- 
      - **  Home
      - **   About Us
      - **  Archives
      - **   Events
      - **  Publications

### Contact Us

To provide feedback on the Community Policing Dispatch, e-mail the editorial board at CPDispatch@usdoj.gov.

To obtain details on COPS Office programs, publications, and resources, contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov

**U.S. Department of Justice**        Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 
www.cops.usdoj.gov

            - Home
            - About Us
            - Archives
            - Events
            - Publications
            - Contact Us

### **Reduce Stress about Money: The Importance of Financial Counseling**

 January 2020 | Volume 13 | Issue 1

The daily stressors of law enforcement professions are  easy to list: potentially dangerous work environments, potentially hostile  civilians, unpredictable shifts, and the need for constant vigilance. However,  a repeated theme in academic research on stressors in law enforcement is that  officers report organizational and quality-of-life stressors as more concerning  than occupational hazards.1.  Law enforcement professionals have the same concerns about buying a house,  paying for college, paying down student loans, and retirement as the general  population. Many departments choose to include financial counselling as part of  their suite of mental health offerings for law enforcement personnel. It can  lower stress for professionals and keep them inoculated from regulatory  capture.

 In the COPS Office publication *Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness  Programs: Eleven Case Studies*, researchers noted that eleven  organizations surveyed reported providing family and financial counselling  serves to employees. Those same researchers reported that, while “personal  relationships (between spouses, parents and children, and other family members)  are the most commonly seen voluntary counseling requests for service by  officers and family members. . . [f]inancial and legal issues are also common  areas of vulnerability for which departments are providing counseling and  resources to help officers address areas of conflict, stress, or anxiety in  their lives.” 

 At the Charlotte-Mecklenburg  Police Department, financial counselling is available through the  department’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). “In a survey administered by  Dr. Englert, officers reported that financial challenges are a consistent and  significant stressor, so the department has hosted a number of peer-led small  groups covering financial wellness and additional personal wellness topics. The  department has also brought in an out-of-state consultant on four occasions to  date. This consultant provides one-on-one financial consultations to officers.  After the first visit, the 32 available spots for the second visit filled  within one hour of announcing the availability to officers.”

 The Indianapolis  Police Department (IPD) trains all of its peer support mentors in financial  literacy. This is significant, as nearly one in ten IPD officers is trained as  a mentor. It also highlights financial literacy as an essential component of  Officer Safety and Wellness, drawing on responses to its own internal research  on job-related stressors. The Las Vegas  Metropolitan Police Department’s Police Employee Assistance program (PEAP)  “offers management consultation, assessments counseling, and referrals for  services to employees with personal or work-related concerns such as stress,  financial issues, legal issues, family problems, office conflicts, and alcohol  and substance abuse issues.” The PEAP also starts work with officers at the  academy and supports the officers and family members with training and programming  through the career life-cycle of their forces. 

 Financial stress can also be a barrier to participation in  wellness programs. In Charlotte Mecklenburg, the cost of attending EAP  counselling sessions clocked in at $70 per session. An interviewee said, “People  often don’t understand that officers are not going to spend their emergency  fund money on mental health wellness when it’s possible that their children  might get sick.” Generally, it is expected that a client will need around  twenty-two sessions to complete treatment. The department is currently working  on getting access to free treatment for officers. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department offers  free counselling services in-house in order to lower financial barriers to  entry. While not every department can afford to do so, whenever possible, costs  for participation in counseling should be reduced.

 Departments looking to support officers should consider  including financial literacy training or counseling as part of a holistic  wellness approach to Officer Safety and Wellness. 

References:          1. P. A. Collins and A. C. C. Gibbs, “Stress in Police Officers: A Study of the  Origins, Prevalence and Severity of Stress-Related Symptoms Within a County  Police Force,” *Occupational Medicine* 53 (2003):256–264.

Tweet

**Subscribe to Email Updates**
To sign up for monthly updates or to access your subscriber preferences, please enter your email address in the Subscribe box.

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

The Community Policing Dispatch is the e-newsletter of the COPS Office. 

**Explore**
            - Home
            - About Us
            - Archives
            - Events
            - Publications
            - Contact Us

**
Connect With Us 
**
Want to stay connected with the COPS office?             Follow us on social media!
            - 
            - 
            - 
- 
- 
- 

             FOIA 

             No FEAR Act 

             Open Government 

             Plain Writing 

             USA.gov 

             Legal Policies and Disclaimers 

             Language Access Plan 

             DOJ Privacy Policy