Mental health prioritized at Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting

Fitting for World Mental Health Day on Thursday, Oct. 10, the Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting that day focused primarily on mental health.

Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson spoke about the need for the county jail to bring in a jail navigator to aid with mental health resources and allow for the jail administration to handle other tasks. The position was allotted via a grant from the Community Counseling Center.

Heather Ressel has served as jail navigator for the past 2 1/2 years. She aids in providing mental health services for nonviolent inmates or those with short sentences who could be reintroduced into society.

“She helps guide them, she helps them get on the medications they need and then they try to set them up for success once they leave here. I can tell you without that program, I don’t know where we’d be right now,” jail administrator Richard Rushin said.

Rushin said inmates are often more inclined to discuss their mental health treatment with Ressel, who works for the Community Counseling Center, than with a sheriff’s deputy. She provides them with the support they need, whether it be food pantry information, resources about quitting alcohol and access to their prescription medication once they leave jail.

“A lot of times, people are excited that I’m there, that I’m not an officer … it’s a friendlier face that they can talk to about any of their problems. They are very much willing to get into services,” Ressel said.

She developed an inmate request form for the inmates to directly discuss what they need from a mental health standpoint. The number of mental health screenings among inmates increased from 481 to 684 under her watch, and the request for forms doubled from 451 to 968.

Ressel’s actions and resources have helped reduce the recidivism rate of inmates from 35% to 13%.

The commissioners also appointed Kerri Wagner of Burfordville, a longtime mental health nurse working at Southeast Behavioral Hospital, to a vacant position on the county’s Mental Health Board.

Domestic violence awareness

October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the commissioners approved a proclamation declaring such in the county. Cpl. Jaime Holloway of the sheriff’s office read aloud the proclamation, providing information on how prevalent domestic violence is statewide and in Cape Girardeau County.

There were 116 domestic violence-related murder or manslaughter cases in 2023 across Missouri, according to the state Highway Patrol. In Cape Girardeau County, there were 1,724 calls reporting domestic violence to law enforcement. Safe House of Southeast Missouri received 967 hotline calls and provided shelter for 151 adults and 95 children last year.