Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Health Affairs (OHA)

1. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)Office of Health Affairs (OHA) DHSTogetherInstitute of Medicine, Committee on DHS Workforce Resilience December 13, 2012 • Alisa Green • Policy & Programs – WorkforceEngagement • Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer • Department of Homeland Security Linda Perkins Capstone Consulting Group Supporting Office of Health Affairs Department of Homeland Security

2. DHS has ~200,000 Federal employees in its HQ and Operational Components. Most are based in the US. With Coast Guard Personnel, DHS has ~260,000 employees.

3. Headquarters Components • Approximately 7,500 Federal employees, most of them full-time and based in the National Capital Region (NCR) • NPPD includes the Federal Protective Service (FPS)

4. Operational Components • Approximately 185,000 permanent and 9,000 intermittent/temporary employees (numbers all rounded, not including U.S. Coast Guard active duty and reserve) 1,000 • All Operational Components except FLETC are all headquartered in DC but most employees outside of the HQ functions are based around the US • TSA includes Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) 5,000 permanent and 9,000 temporary 14,000 part-time 20,000 1,000 60,000 11,500 8,300 civilian, 43,000 active duty and 7,800 reservists 20,000 6,600 51,300 full-time and 14,000 part-time

6. DHSTogether Oversight • The Office of Health Affairs (OHA) is headed by the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs, who is also the DHS Chief Medical Officer (CMO) • The Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO), headed by the CHCO, is in the Management Directorate

7. Background: Leadership Concerns • Suicide: Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suicide is a tragedy that negatively impacts mission effectiveness and Department-wide morale. • Stress: The Department’s workforce and their families are potentially vulnerable to exceptional mental and emotional stressors due to the broad scope, unique nature and challenging aspects of the DHS mission. • Morale: Consistently low rankings in the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” sub-index of the Employee Viewpoint Survey indicate challenges for employee engagement. • Result: Deputy Secretary asked Dr. Garza, Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs, to take action.

8. Background: Program and Policy Inventory Components reported their current policies, programs and training courses across the health and wellness spectrum including the stage of development and location availability Key Findings: • Little consistency across the Departmentin all areas • Further research needed to determine best options for maximizing current programs • Gaps include low Employee Assistance Program (EAP) utilization rates, varied levels of program maturity and availability

9. Background: Task Force • Conceptualized as a leadership-level cross-Component group, to be chaired by the Deputy Secretary • Discussions centering on best practices and potential new approaches

10. Background: Cross Collaboration • OHA, OCHCO, FLETC & Operational Components • Buddy Training Curriculum • Working Groups • Two Resilience Symposia

11. Background: Training • First Training: “Safety Stand Down” • 2010 • Second Training: “Stress Management / Suicide Prevention” • 2011/2012

12. Background: DHS Approach to Resilience A holistic approach to organizational and employee resilience and wellbeing • Physical State: physical activity, nutrition, healthy choices, general health • Emotional State: stress management, healthy relationships at work and home, mental health, spirituality • Family / Community: healthy relationships with family and friends, connections to community, interests outside of work • Work: engagement, productivity, control and empowerment, career development, effective management • Culture: diversity, supportive work environment, organizational values, leadership • Environment: work location, work conditions, climate, outside influencers Physical State Family/ Community Emotional State Resilience Work Environment Culture

13. Background: DHS Approach to ResilienceModeled from Department of Navy Suicide Reduction Program Resilience Risk Balance Stress Distress • Stress has become unmanageable • A person who is less resilient or who has experienced an overwhelming event may not be able to cope in a healthy way • Unlikely to return to normal functioning without assistance • May be at risk for serious outcomes • The ideal state • Optimal wellbeing is a mix between positive, motivating stress and a lack of stress • Most individuals do not achieve balance in all aspects of their lives at all times • A normal part of everyday life • Stress can be caused by negative and positive life events • Individuals who are resilient are more likely to cope with stress on their own or with some support Prevention Intervention

14. Current Status: Institutionalizing the Program • Resiliency and suicide prevention efforts are largely done in and by the Components. • DHSTogether is a headquarters initiative to build resiliency and suicide prevention capability and provide a unified approach. • DHSTogether provides guidance and funding for common issues, approaches, and for developing solutions that can be used by multiple Components (phase 1 projects).

