County officials say a modest state grant will go a long way to supporting local first-responders after traumatic incidents.
Board members at their Saturday (June 14) meeting accepted a $30,000 Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services grant that will provide more training for those who help police, fire, sheriff and other public-safety personnel after incidents like January’s aircraft collision near Reagan National Airport.
The funding will allow for implementation of specialized training in the Acute Stress Adaptive Protocol (ASAP).
The new initiative “improves the capabilities” of peer-support efforts following large-scale events that can leave emotional scars, Board Chair Takis Karantonis said.
According to one estimate at the national level, participation can result in a reduction of between 50% and 66% in post-event traumatic stress.
“It’s a new kind of debriefing that takes into account the enormous stress that first-responders are sometimes subjected to when they respond to critical events,” Karantonis said.
ASAP sessions typically last 45 minutes to an hour. They can be offered both in individual or group settings.
Also at the Board meeting:
Help is promised to ‘Aspire!’: County officials say they will do what they can to keep an after-school program afloat after federal budget cuts took away some of its teachers.
At the June 14 Board meeting, Aspire! Afterschool Learning executive director Paula Fynboh said a little financial assistance from the county would allow for laid-off educators to be retained for the fall semester.
Funding for personnel who have filled the positions was cut by the Trump administration as part of a major reduction in funding nationally for the AmeriCorps program. While the issue is likely to be fought out in court, resolution could take months or years.
The Aspire program serves about 150 students per semester with after-school enrichment programs. Without the federal funds, about one-third of those slots may need to be eliminated.
“We’re not asking the county to fill this entire gap, but we are asking for support — specifically, $50,000 to help sustain our program,” Fynboh said.
Aspire leaders in May first brought their request to Board members. It has since received attention with an eye toward a solution, several of them said.
“We’ve made some progress,” Board member Matt de Ferranti said.
“We’re committed to finding a solution,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said. He called the program “an irreplaceable asset.”
New agreement inked with EcoAction Arlington: Board members on Saturday approved a new memorandum of understanding with EcoAction Arlington.
The agreement is being updated in part to re-envision the Energy Masters volunteer program and to continue a partnership between the two entities on the GetGreen mobile app.
Other parts of the relationship will remain unchanged. The new memorandum of understanding takes effect July 1.
Baseline government funding for EcoAction will remain the same, although Board members during the fiscal 2026 budget cycle authorized an additional $25,000 to revamp Energy Masters and $10,000 for continuation of the mobile app.
EcoAction Arlington began life as Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment. It was founded in 1978 as a county affiliate of the national Keep America Beautiful initiative. It became an independent organization in the 1990s and adopted its current name in 2018.
Relatively brisk session: With only public comment and the consent agenda to work through, the June 14 Board meeting lasted less than two hours, wrapping up at 11:18 a.m.
