DCSO Partners With Church Health Services To Offer Free Mental Health Care

(Juneau) A local non-profit has partnered with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office to offer mental health care to all employees at no cost. Sheriff Dale Schmidt says he reached out to Beaver Dam-based Church Health Services about the idea of providing services to his staff. His says the organization’s Executive Director Thea O’Connor introduced the sheriff’s office to one of her employees, Cassandra Heideman.

Heideman is only the second person in Wisconsin to complete training as a Certified First Responder Associate. She is trained with a Master of Arts Degree in Clinic Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor-In Training as well as a Licensed Substance Abuse Counselor.

Schmidt says services began earlier this month and he looks forward to a long-lasting partnership in taking care of his staff’s mental health. The sheriff adds that law enforcement has always been tasked with helping other people when they are in need, and now they can help those who help the community. Schmidt says many citizens never fully know what those in law enforcement see and hear in their lifetime, noting that these images stick with them for days if not years.

The program offered by Church Health Services supplements other resources the sheriff’s office implemented in recent years to help with mental health.