ALBANY, N.Y. — Regional organizations are among 18 that will use state grants to expand resiliency and suicide-prevention efforts among military veterans and uniformed personnel. That includes law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, correction officers and emergency dispatchers, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on April 9. Administered through the New York Office […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — Regional organizations are among 18 that will use state grants to expand resiliency and suicide-prevention efforts among military veterans and uniformed personnel.
That includes law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, correction officers and emergency dispatchers, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on April 9.
Administered through the New York Office of Mental Health’s Suicide Prevention Center of New York, the CARES UP initiative will provide $60,000 over two years to four law-enforcement agencies, three fire departments, three EMS services, three emergency communications organizations, two corrections agencies and three organizations serving veterans.
The grant recipients include Onondaga County Department of Communication Services and Eastern Paramedics Inc. in Central New York, Utica Center for Development Inc. in the Mohawk Valley, and the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility in the North Country.
“New York’s first responders and uniformed personnel routinely go above and beyond the call of duty, and often at great personal expense,” Hochul said in the announcement. “This funding will ensure these organizations and agencies are better equipped to cultivate resilience and mental wellness among their ranks to help properly address stress and trauma they encounter in the line of duty.”
The CARES UP program provides organizations with $30,000 annually to increase suicide-prevention efforts and wellness programming in their agencies. First-responder agencies work closely with the Suicide Prevention Center to receive training from national subject-matter experts on topics such as resiliency, mental health and wellness, suicide prevention and peer support, and implement agency-specific actions to address their unique needs, the governor’s office said.
CARES UP is short for Changing the conversation, Awareness, Resilience, Empower peers, and Skills building/suicide prevention for Uniformed Personnel, per the Office of Mental Health.
