Purpose of the FIRST Responder Support Team

The purpose of the FIRST Responder Support Team to for law enforcement personnel to have a place to turn when they need any type of counseling.  Many people ask, "Why is this important?",  "Why can't they use their benefits?".  First of all, many of the smaller agencies/departments across the State of Texas DO NOT HAVE COUNSELING BENEFITS for their personnel.  When you look into what police officers are exposed to and what they have to do and the stresses inherent in their job, it is unfathomable that some police agencies do not have counseling benefits, but many do not.  Also, even if a police department offers counseling benefits to their officers, the officers will not typically use their "in-house" benefits because they are concerned about confidentiality.  What many people do not understand is that law enforcement personnel are held to a higher standard than most other occupations.  They have something called FITNESS FOR DUTY.  If a police officer is found unfit for duty, the department which employs this officer could put them on "light duty" (Police officers call this the "rubber gun" squad!) and they could possibly end up fired, thus ending their career, losing their pension, etc.  Although most departments today are much more tolerant of police officers seeking counseling for various issues than they were years ago, the police officers themselves do not feel comfortable in seeking counseling services offered to them through their employee benefits, if they have these benefits at all. 

Another important point in the issue of employee benefits is that IF counseling benefits are extended through the department/agency, the counselors selected to be on this "list" do not necessarily have experience in working with law enforcement officials.  The issues and experiences in a career in law enforcement are specific!   Many times a police officer might go to see a counselor on their provider list.  More times than not, this counselor has no experience in working with the hazardous issues experienced in a law enforcement career, and therefore there is a huge roadblock in trying to get the police officer the help he or she needs. 

Therefore the FIRST program was created!  The FIRST program, in a NON-PROFIT venue, has a network of counseling providers who: 1) have agreed to lower their standard fee per counseling session for any law enforcement officer referred to them by the FIRST program;  2) have experience in working with police personnel in some capacity; 3)  are willing to take a nominal co-pay ($25) from the police officer for services rendered and have agreed to file for the balance due for the counseling services with the FIRST program.  This makes a police officer seeking counseling services receive the benefits of: 1) confidentiality and 2) affordability, but also allows the police officer to see someone who has some type of experience in working with law enforcement officers.