SPRING GREEN, Wis.– Rural Wisconsin communities often find themselves in a mental health desert, with the closest crisis center located sometimes hundreds of miles away at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh.
Republican State Senator Howard Marklein authored legislation that’s received bipartisan support to build regional Crisis Urgent Care and Observation Centers across the state. These mental health care facilities would help avoid a sometimes long, costly and stressful drive for patients and law enforcement.
Senator Marklein told Wisconsin’s Afternoon News on Thursday that law enforcement often gets called first, such as in cases when a parent’s adult child is experiencing a mental health crisis.
“They take that person to a local hospital, then one or two law enforcement personnel put this person in the back of a squad car, maybe in handcuffs, for a four-hour drive to Winnebago,” said Senator Marklein.
Unlike the Winnebago clinic, these crisis centers would not offer long-term mental help. They would provide up to five days of care and not require medical clearance before admission.
Senator Marklein said the bill is seeing broad support from law enforcement agencies and the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
“We set aside $10 million in the budget,” said Senator Marklein. “This legislation creates the framework for which the Department of Health Services can start beginning the process of identifying and selecting locations for these facilities.”
The care centers would also allow for voluntary drop-off.
“If somebody has got a family member or friend that’s in a mental health crisis, they could bring that family member or friend directly to the regional crisis center and avoid the whole interaction with law enforcement,” said Senator Marklein.
The bill would establish a total of five regional facilities. It now heads to Governor Evers’ desk.
