GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Local officials are hoping an initiative to improve mental health response in the 2019 Brown County budget proposal will mirror successful results from two other locations in the state.
“Brown Counties most vulnerable are the people that need the most attention,” explains Brown County Deputy Executive Jeff Flynt.
The initiative would add a clinical social worker position that would work with the Green Bay Police.
“Currently [the] Green Bay Police has two mental health officers that go out and respond to calls that may be related to someone having a mental health crisis,” explains Flynt.
The initiative would attempt to bring the trained clinical social worker together to assist those officers.
“That particular individual will be paired with one of the mental health officers, who will respond to those emergencies,” he says.
Flynt says they’ve witnessed similar initiatives work in both Milwaukee and Madison.
“What they have seen, and what we could see here in Brown County, is that the number of emergency detentions for people afflicted with a mental health issue goes down,” he explains.
Funds for the position would come from reallocated money within the county and one other area.
“Also, there is some leftover grant funding from 2018 that is going to be carried over and added to that,” says Flynt.
The initiative would be implemented as a pilot program in Green Bay with future opportunities to expand.
