By Danielle Miller
The Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division (BHD) received $2.6 million dollars in grants to help fund programs that assist those who suffer from opioid addiction in communities of Milwaukee. The two grants were from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ State Target Response(STR) initiative will help BHD provide more programs and services for individuals who struggle with addiction and their families.
“The Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division plays a vital role in connecting individuals in our community with life changing behavioral health care,” said Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele in a Press Release. “These grants will make it possible for us to connect more people with evidence-based and trauma informed programs and services to overcome addiction and strengthen their families.”
The Milwaukee County Family Drug Treatment Court (FDTC) plans to put the SAMSHA grant into their programs over the next five years to better the substance abuse treatment services for FDTC participants and their families. Grant funds will be used to create a more concrete treatment continuum for court involved individuals who are in need treatment, ranging from drug use to mental illness.
“The Milwaukee County Family Drug Treatment Court is nationally recognized for its family-centered trauma informed approach, helping parents recover from substance use disorders while keeping families together when safe and appropriate,” said the Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Maxine Aldridge White in a press release.
Money from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, part of the State Targeted Reponses (STR) initiative funded by SAMHSA, will allow BHD to expand its AODA treatment and recovery services, adding 75 additional individuals on the AODA transitional residential waiting list. BHD treatment services include: Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), as well as access to residential treatment, recovery housing, day treatment, individual counseling, as well as more options to help those recovering from substance use.
“We know when we connect individuals to programs like Family Drug Treatment Court, they have access to the treatment, guidance and supports to make home a safe and permanent place for their children,” said Mike Lappen, administrator for the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division said in a press release. “These programs stabilize homes and build healthy communities.”
The Milwaukee County Family Drug Treatment Court started in May 2011, and was the first FDTC in the State of Wisconsin. The voluntary program helps clients get their children back who were taken away due to substance abuse. The program focuses on services to child and parent, counseling as well as other key practices to help treat substance abuse, trauma, and mental health.
The Milwaukee Behavioral Health Division (BHD) focuses on the behavioral health of community members through treatments for mental health disorders, substance abuse, and co-occurring illnesses by providing resources such as crisis services, community-based as well as hospital based services to provide a full range of options for those in the community who need it, regardless of a patient’s budget or the severity of need.
