A new city audit has examined mental-health support inside Austin's police, fire and EMS ranks. The findings, presented to Austin's Public Safety Commission earlier this month, focus on the mental-health needs of a workforce that relies on peer and institutional support.
The Austin City Auditor's Office surveyed more than 3,300 sworn employees across the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County EMS, according to a review released by the office and presented to the commission, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman. The review addresses employees' experiences with mental-health support, the Statesman reported. More than 98% of survey respondents said they had experienced an event they considered traumatic, and more than half reported they never or rarely received follow-up after a major incident, according to the same audit.
The Public Safety Commission received the presentation, according to City of Austin Boards and Commissions records. The auditor's office made five recommendations in total, the Statesman reported.
Stigma and Privacy Fears Keep Workers Away From Help
About 30% of surveyed public safety workers expressed concerns about the confidentiality of city-provided mental health resources, according to the same Boards and Commissions presentation. The audit describes reluctance to seek care. The audit found that public safety employees are somewhat reluctant to use existing mental health services and that support is provided inconsistently and nonproactively across the three departments, per the Statesman's reporting.
Austin already runs a centralized Public Safety Wellness Center governed by a board with representatives from all three departments, according to the City of Austin. AFD has two dedicated staff psychologists, while EMS contracts with a 24/7 trauma psychologist, and APD operates an internal Wellness Bureau with its own two dedicated psychologists, city records show. Yet the audit found that more than half of surveyed employees never or rarely received follow-up after a major incident, and the audit warned that existing mental health services may not address the sources of workplace stress driving that reluctance.
Schedules, Sleep and Cumulative Stress Top the List
Cumulative stress and scheduling are discussed as mental-health issues in the audit coverage. Police, firefighter and EMS respondents also reported that sleep or disrupted sleep had a high or significant impact on their mental health, according to the audit. The audit coverage also discusses scheduling.
Staffing provisions are also discussed in the labor-contract source, according to the Statesman's account of the audit. The audit coverage discusses lack of sleep and cumulative stress. The audit coverage also discusses scheduling.
City Leaders Respond, but One Official Presses for More
The Austin Fire Department, Austin Police Department and Austin-Travis County EMS were discussed in the audit, according to the Statesman. Austin's fire department is set to shift under a new labor contract signed with the city in 2025, which requires the department to adopt a new schedule in 2027. That $63 million, four-year deal creates what's known as the Austin Schedule, moving firefighters to a one-day-on, three-days-off rotation followed by two days on and three days off, according to Community Impact, making Austin among the first major Texas cities to adopt the reduced-hour format. Austin Fire Department employees also receive regular mental health screenings, the Statesman noted.
The commission discussion also raised workload and scheduling issues in relation to the findings. The three departments are developing more consistent follow-up procedures, supervisor training and continuing education in response to the findings, the Statesman reported, and the city document mentions peer-support programs.
Legal Backdrop and Recent Department Initiatives
Texas law already requires certain protections for officers dealing with trauma. Under Texas Government Code Section 614.015, enacted through Senate Bill 1359 in 2021, law enforcement agencies must establish paid mental health leave policies allowing peace officers non-deductible paid time off after job-related traumatic events, according to the Texas School Safety Center. Separately, the article cites Texas Department of Insurance material on workers' compensation law, per the Texas Department of Insurance.
APD has also moved on its own initiatives. The department offers EMDR therapy, according to city records. City records also describe APD's EMDR efforts. The audit's findings focus on first-responder mental health.
