(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced today that 20 local first responder agencies will receive a total of $7.7 million to help them boost their staffing levels to ensure thorough coverage for emergency response.
The grants represent the second round of the new Ohio First Responder Recruitment, Retention, and Resilience Program. To date, Governor DeWine has awarded $9.4 million to 46 Ohio agencies as part of this program, which supports wellness needs of first responders such as stress and burnout caused by understaffing.
“By helping our first responder agencies bring their staffing levels up, we hope to ease some of the stress on current staff who are taking on added responsibilities,” said Governor DeWine.
A total of approximately $75 million will be awarded to law enforcement agencies, dispatch centers, fire departments, and emergency medical services agencies as part of this program in coming months.
Two local departments have received these funds as of now in the First two rounds of the program:
- The Youngstown Police Department (Mahoning County) will receive $36,000 to provide access to an online wellness app that provides confidential wellness support.
- The Eagle Joint Fire District (Trumbull County) will receive $1,974 to give employees and their families access to up to five free professional counseling sessions per year.
