Kiele Hawke is the Huntingdon Borough Police Co-Responder through Center for Community Resources. She has her master’s degree in forensic psychology and has a vast amount of knowledge in the mental health field. Kiele works directly in the police station and responds with police for a variety of calls that come in. Kiele provides community members with support by completing a mental health assessment and making referrals for services that are deemed appropriate. She also works with individuals to provide one-on-one emotional processing support and completes debriefings in the community after a tragic event. Kiele collaborates with other agencies
within the community to find the best care and resources for any individual she works with. There have been multiple instances where Kiele has been able to divert criminal charges and provides mental health support.

The Co-Responder program has been identified as a high-quality program by the Bureau of Justice. Recently, Kiele and the other local Co-Responders presented at the National Co-Responder Conference in Omaha Nebraska. Kiele participates in multiple community events that take place in Huntingdon County. She helps organize new initiatives for the Co-Responder Program and has been extremely influential in the growth of the program overall.

Kiele supports police officers with her role, as well as all community members. She is quick to respond to any situation with the police and provides individuals she sees with an immense amount of support following her initial contact with them. The primary goal of her position is to intervene during police contact and divert criminal charges, when possible, to assist individuals in getting the treatment they need. Her collaboration with
the police have been recognized and praised. Police appreciate Kiele’s support and knowledge of the mental health field, and her position has also allowed for police to focus more on keeping the community safe.