Care in Action: Community Crisis Response – Part 2

In this episode, we continue our conversation about how a new two-year pilot program is embedding an Outagamie County clinical therapist within the Appleton Police Department to improve the way first responders handle crisis situations involving mental health. The idea is to have the therapist immediately available as a co-first responder to mental health crisis when law enforcement are called. How has the program made an impact in Appleton? Is it safe for the therapist? What have we learned so far?

We’ll hear from the therapist and two members of the Appleton Police Department, as well as the Director of the Division of Suicide Prevention at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, who is one of the many experts our Community Crisis Response Team heard from as we put this pilot program together.

This program has been two years in the making, and the planning took the expertise, collaboration, and support from a lot of people convened around the table, now the Community Crisis Response Team. Their goal is to help community members access the appropriate level of care by providing on-site clinical evaluations and risk assessments for those experiencing a mental health crisis. The Community Crisis Response Team’s primary mission is to help community members access the appropriate level of care by providing on-site clinical evaluations and risk assessments for those experiencing a mental health crisis.

The pilot program received a $25,000 grant from the Bright Idea Fund within the Community Foundation. The clinical therapist is the first of its kind at the department and is improving the way responders can provide critical services to a person in crisis.