Connecticut to offer homeownership assistance to first responders

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Against the backdrop of a red and white North Haven fire truck, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the upcoming rollout of a homeownership assistance program for first responders Tuesday…

Against the backdrop of a red and white North Haven fire truck, Gov. Ned Lamont announced the upcoming rollout of a homeownership assistance program for first responders Tuesday morning.

The program, First Responders’ Time to Own, will provide eligible and certified firefighters, police officers and emergency medical services workers with up to $25,000 in assistance for down payments and closing costs. In order to be eligible for the program, first responders must have at least two years of work experience in Connecticut and buy a home in the community they serve.

Lamont lauded the program for giving first responders a “stake” in the town where they work.

“Being part of the community is a big part of community policing,” he said. “Being able to be nearby the firehouse just makes an enormous difference.”

The homeownership assistance program falls under Public Act 26-12, which Lamont signed into law in June. The broader law aims to increase first responder recruitment and retention through pay increases, state school tuition waivers and bolstered benefits for family members of first responders who died in the line of duty.

At Tuesday’s press conference, held at the North Haven fire department, three state police officers stood alongside Lamont and roughly a dozen state and local officials. More first responders peppered the audience, including North Haven police officers and firefighters from the Middlefield and Westfield departments.

“Take a look at who’s here today,” Ronnell Higgins, commissioner for the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, said at the conference. “That tells you how important this law is.”

Several of the officials, including Higgins and Comptroller Sean Scanlon, remarked on Connecticut’s struggles to recruit and retain first responders.

According to Higgins, Connecticut currently faces a shortage of hundreds of police officers and troopers and struggles to fill its police and fire academies.

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