Social worker program lauded by Waynesville police chief
Waynesville Police Chief David Adams (left) and Kasey Curcio (right). File photos
Waynesville Police Chief David Adams had a simple answer when Town Council Member Jon Feichter asked him if he thought the department’s utilization of a social worker to handle some calls had been worthwhile.
“Yes sir,” Adams said.
The exchange took place near the end of the Town’s annual budget retreat March 21, after Adams detailed the history of the program.
Two years ago, Council Member Chuck Dickson had asked Adams to look into the possibility of integrating social workers into policing.
Katy Allen, then-assistant professor of social work at Western Carolina University, and WCU criminal justice Professor Cyndy Caravelis had also been looking into the issue and approached Sylva Police Chief Chris Hatton about giving it a try.
That conversation resulted in Sylva’s Community Care program and a WCU undergrad in social work embedding with the Sylva Police, handling situations that didn’t necessarily require an officer — people experiencing mental health episodes and/or substance use disorder.
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One such example, Hatton told The Smoky Mountain News in 2022, was of a well-known local man who regularly “goes off the rails” each year around the anniversary of a traumatic life event, halting his medication, acting out and getting the police called on him sometimes multiple times a day.
Chris Martinez, the WCU social worker, was able to get the man referred for treatment that Hatton said “broke the spiral.”
Adams called Hatton, who apparently had good things to say about the experiment, because not long after, the Waynesville Police Department did the same thing.
Originally from Ashe County, Kasey Curcio graduated from WCU in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in social work after serving her required field work internship with the Waynesville Police Department.
“In the year and a half she’s been here, she helped create a reference map of all the places in the community, Western North Carolina, all the resources. What she’d do, initially she did ride-alongs, getting to know the community, getting to know the hospitals, and she put together a packet that referred to REACH, CARE, VAYA, Mission Hospital,” Adams said. “The she’d go back and do follow-ups on her own, a domestic violence victim or somebody who’s been service resistant over the years — drug rehab, drug treatment, she keeps going back and meeting with them and gives them resources. She does that on her own time, without an officer.”
One example of her impact cited by Adams was helping a woman who had been living in a burned-out trailer for several months. Curcio connected her with resources and housing assistance.
Adams said he’s been “pleasantly pleased and surprised” by Curico, who will have her master’s degree by May, but in April, she’ll begin basic law enforcement training paid for by WPD and upon completion join the department as a sworn officer.
Another WCU student is already lined up to fill Curico’s position, but Adams wouldn’t mind seeing the department invest in a full-time, permanent social worker in the near future, as a permanent employee would have the opportunity to build longstanding relationships in the community, making the job somewhat easier. Seven other Western North Carolina agencies, Adams said, are currently using social workers alongside law enforcement.
Adams acknowledged that Waynesville’s budget may not allow for such a hire for the next year or two, but he may recommend funding during the 2026-27 budget cycle.
