Peace officer mental-health program extends resources
Kendall County is applying for continued participation in a program offering counseling and mental-health services for law enforcement officers who daily face high-stress and dangerous situations.
The county received grant funding in 2025 for the Peace Officer Mental Health Program and took steps during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting to renew the services for Fiscal Year 2027.
The program provides a confidential approach to treating and reducing stress for officers and sets out to improve coping mechanisms and strategies, officials said.
“Within the last half a dozen years or so, there’s been a focus ... on the public- service sector,” Sheriff Al Auxier said. “We may not be on the battlefield, but we deal with horrific situations constantly, all the time, whether it be emotional (and) obviously traumatic situations.”
Auxier mentioned the catastrophic July Fourth floods when officers focused first on rescue and then recovery of bodies.
“When you start picking dead bodies out of the water, especially when you’re dealing with children, those visions ... can stick with you,” he said.
These days, he said, it’s important to give first responders coping mechanisms and stability when they need it.
“We have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of the community,” Auxier added.
There exists a perception that law officers, paramedics and firefighters encounter trauma, then just shake it off and move on — but that’s not always the case, the sheriff said.
“Sometimes it comes back to haunt you. What people forget is that we’re human,” he said. “They think we’ve got to be superhuman in order to do what we do and we’re not.”
Making resources and assistance available is one thing; getting first responders to shed that “alpha” mentality and take advantage is another, Auxier added.
“What we can do, and all we can do, is let them know it’s available to them. We can’t make anybody go seek assistance,” he said. “It’s hard for a lot of people to come to that place within themselves to ask for help. That’s the first challenge.”
Boerne and the county are part of the Kendall County Behavioral Health Advisory Commission, created to increase access to services and to focus on mental health and substance- abuse issues.
Auxier said the program is conducted anonymously and outside the department, through agencies such as Hill Country Family Services.
“(A deputy) may think, ‘Well, if I go to the sheriff, or my sergeant ... they’re going to look down on me, think lesser of me,’” Auxier said. “We have to make sure that they know this is handled anonymously.”
“When you start picking dead bodies out of the water, especially when you’re dealing with children, those visions ... can stick with you.”
— Sheriff Al Auxier
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