Posted on: November 1, 2023
The Millage Advisory Committee approved additional funding for the Washtenaw Health Project. $165,000 in funding will allow the Washtenaw Health Project to continue and expand efforts to ensure mental health care is accessible to all, particularly those w...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: November 1, 2023
Since 2019, the Washtenaw County Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage has provided the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) with funding for mini-grants to create school-based programs that support students’ mental welln...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 22, 2023
For the last four years, Washtenaw County’s Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage has provided financial support to reduce recidivism rates–the rates at which individuals return to jail after serving their time–among Washtenaw County jail r...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: May 26, 2023
Finding mental health and substance use support for children and teens can overwhelm and frustrate families. The more organizations involved, the more challenging it becomes. Often, families that are going through an incredibly challenging time aren’t awa...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: May 15, 2023
In 2019, four local housing agencies were awarded a total of $1.2 million in funding from Washtenaw County’s Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation millage to increase supportive housing and services for youth and adults contending with mental healt...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 15, 2022
Washtenaw County’s Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage Advisory Committee has awarded $2.3 million over three years to the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) to fill gaps in youth mental health programming. The grant will give ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 15, 2022
We sat down with Emily Scheitz from the Washtenaw County Community Mental Health crisis response team to learn about the unique way it serves the county, and the team’s plans for the future.
The crisis team provides 24/7 crisis mental health care to everyo...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 29, 2022
By Gregory Powers
In Washtenaw County, there’s a free summer program for K-8 youth who reside in neighborhoods with common barriers to healthy living—a lack of transportation or healthy foods, or a history of gun violence. And, this year, it’s exp...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: March 29, 2022
By Gregory Powers
In Washtenaw County, there’s a phone number for individuals seeking substance use support—a 24/7 hotline that gives people access to an immediate screening, referral to a community provider, or guidance on how to get connected to services...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: March 29, 2022
Story by Cleoniki Kesidis
As pandemic conditions change, the need for mental health services in schools continues to rise.
“It’s like a tsunami,” says Stacey Doyle, a Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) social worker. “Because of the pand...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: March 29, 2022
By Erin Spanier
Returning to the community after a jail stay.
It sounds simple enough on the face of it, but even in resource-rich communities like ours, more than half of Michiganders will return to jail within three years of release. An...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 14, 2021
For over 50 years, Ozone House has played a pivotal role in Washtenaw County—assisting runaway, homeless, and high-risk youth and their families.
While stable housing is a primary focus, the organization has expanded its mission ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 14, 2021
Imagine this situation: Someone is intoxicated, possibly struggling with a larger problem like addiction or poverty, and refusing to leave a business. The business owner calls the police. What should the police do?
“Traditionally, the police had two option...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 14, 2021
When it comes to health and wellness programs and services, Washtenaw County is typically viewed as a “resource rich” community—home to two major health systems and a robust collection of social service organizations.
Many of these organizations have simil...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 14, 2021
When the mental health and public safety millage began funding services in Washtenaw County, a key goal was increasing access for rural residents.
While the eastern part of Washtenaw County is urban, the western part is mainly agricultural and rural. Chels...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 14, 2021
Students with mental and behavioral health needs often struggle in school, as early as elementary school. They may feel misunderstood, confused, or uncomfortable. And sometimes, it causes them to act out—which can disrupt their education and set them on a...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 14, 2021
Throughout 2021, the Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage was featured in a number of local publications—and even nationally in Politico. Media mentions like these have a ripple effect, making it possible for the millage to serve...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: September 14, 2021
One-stop care. What is it? A place that meets your needs holistically—from physical health to mental health, from wellness to treatment, from education to support.
For some, it might sound like a lofty ideal. However, at a colorful storefront on N...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: June 18, 2021
For Avalon Housing, the millage has funded support services at Hickory Way, a residential community that offers easy access to transportation and amenities for those who have experienced chronic homelessness.
Each apartment at Hickory Way is meant...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: June 18, 2021
"I wish parents knew that mental health is real,” says one #wishyouknew social media post beside a portrait of a local teen. Another says, "Don't talk at me or down to me, talk with me.”
