Help Arrives for Newtown, Conn., Workers Affected by Tragedy
by Pablo Ros | March 13, 2013
A charitable fund was created yesterday in Connecticut to help cover the mental health costs of workers traumatized by the Newtown school tragedy, including first responders and other public employees who are AFSCME members.
Gov. Dannel Malloy signed the bill into law establishing the Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Fund after it was unanimously approved by both chambers of the state General Assembly.
The fund will complement the state’s workers’ compensation benefits, which do not include coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder or other emotional or mental trauma. And it is intended for all workers affected by the tragedy – from first responders to teachers and custodians.
“We commend General Assembly leaders for uniting in a bipartisan fashion to help workers who suffered great emotional trauma from responding to the massacre,” said Salvatore Luciano, an AFSCME International vice president and executive director of AFSCME Council 4, which represents 35,000 employees, many of them in Connecticut state and local government. "We must continue working together to honor the brave children and workers who died that horrible day, and to help the Newtown community heal.”
First responders who walked into the horrific scene inside the school on Dec. 14 – after a gunman shot and killed 20 children and six adults – were traumatized by the experience. And many of them received health services from the Connecticut Council of Police Unions (AFSCME Council 15), which also encouraged them to attend peer-support team meetings.
But because workers’ compensation does not cover injuries resulting from mental trauma, many who needed help the most were left to fend for themselves. Unable to return to work, they depleted sick and vacation time before being forced to choose between fully recovering and earning a paycheck.
“This fund will now take care of their immediate needs,” said Jeffrey Matchett, executive director of AFSCME Council 15, which includes members of the Newtown Police Department. “It’s going to make up for some lost wages and copays for insurance, and it’s going to fill the short-term void left by workers’ compensation.”
The new law will allow those eligible to receive financial assistance for uncompensated leave from their job, and pay for related medical expenses not covered by their own health insurance. The program, which will limit each claim to one year of benefits, will be privately funded and administered by the state’s Office of Victims Services.
AFSCME applauds this effort, as well as a separate bill yet to be signed into law that would require Connecticut’s workers’ compensation system to cover mental or emotional illness resulting from workplace trauma.
