Jasper County offers land to help Crisis Canines of the Midlands expansion

Sheriff John Halferty brought some four-legged backup to the county board of supervisors meeting earlier this month. Two “Crisis Canines” and their handlers joined Halferty in requesting a future sale of land so that a local nonprofit can expand its training of dogs that provide support to law enforcement officers.

As board president of Crisis Canines of the Midlands, Halferty said the nonprofit wants to remain centrally located but it has outgrown its current facility. Two academies are already scheduled for next year with teams from all over the country. There are roughly 20 to 25 teams in each academy.

“We’re doing quarterly trainings,” Halferty said. “…We would like to offer additional resources and classes, but we need a training center. And so we’re working on that. We need to find a piece of ground to build. We have this vision of what we want to build, but we need to know where that is going to be.”

Halferty inquired about the ground where the old Quakerdale Youth Shelter and Jasper County Care Facility used to stand. He thought it would be a nice addition to the nearby projects for the sheriff’s office, secondary roads and conservation. Halferty said its location to the interstate and hotels is ideal for trainings.

“We’re expanding so rapidly right now we’re having growing pains,” Halferty said. “We’re working on many challenges, but the ultimate vision is having a central location. We want to stay in Iowa. We want to have a building that is able to provide all that training we can also offer to peer support and other resources.”

However, Halferty stressed the nonprofit is not asking supervisors to donate the county-owned land but rather consider selling it to them at a reasonable price.

WHAT IS CRISIS CANINES?

Crisis Canines of the Midlands was founded by Justin and Rebecca Smith, who are leading the charge in ensuring first responder agencies have more teams of dogs and responder handlers. While the dogs serve as great ambassadors to their agencies, their main focus is helping the mental health of first responders.

Steve Ashing, deputy director of the Jasper County Emergency Management Agency, is the handler of River, a young German Shepherd. Ashing said mental health in the first responder field is something that has been neglected until somewhat recently. Crisis Canines directly addresses that issue.

“A citizen may see one or two catastrophic events in their life that creates trauma. It overwhelms their ability to cope with the situation. A first responder may see thousands of events in their career,” Ashing said. “…Historically, we haven’t dealt with that very well. That relates to retention problems, morale problems.”

Crisis Canines of the Midlands has helped alleviate those issues by pairing a therapy canine with a first responder. The dog becomes a badged member of the department and gives handlers the authority to go into emergency scenes. Ashing said it takes one year worth of training to get canines started.

Upon their certification the dogs and their handlers can begin work to help their agencies. Ashing said canines assist with debriefings or provide general support at the fire station or police station. The dogs are trained to seek out people that are stressed or having an emotional response or crisis.

“They will sense that and come over to that person and try to give them some ease,” Ashing said. “That is kind of the whole synopsis of the program.”

HOW DOES CRISIS CANINES HELP PEOPLE?

Of course the dogs also provide support to Jasper County civilians in times of crisis. Halferty said a young individual experienced a great deal of trauma when they discovered their sibling had died. One of the canine teams responded, and Halferty said a bond was formed to relieve some of that immediate trauma.

Teams of Crisis Canines have responded to more regional disasters, too. When a school shooting happened at Perry, dogs and their handlers responded to the hospitals and helped the medical teams that provided care to those who were wounded. Halferty said the program has been a great tool.

“It is hard to describe unless you’ve sit through those debriefings or you see someone in crisis,” Halferty said. “You can just see the effect that these canines have. I’ve said it for many years and I’m going to say it again: If we don’t take care of our own people, how can we expect them to take care of others?”

Jasper County has essentially served as the step-off point for Crisis Canines of the Midlands. Currently, there are five certified teams of Crisis Canines in Jasper County alone, and another is in training. The program has gained momentum over the past few years. The initial goal was to have two teams in every county in the state.

“We’re still working through that but we have gotten so much interest and so much notoriety not only statewide but nationwide,” Ashing said. “This is becoming a nationwide program. We are doing a lot of hard work at the board level to get that spun up so we can accommodate that. But that comes with challenges.”

SUPERVISORS RESPOND FAVORABLY

Supervisor Brandon Talsma asked if the nearby shooting range built at the old JCARL building grounds would negatively impact dogs and training. Ashing said getting dogs desensitized to sirens and gunshots is part of the training, so it would actually be an asset to the nonprofit.

Smith added, “We’d want to position the building away enough so we’re not directly in range.”

Crisis Canines of the Midlands wants to build a 60 feet by 155 feet structure. Supervisors not only seemed receptive to having the nonprofit use nearby land to expand its offerings, Talsma went so far as to suggest the land be given to Crisis Canines at no cost but the county would still own the property.

“I’m not concerned about monetary compensation for the ground,” Talsma said. “…The expenses of the building and the maintenance and everything else is on you guys, but essentially Jasper County is giving you guys the two acres, three acres, what it is you require to build a facility.”

Halferty was not expecting that offer and appreciated the board’s willingness to help the nonprofit. Talsma said the contract would work similarly to how JCARL owned the technically county-owned property for as long as they existed or were in operation. The same would be drafted for Crisis Canines.

The board of supervisors voted 3-0 to approve the request from Crisis Canines of the Midlands for the use of the ground at the old Jasper County Care Facility site, which would be determined later in a contract with the county attorney’s approval.