The Wish You Knew campaign, funded by Washtenaw County’s Pu...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: June 18, 2021
Recently, Dr. Victor Hong, medical director of psychiatric emergency services (PES) at Michigan Medicine, contacted the millage-funded CARES team at Washtenaw County Community Mental Health. He had been notified that an individual in the community showed ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: June 18, 2021
Since the implementation of Washtenaw County’s voter-approved Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage in January of 2019, meaningful partnerships have flourished across the county. These partnerships expand access to mental health and substan...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: June 18, 2021
When JFK signed the Community Mental Health Act in 1963, community-based mental health and substance use treatment options began to spring up across the U.S. These new programs allowed people with significant mental illnesses and developmental disabilitie...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 18, 2021
Across the U.S. nearly 1.4 million people rely on homeless shelters and transitional housing programs each year. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, health and social service agencies across the nation--some well, and others poorly--employed...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 18, 2021
As suicide rates continue to rise throughout the nation, especially among young people, one local Washtenaw County family is working to help those in need access services.
Suicide rates increased 33 percent nationally from 1999 to 2017, with the sharpest i...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 18, 2021
In 2019, Washtenaw County received a $1 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration. The purpose: To address high recidivism rates--the rates of individuals returning to jail after release--among those with mental health and su...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 18, 2021
Nationally, about 80 percent of people in jail abuse alcohol or drugs. About half are considered clinically addicted. Oftentimes, substance use plays a direct or indirect role in a person’s jail time–which is why access to treatment is so important for bo...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 18, 2021
On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd’s death at the hands of police led hundreds of thousands of people throughout the nation to join the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. While the BLM movement is broad, it essentially seeks to eradicate systemic racism thro...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 17, 2021
The CARES team is a group of mental health professionals funded by Washtenaw County's voter-approved Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage on May 1, 2019 when services were expanded to all residents, regardless of insurance status or severi...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: February 17, 2021
Washtenaw County residents have long asked for a 24/7 crisis center—a place where individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis can go for help and emotional support. Thanks to the Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage, this vision ha...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: October 26, 2020
George Floyd’s death this spring, at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, sparked massive protests across the nation for meaningful police reforms to address police brutality toward Black individuals—which has been well-documented in recent year...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: October 26, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has created hundreds of complicated challenges--from an increased strain on the U.S. Postal System to delays in needed health care services. But the coronavirus pandemic has also spurred solutions, including a dramatic uptick in t...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: October 26, 2020
From economic strains to a now six-month period of isolation, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend daily life. In Washtenaw County, “the unsurprising result,” as Jaishree Drepaul-Bruder reports for Concentrate, is “an uptick in stress, anxiety, depres...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: October 26, 2020
Washtenaw County's Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage is an eight-year, voter-approved homeowner tax that generates resources for mental health and substance use treatment programs that improve health and quality of life across the count...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: October 9, 2019
Thanks to the Washtenaw County Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage, all Washtenaw County residents can get help 24/7 for depression, anxiety, addiction, and more. And receiving aid is as easy as calling 734-544-3050.
As Erin Spanier report...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: May 1, 2020
Washtenaw County Community Mental Health is continuing to provide essential services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our 24/7 CARES line, expanded with funding from the Washtenaw County Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage in 20...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: May 1, 2020
Last November, five mental health professionals from Washtenaw County’s Community Mental Health were tapped by the Sheriff’s Office to join Washtenaw County’s Crisis Negotiation Team.
During the first week of December, the CMH staff attended a on...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
This January, Washtenaw County and the City of Detroit were among 15 jurisdictions hand picked from regions across the country to participate in the inaugural LEAD National Learning Conference hosted by the U.S. Public Defender Association and the LEAD Na...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
Washtenaw County has received a $1 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration to address high recidivism rates among individuals with mental health and substance use disorders to build on collaborative work between the Washten...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
With a $90,000 investment from Washtenaw County’s Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage, the SURE Moms program—designed to unite, support, and empower mothers of justice-involved youth—is being extended to more moms across the county.
Under ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
Founded 39 years ago by a group of concerned citizens who wanted to address health disparities among teenage moms, the Corner Health Center in downtown Ypsilanti has grown into a tremendous local resource: a full-service integrated health clinic that addr...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
Four local agencies have been awarded millage contracts to enhance supportive housing for youth and adults with mental health and substance use concerns.
