DENVER — First responders in Denver reached out to Denver7 after the city recently cut the hours of mental health services provided to them.
According to the Department of Public Safety (DOS), there was previously no limit on the number of counseling sessions offered to staff. This year, however, the DOS implemented changes to the 2025 mental health services for its employees.
A spokesperson with the department said employees are capped at 12 hours of mental health services per year, while their families are capped at six hours of mental health services through providers.
According to the DOS, the numbers were determined "based on the usage data across safety agencies as the vast majority of staff who use this benefit use less than 12 hours per year." The department said this is the amount of care it can cover due to available funding and the rising cost of care.
Denver7 spoke with Gino Abeita, a Denver native and firefighter for 32 years. He is also the president of the group Firefighters Incorporated for Racial Equality.
"This is unacceptable. I believe it's dangerous," Albeita told Denver7. "It's a travesty, and in my 32 years on the fire department, I can't believe these types of services are being cut."
Abeita said these cuts will have detrimental impacts on first responders across the city.
"You go to these very traumatic calls, and it may not affect you then. It may affect you later in your career where you find out you need help," he said. "It needs to be an unlimited amount of resources to make sure we're taking care of the people in public safety who are out there taking care of the citizens and the visitors to Denver."
Jennifer Witkowski, the wife of a Denver police officer, said these changes will also have big impacts on the families of first responders.
"We're going to have burnout. We're going to have suicides, and we're going to have higher divorces. So we need to put things back in place so that these officers go out there and are effective every day, that they can give the highest level of care [and] they can give the highest level of service that they can," she said.
Joanne and Ed Rupert, co-founders of First Responder Trauma Counselors in northern Colorado, believe 12 hours is not enough time. Their programs provide specialized behavioral healthcare to first responders and frontline workers.
"They're on a treadmill of trauma constantly with their careers, and then they have to go home and try to normalize what they just saw and did with her families," Ed said. "They've seen multiple suicides, maybe seen death in the same shift, and then they go home and they don't know where to put that trauma."
The Ruperts believe the city should come up with a solution sooner rather than later.
"I do hope that these incredible individuals can get the care that they need because we owe them a lot, and they put their lives on the line every day for us," said Joanne.
The DOS declined to go on camera with Denver7 on Tuesday. However, in a statement, DOS Executive Director Armando Saldate said the decision "was not an easy decision to make."
"We are actively exploring other funding sources and will continue to do everything we can to ensure all DOS employees can access the care that they need," Saldate said.
- Read the full statement from Armando Saldate below
The Department of Public Safety’s top priority is ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our employees, so this was not an easy decision to make. We recognize the immense impact that mental health services have on our first responders, which is why we have always offered supplemental support to our staff for crisis situations beyond what the city benefits offer. Due to rising costs for care and a challenging budget situation across the city, we prioritized continuing to offer critical mental health resources to support our first responders and their loved ones while finding additional options for longer-term support. We are actively exploring other funding sources and will continue to do everything we can to ensure all DOS employees can access the care that they need.
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