Montana DOJ starts chaplaincy program to offer aid, comfort to employees

The Montana Department of Justice has started a chaplaincy program to provide spiritual help and comfort to its more than 900 employees who find themselves dealing with the darkest of crimes and other trauma.

Ten chaplains from around the Treasure State were sworn in Tuesday as DOJ employees by Attorney General Austin Knudsen and will be available at a moment’s notice to help, officials said.

Deputy Chief of Staff Jason Johnson, who is a chaplain, said many DOJ employees deal with trauma and adversity.

“We want to be there as chaplains to help them live a healthy and productive life” as they face these issues in their career, he said. This will be a statewide resource for all DOJ employees.

DOJ agencies include the Department of Criminal Investigation, Montana Highway Patrol, Montana Law Enforcement Academy, Motor Vehicle Division and forensic science and gambling control divisions.

Johnson said the chaplains are not full-time employees, but will be paid a stipend and receive traveling expenses.

“We have chaplains from Kalispell to Glendive,” with two based in Helena, two in Missoula and one in Billings, among others, he said.

“It’s all about providing additional resources,” Johnson said.

He said the chaplains come from a variety of denominations and one is female.

“We were looking for people with common sense and a caring heart and had within them the ability to care for other people,” said Johnson, who said he serves as a chaplain for his local fire department.

He said the DOJ did not have a chaplaincy program in the past, but had talked about it a long time.

Johnson said the timing was right, adding Montana’s is the second such program in the nation.

“Our attorney general saw a need and said ‘get it done,’ which is kind of his personality,” he said.

Johnson said many of the chaplains in the program are already doing the work and are excited about helping people.

“I have already seen a couple uses for this program,” he said.

Pastor Steve Vanzant moved to Molt from Texas in September and is already part of the team. In Texas he served as a chaplain for various first-responder agencies for 23 years.

“I saw the opportunity and jumped on it,” he said. “It’s right down my alley.”

Vanzant later added: “It’s not just a job, it’s my life.”

He was impressed to see Montana start such a program.

“To see a state government see the value in it, it’s just powerful to me,” he said.

Vanzant said he believes the program will catch on among DOJ workers.

“It will grow because employees will see the value of it.”

Johnson also said that chaplains will be monitored as well, to see how they weather the emotional storm.

“We’ll be paying close attention to them,” Johnson said. “Some of the worst people out there who do not ask for help are not only law enforcement, but chaplains as well.”