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### **Responding to Mental Health and Wellness Challenges: Ideas from the Field**

January 2020 | Volume 13 | Issue 1

According to a  recent report from Blue H.E.L.P., an organization dedicated to reducing the  stigma of mental illness in law enforcement, there were 167 officer  deaths from suicide in 2018, a number greater than the line-of-duty deaths from  all other causes that year.

 Recognizing the urgent need to address this and other challenges  to the wellbeing of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement professionals,  in 2018 the U.S. Congress enacted the Law Enforcement Mental Health and  Wellness Act, which directed the COPS Office to submit a report on the occupational  risks that affect the nation’s approximately 800,000 sworn officers. 

 Based on the report’s 19 recommendations—which included  officer resiliency training, collaborative peer mentoring programs, and remote  access to mental health support—the U.S. Department of Justice authorized  the COPS Office to award more than $2 million in grant funding for programs supporting  mental health and wellness training, technical assistance, demonstration projects,  and peer mentoring programs. 

 These are the 2019 grant award winners, with descriptions  of the programs they will develop with this funding. As one agency noted in its  grant application, psychological health is just as important as physical  health. The mental state of law enforcement professionals has a profound effect  not only on their safety, but on the way they interact with the public and make  critical decisions in the field. 

##### Power in Peers: National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation Peer  Mentor Training and Mentor Support Network

A 2018 Fraternal Order of Police survey of nearly 8,000 law enforcement  professionals indicated that their preferred method of emotional support was  peer support. Based on this information, the FOP will develop complete training  modules for both peer mentors and trainers of peer mentors and offer them through  their network of state and local lodges. 

##### Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake City, Utah Officer Wellness Program

 The Unified Police Department's Officer Wellness Program is focused on mental  health, physical health, sleep hygiene, and peer support education. The department  will provide training and support groups to dispel bias toward mental health  issues, an on-duty workout policy, restorative rest options, and peer support  resources.

##### Connecticut Department of Public Safety Law  Enforcement Peer Program (CT LEPP)

 The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP)  will combine the expertise and resources of the Municipal Police Training  Academy and the State Police Training Academy to establish a statewide  Connecticut Law Enforcement Peer Program (CT LEPP) by consolidating existing  programs and expanding outreach to agencies without them. 

##### Omaha Police Department Peer Support  Implementation Project

 The Omaha Police Department will expand its current Peer Support Program, which  serves sworn and non-sworn personnel, to a level that aligns with best practice  recommendations; develop and implement an interactive mobile application; and  work with the University of Nebraska at Omaha to perform a wellness assessment  and create a case study report. 

##### **Richmond (Virginia) Police Department Peer  Support Enhancement**

 The Richmond Police Department Peer Support Enhancement Project will expand  access to peer support and mental health resources through the implementation  and enhancement of an existing mobile smart phone app to facilitate immediate 24/7  access to trained peers who can provide support, referrals to trained therapists,  and other resources. 

##### **Memphis (Tennessee) Police Department Peer  Support Implementation**

 The Memphis Police Department will work with university partners to develop  surveys to assess officer job satisfaction and develop recurring training for  supervisors, examine effectiveness of wellness programing, and assess overall  officer safety and wellness through expansion of the department’s Peer Support  Program. 

##### Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Police Peer  Mentoring Program

 The Cleveland Division of Police Employee Assistance Unit (EAU) will expand  its current Cuyahoga County peer mentoring program to provide service to the smaller  agencies in the county without EAUs. The program will work with the Alcohol,  Drug and Mental Health Services Board, which will oversee the program and  assist in providing training. 

##### Chicago Police Peer Support Assistance  Program

 The Chicago Police Department Peer Support Program, which currently  provides an initial 40-hour certification training, will provide refresher  training, strengthen internal operational structures, build an internal  training capacity, enhance and sustain the current peer support program, and  stay updated on new strategies.

##### 2019 Metropolitan Nashville (Tennessee) Police  Department LEMHWA Peer Support Program

 The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s comprehensive Behavioral  Health Services (BHS) division will collaborate with 21 regional agencies to  formalize a network of peer supporters. They will provide train-the-trainer and  peer support training and certification and update the Basic Peer Support Training  Manual for distribution across agencies. 

##### Broward County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office  Peer Support Program

 The Broward County Sheriff’s Office will pilot the Peer Support Program for  employees of the Department of Law Enforcement, Regional Communications, and  Department of Detention, and will nominate, vet, and train 40 sworn and  civilian members to act as peer supporters. The program will provide support to  employees who experience critical incidents or are suffering from stress. 

##### Supporting MPD’s Future Leader: The Washington, DC Metropolitan Police  Department’s Sergeant Leadership and Peer Support Pilot Program

 The Metropolitan Police Department’s Sergeant Leadership and Peer Support  Program will consist of two cohorts, each comprising 20 self-selected sergeants  meeting monthly to learn, share, and practice together. The department will  also offer two workshops for lieutenants and captains to secure leadership  buy-in and reinforce a culture of wellness in the department. 

##### Rockdale County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office  Employee Mentoring and Wellness Program

 The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office will implement an Employee Mentoring and  Wellness Program modeled on the best practices of the Indianapolis Police  Employer and Employee Resiliency and Wellness Program, collaborating with healthcare  providers, team-building professionals, and behavioral specialists. 

##### Durham (North Carolina) Police Department’s  2019 Peer Support Implementation Grant

 The Durham Police Department will implement a Peer Support Program consisting  of a peer coordinator, an assistant, and seven peer support volunteers. The  program will provide twenty-four hour access to vetted and trained peer support  volunteers and allow officers to meet privately with peer support volunteers.

##### The Arlington (Virginia) Police Department Holistic  Wellness Program

 The Arlington Police Department will expand its current Critical Incident  Stress Management (CISM) team into a holistic wellness program that includes  peer support, counseling, treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, referrals  to mental health services, and group discussions of topics ranging from coping  with stress to healthy eating.

##### The Guam Police Department FY19 LEMHWA Program

 The Guam Police Department (GPD) will leverage the partnerships it has  built with all levels of law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations  as well as the community to provide long-awaited and much-needed mental health  and wellness services to its officers through the Law Enforcement Peer Support  Implementation Project.

 We encourage you to follow the COPS Office to follow these  organizations’ stories.

 To learn more, please see the following reports:

*Law  Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Programs: Eleven Case Studies*

*Law Enforcement  Mental Health and Wellness Act: Report to Congress*

 Faye Elkins          Sr. Technical Writer

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