FORT BARFOOT, Va. –
A new, diverse team of Virginia Department of Military Affairs leaders is stepping up to provide critical peer support for DMA state employees in need following a personal or professional crisis.
The DMA Peer Support and Employee Wellness Team, made up of DMA employees from a myriad of departments, is ready to step in a provide multiple types of support to any DMA employee in need.
“The mission of the DMA Peer Support and Employee Wellness Team is to provide all employees in the agency the opportunity to receive emotional and tangible support through times of personal or professional crisis and to help anticipate and address potential difficulties,” said Rebecca Moses, the DMA’s safety and compliance specialist. “We noticed in that in a post-pandemic environment that staff across the organization were facing various challenges, both work and non-work related, and this team will be able to offer support not only internally but offer external resources when needed.”
Moses said the program was conceptualized after a crisis involving a DMA employee in 2022.
“There was a critical incident that occurred within the agency approximately a year ago and during the investigation of that incident, it was very apparent that employees were facing several internal and external challenges,” Moses said, adding that retired Brig. Gen. Walt Mercer, the DMA Chief Operations Officer, and Michelle Claiborne, the DMA’s Human Resources manager, were currently attending a conference discussing the same topic.
“Our employees were struggling,” Moses said. “During conversation with them, we all agreed that this was a program that our employees could truly benefit from.”
The support team will activate in the case of a agency death, whether in the line of duty or not in the line of duty, severe injuries and other critical incidents which could have an impact on some or all DMA state employees. Moses said support can be requested as well, and stressed that all requests for support remain private.
“We have created an electronic form with QR code for employees to complete and submit when they require assistance,” said Moses. “Supervisors can also request assistance from our team for their employees. All requests for assistance are confidential. Upon receipt, a member of our team will be assigned to assist the requesting employee.”
The team is made up of DMA employees across various departments, including Occupational Health and Safety, Fort Barfoot Fire and Emergency Services, Human Resources, STARBASE, Retirement Services, Commonwealth ChalleNGe, Fiscal Management office and the Joint Operations Center. With the assistance of specialists with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, which has a similar program, the team has had training across multiple areas, including Mental Health First Aid, suicide prevention and critical incident stress management.
“The Department of Veteran Services, specifically Brandi Jancaitis and Anthony Swann, have been amazing to work with,” said Moses. “Anthony and I have met several times to develop a training plan and we have been able to execute these trainings thanks to both. We will continue our partnership with DVS and are looking at quarterly team meetings and trainings with them to continue our growth and development. With this partnership, we are able to have two functional teams ready and able to assist each other as needed.”
Any DMA employees who are interested in joining the Peer Support and Employee Wellness Team are welcome to reach out to Moses, who said the interest will be appreciated.
“There are so many different facets and functions of our team that we can find a good fit for anyone interested,” said Moses. “Our team meets monthly, mostly via Teams due to the locations of our staff, but we will meet in person at least quarterly. Our goals are to continue to grow and be able to actively support our state employees and the agency as a whole.”
Read more about the Department of Military Affairs at https://ngpa.us/25482.