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Program supports mental wellness for first responders

A program in Snyder and Union Counties aims to take care of the officers who take care of us.

SNYDER COUNTY, Pa. — Police officers respond to all kinds of incidents. As mental health-related cases continue to go up, the way officers are trained also evolves. A new program in Snyder and Union Counties supports law enforcement officers' mental health.

"We're just educating the departments as to what does this look like? Who does this involve? What is the peer process?" explained Gina Riordan, program director for the Access Employee Assistance Program.

Recently, Snyder and Union Counties got a two-year federal grant for the program, which provides mental health training and peer support to police officers. The program has been in the Harrisburg area for about 25 years.

Govan Martin is a trainer with the program and says it gives police officers an outlet.

"Sometimes those stressors become overwhelming, so we want to have a place where they can actually talk to other officers, their peers in a sense, just to have an outlet to talk," Martin said.

The officers can also get professional counseling.

"They receive free visits through the employee assistance program as well as that extensive training," Riordan said.

"Law enforcement officers will talk to their peers more than they'll talk to a mental health professional. However, what we do as peers is we want to get them to talk, and if we recognize the fact that they need more than just talking or venting, we want to refer them to a mental health professional," Martin added.

More than a dozen law enforcement agencies are involved with the program in Snyder and Union Counties.

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