Grant awarded to Chelan County Sheriff's Behavioral Health Unit

Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission awards $49,100 for officer wellness

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Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison reports that the agency's behavioral health unit received a $49,100 grant from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WACJTC) for the well-being of agents for the financial year from July 2024 to June 2025.

Approved items include:

• Peer support training.
• Training in stress management in the event of a critical incident.
• Neurofeedback machines.
• PTSD Workshops for Law Enforcement and Spouses.
• Continuing education materials/books.

The WACJTC Officer Wellness Grant has already been awarded to Chelan County in 2023. The continued pursuit of external grants ensures optimal use of resources, upholding financial accountability within county funds, and meeting citizen expectations for on duty.

Our Behavioral Health Unit Program Manager and Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Ana Gonzalez, was instrumental in securing outside funding for Chelan County. His successful grant writing has resulted in eight grants over the past two years, totaling an impressive $1,970,588.24.

Three of these grants, totaling $268,578, support officer wellness, while the other five, totaling $1,702,010.24, support the behavioral health unit. This is a testament to his dedication and the effectiveness of our programs.

BHU is a co-responder program that pairs mental health professionals/case managers with law enforcement to respond to calls for service involving behavioral health and social service needs. These partnerships provide instant crisis response and monitoring, where individuals are connected to appropriate community resources. The goal is to divert people with behavioral health issues from the criminal justice and emergency medical systems.

We are deeply grateful for the support and collaboration of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, the Wenatchee Police Department, and the East Wenatchee Police Department in our efforts to implement officer wellness programs and community behavioral health initiatives.