APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The City of Appleton wants to prioritize the advancement of mental health resources. Alderpersons will vote on a resolution Wednesday night to do just that.
Over 850,000 adults in Wisconsin have a mental health condition. In 2021 suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the state. Appleton Alderperson Nate Wolff said something has to be done to address these concerning statistics.
“It takes a community to help someone through something that’s really difficult and so I know that part of that is getting the community involved.”
That’s why Wolff created a resolution, which he hopes will be a starting point for the city when addressing issues of mental health.
“Solidifying what we want to do as well as sharing that with people with bigger profiles to hopefully get them to talk about it as well. And it gives an opportunity for people in the community to talk to us.”
While there are no specific next steps outlined, more broad intentions are.
“Bring more foundations into a collaborative and go from there,” Wolff said. “Bounce things off the wall, see what sticks, what works, what doesn’t work, look around us and try to implement things that have worked elsewhere here to make things better.”
Because in Wolff’s eyes, there is more to be done. Yet he credits some moves the city’s already made as major steps forward.
“We’ve also brought in more funding for the police department to train them in people of mental crisis.”
In February 2022 the city and Outagamie County funded a first of its kind clinical therapist program for the Appleton Police Department.
“Places where maybe there’s someone who doesn’t have a good relationship with officers saying they’re suicidal or homicidal and then they bring me in to speak with the individual just because they don’t want to talk with an officer,” Sarah Peterson, the department’s clinical therapist said.
The department said last year the pilot program would be evaluated based on how many calls law enforcement needed to be involved with. Wolff said this has already given those struggling a way to know they’re being seen. To him, that’s a key piece of the resolution.
“The important thing is to let people know that there’s hope and that someone’s working on it and trying to do good things in the community.”
Last week the City’s Board of Health, which includes Mayor Jake Woodford, unanimously recommended the resolution for approval.
