Fitness for Duty Evaluation

Assignment 2: RA 1: Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation

In M2 Assignment 1, you proposed a Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation (FFDE) for a police department. In this assignment, you are to create a comprehensive, well-researched FFDE proposal based on the following scenario.

Scenario:

A midwestern state police department recently responded to a barricaded active shooter incident where the shooter had confined himself and his family to their home. The negotiator was able to persuade the shooter to release his four young children but was unable to persuade the shooter to release his wife or surrender. The scenario resulted in the suicide of the active shooter in front of his spouse, who remained unharmed.

You are the mental health consultant for the police department. You have been assigned to conduct an FFDE on the negotiator, a thirty-five-year-old white male. The negotiator is a seven-year veteran of the force who has three small children and is going through a divorce. Although the officer appears to be handling the stress well, a closer examination reveals that the negotiator shows signs of depression and anxiety, which were not present prior to the incident.

Tasks:

Using at least two scholarly resources from the professional literature, investigate methods for developing FFDEs. The literature may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, and .gov).

Create a 6- to 8-page Microsoft Word document by addressing the following:

• Design an appropriate fitness-for-duty assessment for the negotiator, which will be submitted to your client and the police department. The plan should, at a minimum, include the following:
• Paperwork: You should review before you commence your evaluation. Remember that you may want to consider who is making the referral and why.
• Psychometric instruments and a justification for using them.
• Clinical semistructured interview questions that are sensitive to issues of culture and ethics. Consider developing rapport with the officer before you lead into the sensitive questions pertaining to the referral.
• Effects of symptoms of depression and anxiety on an officer’s ability to perform his or her duties.
• Any treatment, if recommended, for symptoms of depression and anxiety in a law enforcement officer.
• Create a clinical fitness-for-duty written evaluation outline. Include aspects of cultural and ethical standards, valid and reliable instruments, and the recommendations of your evaluation, including, but not limited to, treatment recommendations and firearm retention.
• Provide an introduction paragraph to the client and use section headers.

Apply APA standards to cite sources.

Submission Details:

• Save your assessment report as M3_A2_Lastname_Firstname.doc. ByWednesday, May 28, 2014, post it to the M3 Assignment 2 RA 1 Dropbox.