During the 03/03/2021 Appleton Common Council meeting former Alderperson Curt Konetzke appeared and presented two grants from the International Association of Clear Thinking, one to the Appleton Police Department and the other to the Fire Department, to provide mental health services to their officers and staff.
Chief Thomas spoke first. In 2017 the Appleton Police Department decided they wanted to better provide mental health services to their officers and employees. Although they offered some services, those services did not include personal contact for the officers with a clinician or mental health professional–someone they could meet and know and trust and be willing to talk to. He said that it’s difficult for law enforcement officers to open up, show weakness, and talk about mental health issues because there’s still a stigma around that which we’re trying to break across the country, especially in law enforcement. They found a clinician who specialized in law enforcement counseling and now every month she comes into the police department for 8 hours and sets up an office in a quiet place where employees can come visit with her. However, that was just the first step. They wanted to get every employee to meet her and do what they call a “Neck Up Check-Up”, so they started a program that in which, once a year, each of their employees would meet with the mental health professional to talk about what’s going on in their life, and she could explain to them some tips and tools on how to cope with what they see every day in their profession. They want officers and firefighters who are positive, have resiliency skills, and look forward to going out and engaging with the public in a positive manner.
Funding, however, is a challenge. When you start a new program, every dollar that goes toward that program comes from someplace else. Chief Thomas discussed this with then Alderperson Konetzke and Curt helped APD get a $25,000 grant from the International Association for Clear Thinking which provided enough funds for all of the APD’s officers to have a yearly one-on-one counseling session with the counselor for the last two years.
Fire Chief Jeremy Hansen then spoke. The Appleton Fire Department began their mental health program in the fall of 2018. It was prompted by two things: (1) Police Chief Thomas telling them about what APD was doing and encouraging them to check that out and (2) their now Deputy Chief identified mental health screening as a very important tool for public safety. They researched clinicians and settled on the same person the police department is using. She met with all the shifts and went to each station to introduce herself and build a relationship for when the time came that she was needed.
On May 15 2019 they lost Mitch Lundgaard. The counselor met with them that night and provided an unbelievable amount of support to fire department members.
The fire department also reached out to IACT and received a grant in 2019 to do mental health checkups for our members. Those check-ups were very successful, to the point that employees have asked “When are we doing those again?”
Chief Hansen finished up by saying that when you look at public safety and the things they respond to on a daily basis, these heroes may be stone figures in the public eye but they do have a soft side, and they’re learning to bring that out. The grant that they received that day is going to continue that mental health awareness and those checkups to give Appleton firefighters the opportunity to understand the importance of relationships, both with their family and fellow co-workers. It will give them the opportunity to learn that when they are facing troubled times they can reach out because there are people there to help. He said the grant will have a significant impact on their organization. He knows it has already. They really appreciated it.
Curt Konetzke then spoke about the International Association for Clear Thinking. Shirley Bender, the woman who created this organization, had been Kurt’s boss a number of years ago. She was the owner of Tri City Glass & Door, and he worked for her for a number of years and got involved with her program. The program was initially designed as a self-help program where you could sign up for free classes and get free brochures and training materials. You could also sit in on some classes to work on your own personal mental health issues. Approximately 12 years ago, the program was getting less and less attractive, and fewer people were being drawn to it. It became difficult for us to keep the program going the way that it was. The executive committee which he sits on, decided to take it in a different direction and look for organizations that worked with people doing what IACT was trying to do–that is, work on an individual’s emotional needs. They began seeking out multiple organizations and, to date, including the two grants he issued that night, they have issues in excess of a half a million dollars in grants to organizations. The ones they did last year–Crossfire Ranch, Apricity, Beaming Inc, Rawhide, Leven, Fox Valley Victim Response Team, and the Wisconsin Milkweed Alliance. They’ve also provided funds to the Outagamie County Sheriff’s department which is doing a similar program to what the APD is doing and to the Winneconne school district which also has a special program
Curt mentioned that the IACT’s Board of Directors was impressed with how well written both the APD and AFD grant applications were. It was his pleasure to present the Appleton Police Department with a check for $25,000 which should fund their program for another two years and the Appleton Fire Department with a check for $12,150 which should fund them for another year to year-and-a-half.
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=825733&GUID=9973B851-C986-4DD5-9412-17B7B27B00BA&Options=info|&Search=
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