Title
Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Implementation Grant (Ordinance S-50744)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to allow the Police Department to apply for, accept, and enter into an agreement with the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office for the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) Implementation Grant. The grant amount is not to exceed $200,000.
Report
Summary
This program support efforts to protect the mental health and well-being of law enforcement officers. Funding will be used to improve the delivery and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement officers and their families through the implementation of peer support, training, family resources, suicide prevention and other promising practices for wellness programs.
The Employee Wellness Unit has initiated new programs focused on building resilience in employees so they can better prevent, mitigate and recover from the cumulative stress and exposure to traumatic incidents they experience as unique elements of their work life. One of these new resilience-based programs that has garnered a great deal of support and participation from the employees it serves is the Human Performance Pilot Program. This program, sourced through the company O2X, provides on-site mental and physical performance specialists backed by a suite of technological resources. Through this program employees gain access to in person mental performance consultations, injury evaluations, injury rehabilitation, and strength and conditioning consultations, as well as coaching related to nutrition, sleep, coping with stress and other holistic wellness related issues. The current program is only accessible to a portion of the employees.
The Employee Wellness Unit will use this grant funding to expand this program, which will add an additional on-site injury risk and reduction specialist to the program. This specialist focuses on early identification and correction of physical health risks specific to job functions, evaluations of untreated injuries, consultations for strength and conditioning, readiness assessments and rehabilitation assistance. With this grant, the Employee Wellness Unit will be able to open the Human Performance Pilot Program to the entire Police Department, encouraging resilient wellness strategies for the challenges faced by police employees.
The grant application is due on April 23, 2024. If approved, the Police Department will move forward with submitting our application.
Contract Term
The project period is for two years and will begin on Oct. 1, 2024.
Financial Impact
No matching funds are required.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays and the Police Department.