15. DHS Together Program Goals • Strengthen Leadership understanding and support of resiliency and suicide prevention • Strengthen Individual Resiliency • Strengthen Organizational Resiliency • Increase accessibility, timeliness, variety, quality, of intervention services • Reduce work-related stressors that decrease resiliency and increase suicide risk factors • Establish and maintain structureand information / data needed to govern the elements common to all Components

16. Current Status: Institutionalizing the Program • Current Projects: • Resiliency Assessment Tool • Leadership Briefing: Impact of Stress on Decision Making • Adapted Peer Support for Operations Personnel • Peer Support Coordinator Training Course • Interpersonal Relationship Training • FY2013 in Development • Operational Stress Assessment Tool • Each project will be evaluated for effectiveness prior to full scale implementation

17. Current Status: Resiliency Assessment Project • Partner: Uniformed Services University Health Science (USUHS) Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress • Description: Create resiliency assessment tool for DHS • Desired Outcomes: • Provide statistical information on the resilience status of DHS Component personnel to DHS • Direct DHS employees to appropriate training and resources

18. Current Status: Leadership Briefing • Partner: USUHS • Description: Educate DHS leadership on the relationship of stress to decision-making capacity, operational performance, and employee health • Desired Outcome: Increased leadership support for the efforts to reduce operational stress and increase employee resilience

19. Current Status: Adapted Peer Support for Ops • Partner: USUHS • Description: Create an internal cadre of personnel who can provide peer support in the closed, around-the-clock, pressure-cooker of operations centers and similar environments; in order to support good decision-making and reduce barriers to seeking help. • Desired Outcomes: • Increase help seeking behaviors in the target population • Train a cadre of personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of stress and distress • Expand to other environments beyond HQ Ops; such as watch centers and COOP facilities

20. Current Status: Peer Support Coordinator Training • Partner: FLETC • Description: Develop training course on how to establish and manage a peer support program in a Federal office. Peer support programs include both crisis intervention and care-and-concern support • Desired Outcome: • Give DHS Components the tools to create high-functioning peer support teams • Increase the number of peer support programs at DHS • Create a network of peer support program managers across DHS to support integration of large-scale responses

21. Current Status: Interpersonal Relationship Training (Strong Bonds for DHS “SB4DHS”) • Partner: CBP Chaplains • Description: • Provide relationship enhancement training to DHS personnel • Provide training to DHS personnel to teach the relationship course (train-the-trainer) • Desired Outcome: • Improved communication skills • Reduced stress in personal lives • Improve family bonds and connectedness • Establish a cadre of trainers

22. Current Status: Operational Stress Assessment • Partners: USCG/USN/DHS Component • Description: Modify, test, and evaluate a validated Navy tool to: • Understand perceived operational stress • Track trends over time • Provide operational leadership with data regarding the operational stress climate of their organization • OHA partnering with USN to modify the validated US Navy tool for two FY2013 Phase 1 pilots

23. Operational Stress Assessment (cont.) • Phase 1 Project to include 2 evaluation pilots: • Coast Guard will modify and implement the stress assessment tool to support the recently launched USCG Operational Stress Control Program • A DHS Component with law-enforcement personnel will assist in developing and testing a module to determine applicability for DHS Civilian use

24. Operational Stress Assessment (cont.) • Desired Outcomes: • Provide operational leadership with information on perceptions and causes of operational stress in their organization • Identify areas of the greatest operational stress • Provide a method to measure the effectiveness of actions taken to minimize/eliminate stress factors • Provide tools and advice to operational leaders for controlling operational stress

25. Current Status: Projects Under Consideration • Post suicide communication toolkit • DHSTogether strategic communications • Supervisor / employee communication skills training • Peer support expansion • Projects to identify and reduce secondary stressors • Expansion of relationship training • Expansion of psychological first aid to Watch Centers and COOP facilities • Expansion of operational stress control programs and assessments

26. DHSTogether Questions to be addressed • How to identify and prioritize the problems the organization is facing? • How do we best use our limited resources to: • Advise the organization on how to decrease the stress on its people? • Empower the individual to deal with stresses they experience? • Select evidence-based approaches that will work within DHS? • How do we measure success? • Specific initiatives • DHSTogether Program

28. Backup - DHSTogether Authorities & External Directives • DHS QHSR and DHS Strategic Plan • Objective: Improve employee health, wellness, and resilience • OHA Strategic Framework • Strategic Objective 4.2: Build resilience across the DHS workforce. • 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention • Objective 2.3: Sustain and strengthen collaborations across federal agencies to advance suicide prevention. • Executive Order 13625—Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families -August 31, 2012 • ..this order directs the Secretaries of Defense, Health and Human Services, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security to expand suicide prevention strategies and take steps to meet the current and future demand for mental health and substance abuse treatment services for veterans, service members, and their families.