Governor DeWine Announces Launch of Ohio Office of First Responder Wellness

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Monday announced the creation of a new division within the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services that will focus exclusively on the well-being of Ohio’s first responders. The new Ohio Office of First Responder Wellness will work to encourage self-care and mental wellness for Ohio’s first responder community including law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, dispatch, corrections, and Ohio-based military. The office will provide specialized support and training to help emergency-response agencies proactively address post-traumatic stress and other traumas caused by factors that are unique to first-responder careers. Steven M. Click (pictured), who served 36 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and oversaw their Member Assistance Team from 2002 to 2018, will serve as the director of the Ohio Office of First Responder Wellness. Click has been active in peer support since 1993 and was deployed twice to New York City after the 9/11 attacks to work with the New York Police Department's peer support team. Most recently, Click served as a liaison between the first responder community and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The Ohio Office of First Responder Wellness will partner with local and state mental health agencies, including the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, to offer continuing, comprehensive resources to first-responder entities across the state. First responder wellness is a priority of Governor DeWine as part of a broader statewide initiative that comprehensively considers the impact of critical incident trauma, chronic exposure to traumatic events, and chronic exposure to organizational stress. Click HERE to read the full announcement.

Safety and Violence Education Students Act: Prevention Program Approval Process Open

The Ohio Department of Education is currently accepting applications for evidence-based suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention and social inclusion programs. These programs will be used to meet the requirements outlined in the Ohio law known as the Safety and Violence Education (SAVE) Students Act. A team will determine if the program meets legislative requirements for evidence-based programs in the selected content area. Reasonable efforts will be made to notify applicants of their programs’ statuses within 30 days of submission. Details on the approval process and submission materials can be accessed on the Prevention Program Submission webpage. 

Contact preventionapproval@education.ohio.gov with questions.

Rise and Thrive Better Together Webinar – Dec. 8

The Rise and Thrive Campus-Community Partnerships webinar series will continue Dec. 8 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. with Better Together: Creating Understanding and Supports for Student Wellness Leveraging Campus Community Partnerships to Address Alcohol Harms. Alcohol is the most commonly misused substance among college students and its related harms can negatively impact both the campus and community. Because of this, it requires town-gown collaboration and a comprehensive prevention approach to prevent alcohol harms. A guest panel will explore environmental prevention strategies for addressing alcohol misuse and highlight three collaborative efforts to reduce alcohol harms within their campus and community. Click the link above for more information and to register.

19th Annual Ohio Problem Gambling Conference

The 19th Annual Ohio Problem Gambling Conference, coordinated by Problem Gambling Network of Ohio (PGNO) and hosted by Ohio for Responsible Gambling, will be held virtually on Jan. 25-27, 2022 and in-person on Feb. 24, 2022, at Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center in Lewis Center, Ohio. This year’s conference will once again bring together national experts, state leaders, and local innovators in problem gambling prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery, research, administration, and responsible gambling. The virtual pre-conference will consist of lecture-style presentations focused on the intersection of gambling and other behavioral health concerns such as opioid use disorder, suicide, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The in-person conference will offer attendees a chance to apply learned skills in a collective and collaborative environment with interactive workshops facilitated by experts in the field. The conference, in total, will provide attendees with a combined total of approximately 12.5 CEUs through the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board, Ohio Counselor, Social Work, and Marriage & Family Therapist Board, and the International Gambling Counselor Certification Board. Registration information, as well as other ways to support the conference, can be found at PGNOhio.org/Conference. For questions, please contact Cory Brown, PGNO Program Manager, by email at CBrown@PGNOhio.org or by phone at 614.750.9899.

NIAAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Alcohol Treatment Navigator tool helps healthcare professionals provide better care for patients who drink too much by offering resources for alcohol screening, assessment, and treatment with medications. 

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