Mental health funds for police take a cut

Longmont will once again be reimbursed for offering mental health services to its police officers, although the grant amount is much smaller this year.

The Peace Officer Mental Health Support Grant Program provides funds to reimburse police agencies for offering emotional and mental health support. Services include mental health counseling, Peer Support training and mental health crisis intervention training, a city staff report states.

The grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, or DOLA, is $98,000, down from $150,000 last year, the staff report states. “...And allowed expenses are limited to a contract with a counseling firm, reimbursement of officers’ therapy sessions and training expenses, '' according to the staff report.

Dan Eamon, Longmont’s assistant public safety chief, said in an email that this year, DOLA received a significant amount of new applications for the grant. “Last year, (DOLA) used some of the funding to provide on-scene response capabilities including co-responder programs but this year they have eliminated that from the grant,,” Eamon said. 

Longmont will be issuing an RFP, orRequest for Proposal, for a contractor to provide clinical oversight to the city’s peer support team and provide counseling to officers, Eamon said. “We will also reserve funding to reimburse officers that wish to seek counseling on their own,” Eamon said.