Submitted by: Sean Corcoran
Submitting Department: City Clerk
Agenda Section: Discussion
Item Title:
title
FY22 Budget Initiative: HCPD Mental Wellness Check-in Program
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Suggested Action:
recommendation
FOR DISCUSSION:
I move the Mayor and Council include in the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget an expenditure of up to $50,000 to support a universal quarterly mental health check-in program for officers and dispatchers.
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Summary Background:
The mental wellness of the officers and dispatchers of the Hyattsville City Police Department (HCPD) is of great importance to our community. The HCPD officers and dispatchers must make reasonable, safe, community-minded, and culturally sensitive decisions in the midst of emotionally charged and potentially dangerous situations every day. In order for these professionals to protect the safety and wellbeing of our residents, we must ensure that people in these important and powerful positions are emotionally well and mentally healthy.
The Mental Wellness Check-In Program is one component of a larger, overarching proposed HCPD Mental Health Program developed by the Department's Media Relations/Mental Health Programs Manager. With a projected start date in mid-February, the robust calendar of required and optional training and educational opportunities for officers and dispatchers begins with Mental Illness 101 and continues with, among other topics, autism awareness, Mental Health First Aid, and Crisis Intervention Team training. Twice-weekly meditation and wellness sessions are also in the proposed program.
FY 21/22 launches the first full year of programming, with most of the training and educational opportunities provided for free by local subject matter experts. A December survey created by the Mental Health Programs Manager revealed the need for some programming that requires funding from the City.
10 out of 12 dispatchers and 34 of the approximately 43 officers at HCPD completed the 14-question mental heal...
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