Fort Worth highlights R3 mental-health supports for first responders, seeks parity for fire department

Representatives briefed the Public Safety Committee on the R3 program, a public-private partnership offering non-clinical resiliency training and follow-up counseling for first responders. The committee heard that the program covers telecommunicators, police, fire and retirees and that many counseling sessions are funded through grants and community partners.

One presenter described the program as unusual in scale: "The R3 program...is for all first responders for the city of Fort Worth," a representative said, and noted officers can attend using training time so they do not need to use personal time. Fire department representatives said minimum staffing requirements limit the fire side's ability to use paid training time, and that some fire participants currently use vacation to attend.

Officials said the city has secured grant and partner funding (including community partners such as American Warrior) to provide culturally competent counselors and several free follow-up counseling sessions; a speaker said the city is spending "anywhere between 15 to 20 thousand dollars a month" on community- and grant-funded sessions. Committee members discussed seeking parity so that fire personnel could access the program without using personal vacation time and asked staff to outline policy options to address any perceived disparity.

The presentation tied into the broader workers' compensation and return-to-work discussion: committee members asked staff to incorporate mental-health supports into broader care-coordination and outcome-tracking work for first responders. No additional funding decisions were made at the meeting; staff will return with follow-up information.