Augusta’s Fire Department is seeking local acceptance of a federal grant that would pay for confidential behavioral-health visits and multi-cancer screening for its workforce, pairing employee health services with a required local contribution of $30,540.55.
The item appears on the Public Safety Committee’s Nov. 10 agenda. FEMA’s award letter sets the federal contribution at $305,405.45 and the total approved project budget at $335,946. Acceptance must be established through FEMA’s grant system before the city can request or receive the federal funds, according to the award letter.
The approved scope assigns $106,200 to behavioral-health wellness visits for 354 department personnel and $229,746 to multi-cancer early-detection screening for 354 firefighters. Fire Chief Antonio Burden is listed as the presenter, and the staff report recommends accepting the award and authorizing the non-federal share. Staff report.
Under the behavioral-health portion, each employee would receive a private, confidential 90-minute annual check-in with a contracted, licensed mental-health clinician familiar with public-safety work. The scope describes the annual visit as mandatory, with optional, confidential outpatient follow-up when clinically indicated.
The budget prices 354 visits at $300 each. Although the narrative describes an annual program and the grant spans two years, the displayed budget contains 354 sessions, not two full rounds of visits. It does not establish how any additional annual cycle would be financed. Behavioral-health scope and budget.
The cancer-screening portion budgets 354 screenings at $649 each. Its narrative says the project would coordinate sample collection and follow-up pathways with local health-care providers. The packet does not name the providers or spell out who would pay for additional diagnostic work or treatment after a concerning result. Cancer-screening scope and budget.
The grant is under FEMA’s fiscal 2025 Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. Its effective date is Sept. 21, 2026, and the staff report lists a performance period from Sept. 28, 2026, through Sept. 27, 2028. The funding dates therefore precede the November agenda item.
The local contribution is at least $30,540.55, equivalent to about 9.09 percent of the total approved budget. The staff report identifies Fire Department Fund Balance as the source. The grant’s federal and non-federal amounts add to the $335,946 budget shown in the award’s funding table.
The Public Safety Committee agenda schedules the item for Nov. 10 at 1:20 p.m. in the Commission Chamber.
The service schedule remains unspecified. For firefighters, the practical test will be access to care after the initial appointment or screening, as well as the screening itself.