WI Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2014

This project serves to bring mental health systems improvements, in part, through the use of participatory decision making groups, to the local level in Wisconsin. The most effective way to bring about positive change is through developing collaborative partnerships of all stakeholders: policy-makers, advocates services providers, families and especially consumers, whose very lives are impacted by policy, practices and funding decisions.

The project aims to continue the important and successful work of the network and to add the development of participatory decision making groups (consumers, policy-makers, advocates services providers and family members working together on local systems transformation activities). The main components of United We Stand Wisconsin's work over the next 3 years will be: developing and supporting 10 facilitated participatory decision making groups, developing a clearing house to create linkages between consumers and policy-making groups for full inclusion of consumer participation in all mental health systems policymaking, continuing the annual Empowerment Days event to educate with policymaker about specific ways to improve the mental health services system, and communicating with members through listserv, social media and quarterly newsletter.

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) will implement Trauma Informed Care for adult residents and veterans on the Menominee Indian Reservation and Menominee County, specific to co-morbid substance abuse and trauma induced stress disorders. Program anticipates increasing trauma screening to 1600 individuals and mental health treatment to 340 consumers over the life of the grant. Grantee has identified Seeking Safety as the Best Practice for serving these adults at risk of or experiencing serious mental illness. The goals and objectives of our project are to (1) improve mental health service infrastructure on the Menominee Indian Reservation through interagency planning efforts, as well as training on and implementation of Seeking Safety Program; (2) improve system of mental health service on Menominee Reservation and County to address trauma diagnoses through outreach to veterans and increased trauma screening; and (3) expand trauma treatment for individuals diagnosed with PTSD/ASD.

Prevent Suicide Wisconsin: Strengthening the Infrastructure will build on Wisconsin's accomplishment's to date by creating comprehensive local systems to prevent youth suicide, embedding suicide prevention training capacity into our child welfare and public education systems, enhancing suicide prevention skills for mental health clinicians, expanding efforts to reach high-risk populations, supporting local coalitions and increasing public awareness. The grant will support goals developed at a statewide planning summit in 2009 and the resulting strategic plan developed by our state-level steering committee: maintain strong state level leadership; develop and strengthen local leadership; raise public awareness; continue training and technical assistance, and; enhance access to mental health services. Comprehensive projects in three model communities will implement at least one evidence-based practice consistent with their local needs assessment, partner with a qualified treatment provider to address access to services, incorporate evidence-based lethal means restriction, conduct outreach to a high-risk population, incorporate more youth and family members, and mentor two neighboring communities that are developing their own coalitions. Contracts with the agencies responsible for training child welfare and school staffs will develop their capacity to provide sustainable suicide prevention training and result in training and education to 2500 child welfare staffs and over 5000 school staffs. 450 clinicians will increase core competencies in suicide prevention through Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk and Recognizing and Responding to Suicide Risk. 1050 civilian clinicians will be educated about veteran's mental health through three Wisconsin Warrior summits and at least five additional trainings each year of the grant. Three targeted efforts will outreach to high-risk populations.

Prevent suicide attempts and deaths within the UWM student population by establishing infrastructures for delivering and sustaining effective mental health prevention, screening, and treatment services. This will occur through policy development; training, screening, and referral activities; creation of educational materials; and enhanced mechanisms for student engagement. The UWM Suicide Prevention Project will target all members of the UWM student community. Located in Wisconsin's largest and most racially diverse metropolitan area, UWM serves over 30,000 students; 91% of UWM students are Wisconsin residents, and 33% are local to the county that encompasses the campus. The racial and ethnic diversity of UWM's student body indicates a significant presence of distinct cultural backgrounds and needs; the student population includes 915 international students, 2,175 African Americans, 141 American Indians, 747 Latino/as, and 1,467 Asians. Moreover, the student community maintains significant populations of high-risk groups, including those that have been identified by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. UWM's National College Health Assessment data reveals that UWM students experience an array of mental health concerns, with nearly 9% of students indicating that they had seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months. Moreover, as an institution of higher education located in Wisconsin, with a student population consisting largely of in-state residents, suicide-related patterns among UWM students likely mirror those seen at the state level; suicide rates in the state of Wisconsin are higher than those seen nationally, with the state's highest rates occurring among college-aged individuals. The UWM Suicide Prevention Project seeks to enhance the capacity of current support networks and to ultimately produce a campus community that is prepared to act proactively to address the mental health needs of all represented populations.

