County pumps $200K into crisis response unit

Brown County is pumping $200,000 into a program that sends counselors to the homes of people in the midst of mental health crises.

The money will pay for three full-time mobile counselors, who will provide up to 100 hours of combined in-home crisis response services per week to residents within a 30-mile radius of Brown County, Human Services Director Erik Pritzl during a news conference to announce the funding Tuesday.

The money is going to Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, a nonprofit human services agency that will add the counselors to its local crisis center staff.

“We believe it is essential to get out and see the problems … as they’re happening in the real world to be able to understand the context of the problems going on around these individuals and their families,” said Jeff VandeLeest, president and CEO of Family Services.

Gaps in mental health services have caused police to become the de facto first responders to people having a crisis in their homes or in the community. But most officers aren’t trained to deal with mental health crises, aren’t familiar enough with local treatment services to make referrals and have no time to follow up with individuals after 911 calls. As a result, police were often respond to emergency calls involving the same mentally ill people over and over again without ever successfully getting them treatment.

“This program is going to help us immensely because not only do we deal with this on a daily basis, but it happens on every shift of every day,” said Capt. Dan Sandberg, of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

The mobile crisis response team is the first part of a larger $1.15 million county mental health initiative approved in the 2016 budget.

The budget also includes:

» $300,000 for substance abuse services at the Community Treatment Center on Green Bay's east side.

» $300,000 for in-patient detoxification services for people trying to overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

» $350,000 for a new day-reporting facility that would provide counseling, vocational coaching and employment support programs as an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent offenders.

Mental health professionals and advocates praised the county for taking steps to fill gaps in mental health services.

“This is a huge first step and one that was sorely needed,” said Cheryl Weber, chairwoman of the social justice group JOSHUA’s mental health task force.

arodewal@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @AdamGRodewald and on Facebook at Facebook.com/AdamGRodewald.