“One of the key recommendations made by Washtenaw County’s Community Mental Health Advisory ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
In an unassuming brick building just down the street from the Washtenaw County Health Department in Ypsilanti a new community resource is in the final stages of development. It’s an observation and assessment center for individuals in crisis--one that com...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
In 2017, Washtenaw County Commissioner Andy LaBarre was instrumental in the development and passage of the county’s Public Safety and Mental Health Preservation Millage, which currently provides about $16 million per year. Thirty-eight percent o...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
A two-year Public Safety and Mental Health Millage grant of $107,000 has been awarded to the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) for mental health and anti-stigma activities. In year one, WISD will use roughly half of these resources to provide ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
The #wishyouknew youth mental health campaign officially kicked off on Monday, November 25, with artwork by local artist Lauren Mills, quotes from outreach with hundreds of Washtenaw County youth and adults, and a short video featuring Alisha Spencer, a l...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
Washtenaw County and Detroit are the first Michigan jurisdictions to be chosen to participate in the national Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) training institute in Seattle, WA.
Five Washtenaw County diversion leaders--from the Washtenaw County Sh...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 9, 2019
This spring, Washtenaw County Community Mental Health asked the Washtenaw Office of Community and Economic Development (OCED) to develop a request for proposals process designed to increase supportive housing services across Washtenaw County. We are pleas...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
This August, the Millage Advisory Committee approved a funding application from the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) to support anti-stigma campaign activities at all interested Washtenaw County high schools.
The campaigns will focus on positi...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
In our last millage communication, WCCMH introduced readers to planned anti-stigma campaign efforts that are being led, through a millage-funded contract, by the Washtenaw County Health Department. The first two years of this anti-stigma work will focus o...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
Thanks to millage funding, our CARES team staff members are offering four new group therapy options for Washtenaw County residents. These groups are for everyone in the community--regardless of insurance or severity of need. Additional groups will be adde...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
As of July 1, the CARES team had received 250 outpatient service referrals from Ypsilanti (115), Ann Arbor (88), Saline (11), Dexter (6), Whitmore Lake (5), Chelsea (3), and Milan (3).
While most of the referrals are currently coming from the county’s urba...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
Due to underfunding by the state and federal government of Michigan’s community mental health system—behavioral health services for low-income individuals and those with severe and persistent mental illnesses, emotional disturbances, and developmental dis...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
Since November 2018, dozens of representatives from Washtenaw-area organizations--including one-dozen staff members from Washtenaw County Community Mental Health--have been participating in a substance use disorder system transformation process hosted by ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
In the spring of 2019, Washtenaw County Community Mental Health established a Millage Advisory Committee (MAC) to provide strategic oversight on Washtenaw County’s Public Safety and Mental Health Millage activities and investments. The 13-member...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: August 27, 2019
A countywide mental health and substance use disorder service expansion--particularly for historically underserved populations across Washtenaw--has been a key priority for millage investments from the start.
As such, when millage funds first became availa...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: April 25, 2019
While many of us know how to administer first aid for health conditions, few of us are trained to provide similar help for those experiencing a mental health or substance use related crisis. To build community capacity, WCCMH regularly offers Mental Healt...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: September 7, 2020
Washtenaw County Community Mental Health is working with the Washtenaw County Health Department to develop and launch a county-wide campaign to reduce stigma around mental health and addiction.
Health department staff will begin their work with a...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: April 25, 2019
About a dozen Washtenaw County Community Mental Health staff members have been actively participating in a series of local meetings, sponsored by the Washtenaw Health Initiative, that are designed to develop a collaborative action plan to address substanc...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: April 4, 2019
Research from the National Center for Youth Opportunity and Justice (NCYOJ) shows that behavioral health and trauma conditions are consistently higher among youth in the juvenile justice system when compared with the general adolescent population.
Washtena...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: March 30, 2019
On May 1, Washtenaw County Community Mental Health (WCCMH) will extend services and service-navigation assistance to all county residents who are unable to secure community-based mental health and substance use services, regardless of their insurance type...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 21, 2018
Washtenaw County Community Mental Health works closely with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office to improve services for residents with mental health and substance use disorders who come into contact with law enforcement and the corrections system.
Their ...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News
Posted on: December 18, 2018
At their October 3 meeting, Washtenaw County Commissioners approved 11 recommendations from the Community Mental Health Advisory Council (CMHAC) regarding early priorities for the county’s mental health millage investments.
Washtenaw County Community Menta...
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Community Mental Health - Millage News