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What is the POPPA Organization?
The POPPA Organization provides peer support for New York City police officers experiencing personal or professional problems, such as trauma, stress, depression, alcohol abuse, or family problems. The POPPA Organization is an independent, not-for-profit agency, offering entirely confidential services through trained volunteers from the NYPD. Officers calling the POPPA Organization's HelpLine can meet with a fellow officer immediately or the next day. If needed, the POPPA Organization can refer an officer to a mental health professional within the POPPA Organization's network and the officer's own insurance plan, while continuing to provide peer support. The POPPA Organization's services are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, to any New York City police officer who voluntarily seeks them.
Who staffs the POPPA Organization?
A corps of 200 police officers, all volunteers, carry out the POPPA Organization's primary services. After screening by POPPA Organization personnel and clinicians, they are trained to develop the understanding and skills required for assisting fellow officers. These volunteers, called Peer Support Officers or PSOs, recognize symptoms and problems. They counsel officers and assist them in securing the treatments that are right for them.
Some 120 therapists and other health care professionals, trained to work with police officers and to meet their special needs, are affiliated with the POPPA Organization. They assist in the POPPA Organization's training and other programs, as well as treating clients referred to them by the POPPA Organization.
The POPPA Organization office staff includes its Executive Director, the 33-year veteran of the NYPD who founded the POPPA Organization; a Clinical Director a Case Manager, and a Medical Advisor who is a psychiatrist with extensive experience in working with police officers.
Where does the POPPA Organization operate?
The POPPA Organization operates wherever police officers most need it. A police officer who calls the POPPA Organization HelpLine can meet with a trained volunteer officer at any location that satisfies the caller's needs for a timely, confidential, face-to-face talk. First meetings often take place in a car, diner, or coffee shop. Peer Support Officers and their clients later work out times and places for future communications.
The POPPA Organization headquarters is located in Lower Manhattan at 26 Broadway. A donated three-year lease gives the POPPA Organization office space to administer its programs, train volunteers, and coordinate all client services.
Why the POPPA Organization?
The POPPA Organization offers NYPD officers a critical service available nowhere else. All of its clients voluntarily seek its assistance, which the POPPA Organization offers on a strictly confidential basis. While the NYPD is highly supportive of the POPPA Organization's work and the POPPA Organization is staffed by NYPD volunteers, the POPPA Organization operates entirely independently from the Police Department. A client's relationship with the POPPA Organization is never divulged to the NYPD. This structure, along with staffing by fellow cops, overcomes major obstacles to officers seeking help. The POPPA Organization knows about the stresses cops experience, problems and issues they face, and ways to get them effective help.
Do the POPPA Organization's programs work?
Mental health professionals estimate that the POPPA Organization has prevented about 40 suicides since it began serving cops in 1996. Annual HelpLine calls have risen over 300 percent from 250 in 1996 to 1,035 in the first nine months of 2002. The POPPA Organization responds to all calls and refers 75 percent of its clients to mental health professionals, while remaining available to provide crucial peer support. At any given time, the POPPA Organization is assisting about 35 officers who are undergoing treatment. In the aftermath of 9/11, the POPPA Organization has helped more than 4,500 police officers to manage trauma and stress.
The preceding statistics are just a few indications of the POPPA Organization's effectiveness. More importantly, the POPPA Organization's clients attest to the positive outcome of working with the agency. Police officers recently have told the POPPA Organization, for example:
- "This program is truly a Godsend, and I now wake up looking forward to every day instead of dreading it."
- "Your support and genuine concern helped me to get through one of the darkest storms of my life."
- "You literally saved my life."
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