The University of Wisconsin - Madison (UW-Madison) is Wisconsin's comprehensive teaching and research university offering programs at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. Enrollment stands at over 42,000 students with over 7,000 of these students living in campus housing. The University Health Service provides integrated clinical, mental health counseling and consultation and prevention services to UW-Madison students. The Counseling and Consultation Services saw over 15,000 student visits in the last academic year. However, it is recognized that suicide is the second leading cause of mortality among college students. Further, it is widely acknowledged that many students experiencing depression and mental health concerns are not seeking the help that is available to them.
Because of a recognition that the University could do more to increase help-seeking behaviors among students with mental health concerns, staff within the University Health Services have submitted the present proposal to create a comprehensive suicide prevention program. To prepare this proposal, staff conducted a preliminary gap analysis of existing suicide prevention efforts using the Jed Foundation/Suicide Prevention Resource Center model. The proposal requests $102,000 for each of three years within the allowable project period. These resources would support a 0.75 full time employee (FTE) who would coordinate the grant activities and would be supported through in-kind contributions from clinical, mental health counseling and prevention staff within the University Health Services. The major goals of the proposal are as follows:
1. Build the infrastructure to convene and sustain a campus/community Suicide Prevention Partnership Council.
2. Establish a sub-committee within the Suicide Prevention Partnership Council to identify and implement evidence-based practices to reach out to high risk populations, such as American Indians/Alaskan Natives, LGBTQ students.

Wisconsin Family Ties (WFT) will enhance the capacity and capability of families to drive the transformation of the children's mental health system in Wisconsin. Project goals are to (1) enhance the capacity, skills and relationships of the grantee, (2) help youth and families develop strong leadership skills, (3) provide services to families that are responsive to their needs, and (4) promote peer support and social inclusion.

The Statewide Family Network (SFN) project will serve children to age 18, or young adults to age 26 needing transitional services to the adult mental health system, who have a serious emotional disturbance.

The Wisconsin Safe Schools-Healthy Students Project will create infrastructure to improve social and emotional skills, enhance a positive sense of self, increase family, school and community connections, address behavioral and mental health needs, and create safe and violence free school environments. Led by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in collaboratin with the WI Department of Health Services, this project will annually serve 28,000 students in three urban, suburban and rural/ tribal school districts and communities. The project will serve high risk populations in the Wisconsin communities of Racine, Beloit, and the Menominee Indian School District (MISD). These populations include significantly high numbers of students with economic distress that range from 64% of students in the 20,000 student Racine Unified School District qualifying for free and reduced lunches, to 84% of the students in the 800 student Menominee Indian School District. Targeted high risk student populations also include the 15% of students with educational disabilities in the School District of Beloit, to the 22% of students with documented disabilities in MISD. The project will also address needs of the often overlooked high risk sexual minority youth populations (LGBTQ). The Wisconsin Safe Schools/Healthy Students will provide opportunities for the development and delivery of policies and services to help children and youth to be safe and healthy.

The goal of the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW), in partnership with Black Health Coalition, is to eliminate and reduce the occurrence of substance abuse and HIV infection among young African American Adults, particularly men of color who have sex with men and African American women in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ARCW will conduct a needs assessment via a community workgroup to identify available prevention services and gaps in service to the target population. Upon completion and approval of the needs assessment and strategic plan, ARCW and partner will implement evidence-based prevention interventions. Supplemental funds will be used to enhance the agency's efforts to prevent, reduce, and eliminate the occurrence of HIV among young, African American men of color who have sex with men (MCSM) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin through the provision of rapid HIV counseling, testing, and referral (CTR) services. It is anticipated that 192 individuals will be reached through enhanced activities.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: Assess community readiness for underage alcohol use and marijuana use prevention efforts; support local public policy work to strengthen or adopt ordinances/procedures to reduce access to alcohol and marijuana; increase number of schools, youth serving organizations or other sites in Dunn County that provides prevention and early intervention programming or services for youth under age 19; maintain enforcement of providing alcohol to minors' laws through consistent implementation of party patrols and compliance checks by law enforcement; explore use of a media campaign such as What Has It Cost You? targeted at teens (18 and under) in Dunn County; and utilize the validated instrument; Problem Oriented Screening Instrument For Teenagers (POSIT) with Indicated or Selected Populations of 12-19 year olds, that supports the systematic, early identification of substance abuse and related mental health issues to enable timely referrals to local resources.

The Milwaukee Reality Check Coalition (MRCC) will be focused on three of Milwaukee's most disadvantaged neighborhoods; Sherman Park East, WAICO Amani and Historic Southwest. Primary attention is given to the highest-crime, lowest-income areas of the City of Milwaukee. Specifically, the program will build on its existing Gold Star Initiative, social marketing and community and civic engagement activities. Activities under the STOP Act program will enhance the existing Gold Star effort by educating retailers on the importance of checking IDs, educating retailers on the importance of decreasing displays/advertisements for alcohol, particularly those that appeal to children and those that are prominently displayed and educating retailers on community safety and working with law enforcement. STOP Act funding will also enable the coalition to build on existing efforts to focus marketing and civic engagement activities on preventing underage drinking. The MRCC will use the five steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to guide its activities in order to develop a community-based, public health approach for reducing the incidence of youth alcohol abuse. Through these proposed activities, the Reality Check-21 intervention seeks to positively influence attitude and behavior related to alcohol use. The MRCC will administer a modified version of the Milwaukee Public School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the Wisconsin Alcohol and Drug Survey (WADS) to collect data on four core measures - past 30- day use, perception of risk or harm, perception of parental disapproval of use, and attitude toward peer use.