Joliet first responders talk progress in crisis response, mental health programs

Joliet — The Joliet police and fire departments hosted first responders from across the country as well as other local leaders to discuss issues of public safety and mental health this week.

The three-day conference - the second such year this event was held - ran Wednesday through Friday at the Joliet Renaissance Center and included sessions on community violence prevention initiatives, dealing with mental health issues in the community and among first responders, and how to handle emergency situations like mass shootings.

Guest speakers included first responders from cities impacted by acts of mass shootings, including police and emergency officials from Las Vegas, Nevada, Waukesha, Wisconsin, and Highland Park to help attendees develop plans for their own communities' response plans.

"A few years back, I went to a conference like this in Evansville, Indiana, with a Joliet dispatcher and we immediately said, 'we have to bring this to Joliet, it's that important,'" said Joliet Fire Department Battalion Chief of Operations Jim Blake, who helped organize the conference in 2023.

"The objective is for everyone to take from this what they can and think how they can apply it to their community," he added. "These incidents are going to happen, and when they do police and fire will respond, and eventually it will end, but how we handle the community recovery afterwards will make a huge difference."

Blake noted that Highland Park, which was the site of a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in 2022, has become "kind of the gold standard" in community response after a tragedy.

In addition to discussing ways to react and heal during and after a violent incident, local officials spoke Thursday about ways Joliet has worked to prevent violence and provide mental health services for the community.

"The big point of all this is to try to improve resiliency in the community. For victims, but also for the whole community, and first responders because the daily grind and the things they see can have a serious impact on them beyond the big, grisly events."

— Community Risk Reduction Chief John Koch, Joliet Fire Department Joliet Emergency Management Coordinator John Lukancic discussed the efforts initiated by the Joliet Fire Department to provide free mental health services to people who experience mental health crises through a partnership with ThriveWorks, something neighboring communities like Lockport and Plainfield have since adopted.

Lukancic, who gave his presentation in the form of a fantasy story in order to lighten the mood for the audience during a conference full of serious and emotionally charged conversations, noted "we didn't kill the dragon [his stand in for widespread mental health struggles], but we know we never will. But we did what we set out to do. We weakened it. We got cost-free, definitive mental healthcare for all the residents of Joliet and students at Joliet schools, if they want it."

Lukancic said that funding the program has saved the city of Joliet money in the long run by reducing the number of emergency mental health calls the fire department receives, and has led to a "significant drop" in suicide rates since 2022 – including a reduction to zero child and teenage suicides.

Members of the Joliet Township Violence Prevention and Behavioral Health Team also discussed their efforts to work with people who have been impacted by violence or who are at high-risk of being impacted by violence either as a victim or perpetrator.

Those programs include providing rides to mental health appointments for those without available transportation through partnerships with the city of Joliet, the fire department, and other local groups.

The township team also partners with the Boys and Girls Club to provide one-on-one mentorship and sports programs for at-risk youth, and canvassing door-to-door to provide help to those touched by violence in the community, such as the January mass shooting that left seven members of a Joliet family dead.

Joliet Township provides services to the community to receive counseling and funding assistance for victims of gun violence, such as helping people who have lost loved ones or experienced property damage in shootings apply for federal financial aid.

First responders mental health needs Fire and police department officials said they are working to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help with mental health among first responders.

Dr. Kristy McKiness, founder of KM Institute LLC in Aurora, who spoke Thursday about first responder mental wellness, 70% of first responders in 2017 said they did not utilize mental health services. Mostly, she said, because they were afraid it would make them look weak to their coworkers or result in them being treated differently by their superiors.

McKiness and founder of the First Responder Peer Initiative Captain Tom Howard of the Evanston Fire Department said first responders are prone to burnout from long shifts as well as anxiety and depression from the traumatic things they often see in the line of duty.

"If you start to feel any of these things and become overwhelmed, you need to remember there is nothing wrong with you or your brain," McKiness said. "These reactions are normal, they are just a sign you need to pivot and find a new way to make things work. Having trauma does not mean you'll have PTSD, and PTSD doesn't have to be a life sentence."

"The big point of all this is to try to improve resiliency in the community," said Joliet Fire Department Community Risk Reduction Chief John Koch. "For victims, but also for the whole community, and first responders because the daily grind and the things they see can have a serious impact on them beyond the big, grisly events."

The conference was sponsored by Joliet Township, the Will County Regional Office of Education, and D'Arcy GMC Buick, as well as over two dozen local businesses and community organizations.

It was attended by 250 fire fighters, police officers, dispatchers, and nurses from Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, and Iowa over the course of three days.

"It's gone great," said Blake. "All the partners have been great getting on board, and it's really grown from last year."