Wisconsin Assembly Turns Focus to Mental Health
Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to send a laundry list of mental health proposals to Gov. Tony Evers.
The Wisconsin Assembly on Tuesday queued up plans that would do everything from allow out-of-state mental health providers to work in Wisconsin, to set up a pilot program for first responders’ mental health needs, to expand mental health training for police officers, who Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, said have become de-facto mental health professionals.
“Typically, a call goes into the police when an individual is acting up in a community. The police respond and they try to diffuse the situation, depending on how violent the individual is. Often times these situations escalate, and the individual is arrested, put in the back of a squad, and taken-off either to jail or a mental health facility,” Donovan said.
His plan would create a pilot program in both rural Wisconsin and the state’s larger cities that would pay, train, and equip police officers to better handle mental heal...