Durham Strategic Plan Dashboard
Prosperity
Status Indicator: 
In Progress | 
On Hold | 
Complete/Ongoing
Initiative: 2.33 Evaluate, assess and propose additional support for healthy and engaged public safety employees
Creating a Safer Community Together
Description
This initiative will (1) ensure public safety employees have defined pathways to address any incidents of trauma, stress, or burnout; (2) Increase overall focus on public safety wellness and reduce stigma related to obtaining support; and (3) Increase staff retention and growth in the public safety sector.
Key Measures & Data Analysis
The Public Safety Portfolio will continue its partnership with The People Lab to identify and implement strategies that support a healthy, engaged workforce across public safety teams. As the project moves into Phase Three, the focus will shift from assessment and planning to the rollout of targeted interventions aimed at improving employee satisfaction, reducing burnout, strengthening social connectedness, and increasing staff’s sense of impact.
To evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts, a staff survey has been developed and will be administered both before and after implementation. This will allow us to measure changes over time, assess which strategies are most impactful, and make data-informed adjustments moving forward.
Why is it important?
According to Kaiser Perm, there is an increase in risk associated with working in public safety.
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Police officers and firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than line of duty.
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85% of first responders have experienced symptoms related to mental health conditions.
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Depression and PTSD are up to 5x more common in first responders.
This initiate will seek to change these trends by creating a model program to build on local evidence, innovation, and evidenced-based research practices. This initiative will create a major impact on enhancing the health and wellness of public safety employees. This can reduce the prevalence of mental health trends among staff and the collateral consequences that may be associated with untreated health needs that could range from impacts on performance to worsening relationships with peers to harm to community members, self and external stakeholders. As a result, the initiative aims to improve overall wellness and increase retention and job satisfaction.
What have we been doing?
Staff have partnered with The People Lab (TPL) — a research organization using behavioral science and public management evidence — to conduct a rigorous, data-driven evaluation of public safety employee wellbeing and identify evidence-based interventions.
Key activities include:
• Completing Phase 1 (Planning) and Phase 2 (Analyses & Initial Findings), including a data sharing agreement, administrative data analysis, Employee Engagement Survey analysis, and a childcare survey.
• Distributing a childcare survey to first responders — 251 employees (23%) responded; 43% have children requiring childcare; 29% ranked childcare in their top 3 factors affecting retention; and 84% rated a stipend or subsidy for childcare costs as Very Helpful.
• Reviewing administrative data across Employee Demographics, Promotions and Separations, Leave and Hours Worked, and Job Tasks and Activities to understand turnover patterns and risk factors.
• Discussing and identifying possible interventions with the first responder workgroup based on survey and data findings.
What's next?
Work to pilot and test wellbeing solutions across all four public safety departments will continue through the following activities:
• Pilot Design – Meeting with Public Safety Leadership to identify a specific pilot opportunity to implement across all 4 departments.
• Pilot Implementation – Beginning implementation of the selected intervention and distributing pulse surveys to measure effectiveness.
• Solution Co-Design – Co-designing wellbeing improvements with department staff drawing on initial research findings.
• Evaluation and Scale-Up – Evaluating pilot outcomes and supporting adoption of effective solutions across departments.
City Website Home Page: Durham, NC | Official Website (durhamnc.gov)
Budget Website Page: Budget & Management Services Department | Durham, NC (durhamnc.gov)
Budget and Management Services Department
Office of Performance and Innovation
Strategy and Performance Division