HOLBROOK — Director Steve Hooke is pleased to announce that the Holbrook Regional Emergency Communications Center has been awarded multiple grants for Fiscal Year 2022 from the Massachusetts State 911 Department.
The grants total more than $2.5 million, and will be broken into four awards. They include:
Development Grant, $1,414,916: This is a competitive grant that the HRECC is eligible to apply for annually as a Regional Emergency Communications Center. In the past, this grant was used to design, construct and outfit the HRECC’s new facility. This year’s Development Grant award will be to pay for the Town of Rockland’s assessment fee (fee for dispatch services), the Town of Abington’s assessment fee, upgraded security measures at the Abington Police Department, complete radio infrastructure upgrades and purchase new equipment.
Support and Incentive Grant, $956,999: This is a grant that the HRECC is eligible to apply for annually. The HRECC was awarded the full eligible amount. The Support and Incentive Grant is used to cover a large portion of telecommunicator salaries not otherwise covered by the budget, radio system infrastructure upgrades, 24/7 radio console maintenance agreement to be in effect at the completion of one year warranty and bi-annual preventative cleaning and maintenance of new console furniture.
Training Grant, $128,316.40: The HRECC is eligible to apply for this grant annually and is needs-based. All certified telecommunicators are required to complete 16 hours of annual continuing education. As an incentive of being a regional center, the HRECC is eligible to receive reimbursement for 32 hours of training (salaries and applicable vendor fees) for each certified telecommunicator for annual continuing education and training of newly hired personnel to meet the requirements to become a fully certified telecommunicator (salaries and applicable vendor fees). This grant also covers the annual fee for pre-employment testing software, professional organization membership fees for the Massachusetts Communications Supervisors Association (MCSA), APCO International and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and conference fees to attend the APCO National and APCO Atlantic conferences.
Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Grant, $7,991.24: The HRECC is eligible to apply for this grant annually and is needs-based. This year the EMD grant will be utilized to upgrade EMD guide card sets, replacing old sets with new cards, stands and sleeves.
“The Development Grant is highly competitive, and all four grants require a significant amount of time to apply for and manage. We are extremely grateful to the State 911 Department for providing us with these funds to support our mission,” Director Hooke said. “Much of the money will be put toward salaries, fees and equipment upgrades, while the rest will allow us to give our telecommunicators the training they need to be the very best that they can be on a daily basis.”
###