State officials unveiled a package of policy and legislative proposals Thursday afternoon that would effectively overhaul the process in Wisconsin for handling crisis mental health calls where a person is a danger to themselves or others.
The emergency detention process has long been a concern for law enforcement and mental health care advocates in Wisconsin. A process that takes hours in medical clearance and long drives across the state to available crisis mental health institutions, people in mental crisis are taken into police custody before being transported first to a hospital to get medically cleared before being taken in a squad car to an available institution–usually the state-run Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice released research in 2019 showing the average time spent on an emergency detention was nine hours; some can stretch much longer.
Thursday, the DOJ issued recommendations based on about two years of coalition work that recommends diverting more cases away from the emergency detention process to begin with, and improving detentions when they become necessary. Many of the recommendations would need buy-in from Wisconsin lawmakers.
“For many individuals experiencing behavioral health issues, an inpatient stay in a psychiatric hospital can be excessive, costly, potentially counterproductive, and not necessary to protect public safety,” the recommendations state.
The recommendations for diverting more cases away from an emergency detention process include:
- Regional Crisis Stabilization Facilities
- Peer Support Respite Centers
- Mental Health Mobile Crisis Teams
- Regional Crisis Assessment Services
- Enhanced Community-Based Treatment for Suicidality
Where the police custody process is needed, the coalition recommends:
- Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training
- Additional Mental Health Bed Space
- Broader adaptation of a standardized medical clearance process
- Wider use of a tracking system for available beds
- Expanded telemedicine
- Streamlined court proceedings
- Transport across state lines where expedient
This coverage will be updated and expanded.
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