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First responders with addiction or mental health needs face many barriers that keep them from seeking treatment, from stigma and lack of time to a fear of being perceived as weak or unfit to serve. This reality helps to explain why, when at least 60 percent of first responders report they need treatment, less than half make any effort to get it, according to research.
But the consequences can be devastating, as National Outreach Liaison Sonny Silva, a retired first responder and former peer support officer, is quick to point out. His sister, Elaine Silva, was a talented detective and domestic violence officer. When she developed a drinking problem, Silva encouraged her to seek help from her department’s peer support program, but fear of losing her job kept her from doing so until alcoholism eventually took her life.
After the loss of his sister, Silva vowed to help more first responders and their families access peer support. Silva has training in Peer Support, Critical Incident Stress Management, and Suicide Prevention, and is a certified QPR Instructor. For five years, he was a member of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections’ Employee Assistance Service Unit, where he served as the director for the last nine months before retiring.
We recently asked Silva for an introduction to first responder peer support and answers to frequently asked questions. What is it? How does it work? What are its benefits? You can catch Silva’s insights below.
What Peer Support Is
“Peer support” is confidential help administered by designated peers familiar with the stresses of the job. These peer support officers or members are trained to assist first responders and their families in times of need or crisis. Often, peer support members have personal or family experience with a mental health challenge or injury, and this experience helps them better relate to their peers.
What do peer support professionals do? Just about everything, according to Silva, who proceeded to list “some of the things we did as peer support officers”:
- identify and provide peer counseling
- motivate employees to seek outside treatment when necessary
- encourage employees to receive services they need
- educate staff members about wellness
- work to be proactive to identify staff who can benefit from resources
- provide crisis intervention support after a “critical incident” (a traumatic experience on the job)
- administer assistance when an officer and/or their family is facing a personal crisis or life challenges
With respect to this last point, Silva gave some examples of the many ways a peer support member might come alongside an officer or family in need. If an officer or family member is dealing with cancer, a peer support member might help with transportation to appointments and hospital services. Silva has personally driven people to chemo treatments, and “you learn a lot about the individual,” he said.
If a first responder and/or their family is caring for elderly parents or navigating difficulties with childcare, a peer support member might connect them to resources. If they are struggling in their marriage or battling a mental health or substance abuse issue, a peer support member might refer them to a therapist or arrange for treatment at a trusted facility. (Any therapist or treatment facility on a list of referral options would also be carefully vetted by Silva and his team.)
“One of the biggest things we did was identify the services we were most apt to be needed for and compile resources that were readily available.” Silva said. He added that “just when we think we’ve seen it all, something new comes at you, and we have to assist individuals in a new area.”
Basically, “if it’s something that affects the employee, we were there to listen and help provide solutions.”
Peer Support for Mental Health – How It Works
Mental health and drug issues are an area where peer support can play a unique and pivotal role in supporting healing and recovery. Here, Silva was quick to clarify that peer support is not mandated: It is an optional service offered to every employee and their family members. The degree to which it can help “depends on how much the client will allow it.”
Peer support can be enlisted in various ways, but it often starts with a call:
- Management may pass along someone’s number, alerting the team to an alcohol problem.
- If someone is struggling with illegal drugs, one of their peers may call.
- Sometimes, it is the family or the first responder who reaches out.
In these instances, the role of peer support is to “follow up on every call” and “get the affected person help and into treatment.”
“We encourage people to make those calls: If you see something, say something,” Silva said. “The idea is to help each other, because we’re all in this together.
Frequently Asked Questions About Peer Support Programs
Silva shared some of the questions that people frequently ask about peer support programs.
What services do you provide?
“There’s no limit as to what we will do,” Silva said. “If they are struggling financially, we can’t give them funds; but we can connect them with agencies that can and will connect them with a financial advisor. Some unions such as MCOFU (Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union) will provide some financial assistance. If someone needs counseling, we’ll connect them with someone who has the appropriate expertise.”
Silva went on to describe the criteria by which he and his peer support team vetted prospective counselors. They had to have compassion and understanding for the first responder world—and, they had to always answer their phone. “Sometimes we put them through training, so they have competence when an officer is talking about a shooting.”
Will I lose my job?
“Our job is to help ensure that peers maintain employment, and we do our best to help them save their jobs,” Silva said. “If someone is coming into work intoxicated and management finds out, our policy is to help you keep your job; and as long as you’re willing to go into treatment, you can keep your job.”
When someone is dealing with a mental health challenge, peer support will seek out mental health services immediately. However, if the issue comes to the attention of management, management may order a “fit for duty” psychological evaluation. (“Fit for duty” is a tool used by management to determine whether an individual is still capable of performing the duties of that agency, Silva explained.) The psych exam is then conducted by an outside contracting agency, which sometimes reports back to management that the individual is no longer able to work.
“We try to provide services before it gets to that point,” Silva said. For example, sometimes the peer support team will recommend that the client enter detox and treatment, at which point management will look at those recommendations and hold the individual accountable to completion of those steps.
Is this confidential?
A lot of times people are afraid to speak with a peer counselor because of confidentiality concerns.
“I can’t vouch for every peer support program,” Silva said, “but confidentiality was always in the forefront for me. We are bound by confidentiality.”
Sometimes, out of concerns for anonymity, people are hesitant about speaking with a peer support member within the same agency. In these instances, they can make a request to speak with a peer support person from another agency, Silva said.
The Recovery Benefits of Peer Support Services
Peer support services do not end with a person’s entry into treatment for a behavioral health issue. Here is how Silva described his role in terms of aftercare:
As a peer support person, if I send someone into treatment, when they come back my job is to do the aftercare and make sure they’re going to their appointments. Most peer support members follow up with their client to make sure they’re doing what they need to do to remain sober.
This added layer of support and accountability after treatment can be very beneficial to a client’s longer-term recovery.
“Immediate access to someone who can help the employee get the resources they need” is another recovery benefit of peer support. With any mental health challenge, it can be hard to know where to go for help. Having direct access to someone with answers can greatly reduce the stress and anxiety of seeking help and the time it might otherwise take to get treatment.
How Peer Support Improves Job Retention
Peer support also helps with job retention, Silva said. This is no small feat at a time when first responders are dealing with high staffing shortages and high stress.
Staffing shortages increase the stress and mental health toll of employees, with sometimes far-reaching consequences that extend well beyond a department. By getting first responders the services that they need “quickly, quietly, and confidentially,” peer support members help to prevent an issue from escalating into a full-blown public scandal or tragedy.
During the eight years since he retired from the Department of Corrections, Silva has noticed an increase in peer support awareness among first responder families. This progress is encouraging, but more work remains. Like Silva’s sister, many officers continue to struggle in silence. They may know they need treatment but are too afraid to say so. For these men and women, Silva had this final message:
People shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to peer support. In most instances, I believe that if you’re struggling with alcohol, people around you already know that you’re struggling. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance to a peer support person–unless you’re a threat to yourself or others. My job is to help make your life easier to help you find resources when you’re struggling.
In other words, if you’re dealing with something that seems unmanageable, help is a phone call away.
Struggling? We’re here to help 24/7. Contact us anytime.
