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Sheboygan police program targets mental health
The city of Sheboygan recently kicked off a program geared toward better responding to mental health crises.
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The city of Sheboygan recently kicked off a program geared toward better responding to mental health crises.
Police officers will be accompanied by a co-responder, hoping to support the well-being of community members.
"Mental health professionals riding in the squad cars," police captain Joel Kuszynski said. "This is meant to be crisis work and intervention work with some people we’re trying to connect with services."
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The Co-Responder Pilot Program kicked off on Monday.
The Sheboygan Police Department partnered with mental staff from Elevate, a social services organization. It's funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.
The mental health workers will be available 16 hours a day, seven days a week. They'll help with calls like thoughts of suicide, homelessness, or when there are kids involved.
Elevate crisis program manager Tiffani Mercado said her team links people to resources and they follow up until that person has a long-term service provider.
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"The goal really is to intervene at an earlier phase," Mercado said. "Just helping with wellness and well-being of our community."
Kuszynski said the goal is to reduce the amount of crisis calls they get which will allow them to be proactive in neighborhoods.
"Improve quality of life, address crime concerns that are happening and address safety issues," Kuszynski said.
When they aren't responding to a call, the teams get in touch with people who have had a history with mental health.
Program leaders say they hope it will stay and eventually expand to the county.