MEET WATARA
A CLINICIAN’S DISCIPLINE ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS.
Middletown resident since 2010. Behavioral health clinician since 2008. She has spent her career serving Delawareans during the most difficult moments they will ever face.
01
HOME IN DISTRICT 8
Watara Heath has called Middletown home since 2010, where she and her family live in the heart of Delaware’s House District 8. A behavioral health clinician by profession, she has dedicated her life to serving Delawareans during some of the most difficult moments they will ever face. Her path has not always been easy. Through faith, determination, and perseverance, she has overcome personal and professional challenges while navigating complex systems to build a career defined by service, integrity, and results.
OUT IN THE DISTRICT - TALKING WITH NEIGHBORS
02
TWENTY YEARS IN THE WORK
Since entering the behavioral health field in 2008, Watara has devoted her career to helping individuals and families struggling with addiction, mental illness, and trauma. Beginning her work in addiction treatment, she quickly recognized the deep connection between substance use, mental health, and unresolved trauma. Guided by her Christian faith and belief that every person deserves dignity, accountability, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives, she has spent nearly two decades walking alongside those who are too often overlooked.
“Every person deserves dignity, accountability, and the opportunity to rebuild their lives.”
03
ON CALL WITH OFFICERS
Today, Watara serves as a clinician with the Dover Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit and also works in the same capacity with the Milford Police Department. She responds, alongside law enforcement officers, to calls involving mental health crises, substance use, domestic violence, homelessness, and human trafficking. She is a civilian member of the Dover Police Department’s Crisis Negotiation Team and has served on the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team, supporting first responders after traumatic events. In 2026, she was selected to present the Dover Police Department, Behavioral Health Unit’s co-responder model at the National Co-Responder Conference in Dallas, sharing Delaware’s innovative approach to public safety and behavioral health.
DOVE POLICE DEPARTMENT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH UNIT - MILFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT
04
TRUST ACROSS THE SYSTEM
Throughout her career, Watara has earned the trust and respect of law enforcement, healthcare providers, judges, veterans, educators, and community leaders across Delaware. Her experience spans nearly every level of the state’s behavioral health system, including Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams, methadone clinics, residential addiction treatment, and Delaware’s correctional system. She works closely with Kent County’s Veterans Court and Mental Health Court, and collaborates with the Veterans Affairs, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and local emergency departments, Victim Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Capital School District, the Dover Police Athletic League, and treatment providers throughout the state.
05
WHAT SHE BELIEVES
Watara understands that meaningful change comes through hard work, personal responsibility, and strong partnerships, not politics alone. Every opportunity she has earned has come through perseverance, a willingness to serve, and a commitment to doing the right thing, even when the path was difficult. She believes government should reflect those same values: supporting families, strengthening public safety, protecting the most vulnerable, and ensuring every Delawarean has the opportunity to succeed through accountability, compassion, and service.
06
FAITH, FAMILY, PERSPECTIVE
A proud member of the AME church tradition, Watara serves on the Steward Board of Trinity AME Church in Middletown.
She was raised by her grandparents, has faced her own experiences with depression, and knows firsthand what it means to live in a community where addiction, poverty, and mental illness are part of daily life. She brings that perspective and a clinician’s discipline about what actually works to everything she does.
