Rachel Schlein (left), behavioral health liaison with the Kennebunk Police Department, and Kim Noble (right), public health nurse with the Kennebunkport Public Health Department. Eloise Goldsmith photo
KENNEBUNKPORT — Rachel Schlein has a soft, direct energy. She gives the impression that she would be calm during a crisis — which is fortunate, given that she accompanies dispatchers on calls when there is a mental or behavioral health concern at play, often helping people in low moments.
Shlein is the behavioral health liaison with the Kennebunk Police Department. She has worked with KPD since 2021 and assists police in situations when a person is dealing with substance abuse, experiencing domestic violence, having a mental health crisis, or lacks adequate housing. Those are only some of the situations she’s called on to handle, and her job isn’t over when the 911 call ends.
Oftentimes she’s doing follow up, connecting someone with resources or other support systems. Schlein also works with her co-liaison in the police department, Tricia Ledoux.
“It’s very common for us to work with other providers, whether that’s somebody’s primary care physician, or a probation officer, or therapists,” she said, discussing the follow up that she and Ledoux strive to provide.
“We have a relationship with that person,” she said of the people they engage with. “And when it’s relevant, we have a relationship with their family. We follow that person if they go to hospital or if they go to jail. We have a lot of leeway depending on the needs of the person and their receptiveness to our assistance.”
She also supports wellness initiatives for first responders in Kennebunk.
Schlein joined Kim Noble, a public health nurse at the Kennebunkport Public Health Department, for a 3 Towns, 1 Community C.A.R.E.S. (Communication, Advocacy, Resources, Education, Support) informational session at Graves Memorial Public Library to speak with a small crowd on Jan. 4.
Noble said she hosts these informational sessions on the first Thursday of every month, and brings in rotating guests. In the past, she’s had someone recovering from substance abuse come and tell their story, for example.
The session ended with how to administer the anti-opiate medication Naloxone. The Jan. 4 meeting brought in five people — a small group — but the intimacy helped facilitate an atmosphere conducive to question asking.
Schlein is one of multiple people in York County providing this type of service with the local police department. She estimated there are eight other professionals who have a similar job in the county.
She also said that the need for her services has increased in the two and a half years on the job. She attributes that partially to the increasing homelessness crisis. Statewide, Maine has seen a jump in homelessness numbers according to figures collected by MaineHousing, and Kennebunk is not immune.
She also spoke about the limits she faces given that she’s one person dealing with problems that require structural change.
“I think every police department could have five of me and it wouldn’t address the larger issues, which is that we don’t have the (needed) services, supports, providers,” Schlein said.
For one, “we need more housing of all kinds,” she said. She also highlighted the need for co-occurring mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, more inpatient psychiatric beds, and more crisis services — “places for people to go when they may not need to go to the emergency department, but are still in need of immediate assistance.”
When asked if she thinks people are ever reluctant to use her services because she works with police and could open themselves up to arrest, Schlein said she doesn’t think that’s a common barrier.
She said that oftentimes the calls for service aren’t centered on criminal activity. But, “there are certain types of calls or certain types of situations where, because of our relationship to the police department, we just might not be the right service or the right support … and that’s understandable,” she added.
The evening ended with a demonstration about how to use Naloxone nasal spray, or Narcan, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. Narcan is a nasal spray that can be administered by people without medical training.
Noble walked the group through what to do if they came upon someone and thought they may be experiencing an overdose and can’t arouse them (answer: immediately call 911 before you do anything else), how to administer Narcan, and what to do in the moments following.
Both Noble and Schlein said they were motivated to do the work they do in order to offer care. Noble worked for years in Massachusetts doing substance use prevention and mental health awareness work, and Schlein previously worked in private practice and in residential addiction treatment. These days, they are doing their best to keep the citizens of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport healthy.
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