Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

PTSD compromise deal offers one year of benefits for police, firefighters

  • Health
  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • May 13, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Peter Carozza, president of the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut, discusses the compromise PTSD benefits bill at the Capitol

Legislative leaders unveiled a bipartisan proposal Monday to provide police and firefighters suffering with post traumatic stress disorder with up to one year of workers’ compensation coverage.

Joined also by union leaders and representatives of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, lawmakers predicted the compromise — which ends a six-year debate on stress benefits for first-responders — would be enacted before the 2019 session closes on June 5.

The agreement, which advocates hailed as a national model, also limits eligibility for benefits to those personnel who have experienced at least one of six specific traumatic events.

“Post-traumatic stress is a real injury that you can define and recognize and treat and get people back on the job,” said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, who spearheaded the push to expand workers’ compensation coverage since the December 2012 shooting deaths of 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

Osten, who is a former prison guard supervisor and who still serves as Sprague’s first selectwoman, brought perspective from both sides in the benefits debate.

“The people who are not here are the people we hold in great regard,” Osten said, referring to police and firefighters who either took their own lives after witnessing a tragic event, or have suffered without treatment from PTSD and have never been able to return to the job.

Critics of the current workers’ compensation system have argued it largely provides mental health benefits to emergency personnel who are the direct victims of violence, and not necessarily to those who witness it in gory detail. At the same time, municipal leaders expressed fears that if modifications weren’t crafted properly, it could become a huge fiscal burden on local property taxpayers.

But advocates for cities and towns as well as for labor said Monday the compromise is one they can accept.

“I think it demonstrates the ability of labor and management to sit down and reach an agreement,” said Peter Carozza, president of the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut, which has more than 4,0000 members.

New Britain Police Officer Jared Barsaleau, who is vice president of Local 1165 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said more officers died nationally from suicide in 2018 — for the third year in a row — than from any physical injury caused in the line of duty. 

Joe DeLong, executive director of CCM, recalled how his organization was running commercials one year ago at this time trying to defeat a PTSD bill that did not reflect a compromise.

“We are truly committed to doing right the right way,” he said.

The compromise would authorize benefits to police or firefighters who are diagnosed with PTSD and who have experienced at least one of the six following qualifying events:

  • Viewing a deceased minor.
  • Witnessing the death of a person.
  • Witnessing an injury that causes the death of a person shortly thereafter.
  • Treating an injured person who dies shortly thereafter.
  • Carrying an injured person who dies shortly thereafter.
  • And witnessing an incident that causes a person to lose a body part, to suffer a loss of body function, or that results in permanent disfigurement.

The benefit expansion would be available to police officers, firefighters — both professional and volunteer — and parole officers.

The compromise also would expand from 30 days to 180 days the evaluation period during which the employer can decide whether to accept or to deny a PTSD claim.

The deal does not modify benefits currently provided to police officers who seek treatment after using deadly force.

“This is a good day when we finally recognize PTSD is something we have to address in the state of Connecticut,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, who said one suicide tied to an untreated disorder “is one too many, and it is preventable.”

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, also predicted the measure would be enacted, and said she believes all legislators have wanted to help police and firefighters who face trauma. But it also was important to find a program that would reflect municipalities’ abilities to fund these benefits.

“There are a lot of good concepts” in the legislature, she said. “It’s how we do them. This is a long time coming.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf A winner of numerous journalism awards, Keith Phaneuf has been CT Mirror’s state finances reporter since it launched in 2010. The former State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Keith has spent most of 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. A former contributing writer to The New York Times, Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Medical providers are taking nature therapy seriously
by Jenifer Frank | C-HIT.ORG

In a time of social isolation and staying home, sometimes a walk in the park is the best medicine.

Have a case of a COVID variant? No one is going to tell you
by Christina Jewett and JoNel Aleccia | Kaiser Health News and Rachana Pradhan

Federal rules around who can be told about the variant cases are confusing, and tests have not been approved.

CT teachers are expected to get vaccinated for COVID at local clinics, but other options could cause problems
by Dave Altimari

School employees could end up on two lists, which means some vaccine might go to waste, officials said.

Grocery store workers ‘disgusted’ with Lamont’s new COVID-19 vaccine policy
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Grocery store workers are frustrated with Gov. Ned Lamont, who is no longer prioritizing them in the coronavirus vaccination schedule.

Breaking with national recommendations, Lamont says Connecticut’s vaccine rollout will now be prioritized by age
by Jenna Carlesso and Keith M. Phaneuf

People aged 55 to 64 will be next in line for the vaccine.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Lamont’s new vaccination priorities are simple and smart
by Richard Davies

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new age-eligibility vaccine plan is simple, smart and straightforward. The more complicated the rules are, the greater the chance of screw-ups and of well-connected people getting their shots before they should. The governor is doing a good job.

Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO