More than 1.5 million people call Fairfax County home. According to the 2020 Census, an estimated 76,000 of those residents are military veterans. Caring for our veterans requires recognizing the distinct experiences and unique challenges they face. Being educated in veteran-specific knowledge, first responders can tailor how they respond to a veteran in crisis using compassion and empathy to provide better assistance. This idea is something that two public safety officers take to heart.

Fairfax County Sheriff’s deputy 2^nd Lt. Jennifer Foster and Fairfax County Police Officer Capt. Christina Burrow are their respective agency’s Crisis Intervention Team Commander, both assigned to the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health (SBCCH). They both are experts in crisis response with a strong commitment to helping the local veteran population. Burrow is a 16-year Army reserve veteran and Foster’s grandfather is a Coast Guard veteran while her husband is currently serving in the National Guard.

“Veterans have unique life experiences connected to their service that many people outside the military may not fully understand,” Burrow said. “When we respond to someone in crisis, it’s important that we — and our teammates — know the best ways to connect with them and provide the right kind of care. Often, a veteran’s crisis may be connected to something that happened during their time in service, so our first responders need the awareness and training to respond with understanding and compassion.”

Foster wanted to answer the question: How can first responders better connect and assist veterans when they are directly in crisis?

That inspiration came when Foster attended CIT International in 2024. One of the departments that attended the training presented the program they currently have in place that’s tailored to veterans in crisis. She felt Fairfax County could benefit from similar training and shared what she learned with Burrow. And Foster’s excitement was contagious. They started making calls and gathering information.

“We called the department in Delaware, and they connected us with an agency in North Carolina,” Burrow said. “We quickly realized [Fairfax County is] actually ahead of the game because we have a full-time Crisis Incident Team. We have agencies and resources already in place. We just needed to tailor our response.”

The two set off developing the curriculum, coordinating speakers and presenters, and opened registration for the first Veterans in Crisis: Advanced Training for Law Enforcement course, which took place at the Fairfax County Public Safety Headquarters in early October.

“It was important for the training to concentrate on topics specific to veterans,” Foster said. “We wanted to highlight possible triggers, signs of trauma, and how to respond to them so that we help them rather than escalate their crisis.”

About 30 students from local law enforcement, Fire and EMS, and clinicians participated in the two-and-a-half-day class. Presenters included a graduate from the Veteran’s Treatment Docket, a representative from Wounded Warriors, a victim services specialist, as well as a representative from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and several military spouses. The local 7-11 provided snacks and Mission BBQ and Chick-Fil-A provided lunch.

Because peer-to-peer support has proven to be successful in other programs, Foster and Burrow concentrated on the first class being public safety officers who are also veterans. Foster said having a veteran respond to a veteran helps with the connection and understanding and can help de-escalate the response.

“It’s important to remember anyone who experiences crisis is going to respond to a situation differently than someone not in crisis,” Foster said. “Our veterans deserve to have specially trained first responders available to help when they find themselves in crisis. And now we have that. We have CIT responders who have resources for veterans, and who understand the particular stressors and crisis of veterans.”

Foster and Burrow are excited to offer another class in the coming year, providing more training to better assist our veterans. Through this veteran-focused critical incident response training, first responders are learning how to meet those who once served our country with empathy, patience,