Reference: Colorado DOLA Grant Application-Peace Officer’s Mental Health Support
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Doug Imfeld, Peer Support Team Coordinator Brighton PD
Date Prepared: December 29, 2021
PURPOSE
To request approval of the application to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs Peace Officer’s Mental Health Support Grant.
STRATEGIC FOCUS AREA
Safe, Active and Engaged Community
BACKGROUND
Colorado Department of Local Affairs has made available funding in 2022 for the purpose of Peace Officer’s Mental Health Support. The funds can be used to
• provide co-responder and community based alternative responses to support peace officer’s handling of persons with mental health disorders and those in crisis;
• counseling services for peace officers and their immediate family members;
• assistance for development and implementation of policies to support peace officers who are involved in shootings or fatal use of force;
• training and education programs that teach peace officers and their immediate family members the symptoms of job-related mental trauma and how to prevent and treat such trauma;
• peer support programs for peace officers.
Grants are approved on a first-come first-serve basis and funds are awarded until exhausted. This is an annual grant program funded by DOLA.
The department was awarded $50,000.00 in grant funds for use between August 2019 and December 2020. The department spent $25,463.76 of the $50,000.00. The use of the funds supported 150 mental health provider office visits, 50 alternative wellness office visits, 8 department peer support and wellness webinars/trainings, 5 critical incident debriefs.as well as peer support team supervision by a licensed clinician. Some of the initiatives which would have been completed with these funds were unable to be completed.
In 2021 the department again applied for grant funds and was awarded $10,000.00 for use between April 2021 and March 2023. While the department asked for more funds the number of agencies across the state increased drastically. To date the department has used $6472.08 of the total funds allocated and expects to have used up all available funds by April 2022.
This is why the department is again requesting grant funds in the amount of $25,000.00 to cover expenditures from April 2022 to April 2023. Grant fund usage for 2022-2023 has been expanded to cover immediate family members of peace officers and we expect increased usage with this expansion of who can utilize funds.
The Brighton Peer Support team consists of 14 members who have completed 40 hours of Colorado Peace Officer Standards Training (P.O.S.T.) to act as peer support members. These peer support members consist of both sworn and nonsworn civilian personnel across all divisions of the police department. Several members have also completed advanced peer
CONCLUSIONS
The Brighton Police Department is requesting the funds be used to continue to cover peer support team supervision, direct counseling for officers and immediate family members, training for new hires, roll call and webinar training and critical incident debriefs.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The grant application is for $25,000. The estimated cost breakdown is as follows:
Direct officer and immediate family members counseling services, training and education programs to treat job related mental health trauma - $20000.00
Peer Support Team supervision and critical incident debriefs - $2500.00
Training, wellness webinars, new hire peer support team education - $2500.00
There is no additional financial impact to the city as this grant does not have a matching component requirement.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
1. Approve
2. Decline
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
The Police Department, therefore, recommends approval of the grant submission.
ATTACHMENTS
• Peace Officer Mental Health Notice of Funding Available Final Feb 2022
• Peace Officer Mental Health Support Grant Request 2022 PowerPoint presentation