful encounters helps them escape the factors that have led to their legal issues.

Go Team workers put their hearts into their jobs, and their kindness repeatedly shows itself through their actions. From an officer collecting money to buying a bike for a disabled child whose bike was stolen to responders going to court with a victim to offer support and courage, FSRI’s Go Team goes above and beyond to uplift and care for its families.

The program’s success has not gone unnoticed. Other police departments have asked for the Go Team model, and clients’ follow-up surveys have produced extremely positive remarks over the years. As the initiative moves into its eighteenth year of service, recent funding cuts put stress on the program.

The Go Team’s influence throughout Rhode Island has assisted thousands of community members. By quickly responding to victims’ needs, the program continues to make a notable difference. Thanks to the Go Team’s existence, the passionate police officers and clinicians who respond to together to calls are better equipped to effectively address traumatic situations as a team.

To learn about FSRI’s Go Team and how you can help, please visit familyserviceri.org.

Now, imagine those police officers showed up to keep you safe, but this time they brought along a social worker– a person dedicated to helping you cope with the mental trauma you’ve just experienced. A person well trained in how the system works and a person there to help you navigate the new reality you’ll be faced with. The social worker takes the time to link you with basic community resources, help you cope with the trauma you’ve just experienced, navigate court dates, police reports, court filings—this person is even there to help you find a new safe place to stay and provide food for you and your family if necessary.

That social worker/police partnership is real—and they’ve already been hard at work together for years right here in Rhode Island. They’re a part of FSRI’s GO Team, established in 2004, partnering Police Officers and social workers in Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Rhode Island State Police. Funded heavily by the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), it’s modeled after the Yale Child Study Center’s police-clinician response to children exposed to violence to address stress, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of trauma through police and clinician intervention.

They work as a team to respond to emergency calls and offer immediate trauma-informed assistance in troubling situations to promote both physical and mental health. It allows allowing officers to do what they’re trained to do in public safety, and social workers to respond to the unseen threats crime victims often face.

The Go Team idea came about in 2003 with the help of former Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman and FSRI’s CEO Margaret Holland-McDuff. The two began collaborating after Holland McDuff sent Esserman a letter about working together to address the needs of children exposed to violence and trauma. Esserman had previously founded the New Haven Police/Yale Child Study Center Child Development Community Policing Program in 1992, which was later designated as the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence by the White house. He happily agreed, and after many discussions on incorporating this program, the Providence Police Department and FSRI put their initiative to the test in 2004.

“Sometimes you need handcuffs, sometimes you need hugs,” Colonel Esserman said.

Esserman also commented that instead of focusing on defunding the police, we should be reimagining the police. He strongly believes that the work the Go Team does is the direction that policing should move in. He is now the Senior Counselor at the National Police Foundation.

Go Team workers put their hearts into their jobs, and their kindness repeatedly shows itself through their actions. From an officer collecting money to buy a bike for the handicapped child whose bike was stolen, to responders going to court with a victim to offer support and courage and providing emotional, stable support with at hand resources to on the scene individuals. FSRI’s Go Team goes above and beyond to uplift and care for its families.

The program’s success has not gone unnoticed. Other police departments have asked for the Go Team model, and clients’ follow-up surveys have produced extremely positive remarks over the years.

With recent VOCA funding cuts, however, the money used to fund Go Team is being reduced. While this increases the initiative’s gap funding, FSRI and the Providence Police are adamant about continuing their partnership.

“They [Go Team] would not stop. It’s here forever It’s part of how we police Providence now. It’s in our DNA,” Esserman said.

The Go Team program receives calls over dispatch or are referred to situations by a detective or lieutenant. Victims in these circumstances may need an assortment of care including comfort, de-escalation, and help to understand the justice system. Therefore, police officers and clinicians work side by side to address the emotional, mental, and physical needs of those they’ve been sent to support. Addressing symptoms of trauma early on and gathering additional resources for victims can help with quicker recovery times and reduced long-term effects.

“The public gets services delivered to their door when they need it—not later,” said Esserman.Launching the Go Team

in Providence took a lot of work and started with clinicians and police officers taking a four-day training course at Yale Medical School. Esserman insisted attendees drive together so they would get to know each other. Many of these individuals recall the car ride being the most memorable part of the experience.

“They went as strangers and came back bonded as friends,” Esserman said.

Esserman described how cops, like clinicians, are careful and cautious about friendships. Once they find a common bond, however, that bond is difficult to break.

Through conferences and conversations, the structure of Go Team emerged. Early in its formation, one officer activated the Go Team after a school bus and motorcycle got into an accident. The 11 children on the bus were traumatized by the situation and immediately taken to the hospital along with the bus driver. Here, clinicians and police officers assisted the kids with processing the events. “Parents rushed to the hospital and saw police and clinicians working together… I went but I wasn’t the one to call. That’s when I knew it was going to work,” Esserman said.

Since then, the program has grown beyond Esserman’s hopes and dreams by becoming stronger and more structured. It has also created better relations with community members over the past 17 years. Allowing clinicians to be on call with officers has helped immensely. Before this program, law enforcement would have to deal with every aspect of the situation by themselves. Between the technical, scientific, legal, and emotional parts, there were way too many tasks for one person to balance. Letting clinicians on the scene removed part of that burden law enforcement faced. On their own, law enforcement would also have to connect victims with their next resource whom these officers may or may not have known. It was difficult seeing people in need and not knowing if the individual officers put them in contact with the correct resource to be effective. So, having trusted clinicians on the scene to direct victims to additional resources has made the problem of uncertainty go away.

There are times, however, when people don’t call for help because they don’t trust the police. With this in mind, it is especially important to rethink policing.

“Today the police are the agency of last resort in America,” Esserman said.

The Go Team partnership over the past decade and a half has helped police officers do more compassionate policing while broadening their views on victimization. Nowadays, the trust and legitimacy of the police has to be earned. Through Go Team’s positive interactions and relationships with individuals in crisis, people are beginning to trust again and come back when they have additional predicaments.

Go Team is continuously strengthening the quality of assistance trauma victims receive, and time and time again proven its success. Moving forward, the program is looking to make sure more community members aware of their services and spread the knowledge about their program across the country. Providence is a model of success that people can learn from so Go Team can be implemented in different police departments throughout the country.

Would you like to learn more about FSRI’s Go Team and the services they provide? Visit familyserviceri.org for more information.