Three-county effort aims to improve mental health, substance abuse treatment

Oct. 10--A three-county, year-long effort to improve mental health and substance abuse treatment will begin with a public meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday in the basement auditorium of the La Crosse County Human Services Department at 400 N. Fourth St. in La Crosse.

The quest is a project of the Western Region Integrated Care Consortium, which aligned the human services departments of La Crosse, Jackson and Monroe counties last year to work together.

"We want to see that energy is put into prevention, because we know there are a lot of intervention projects," said Matt Strittmater, a La Crosse County Human Services manager who also heads the consortium.

"We knew we could not create a new pot, because there are people doing things," he said.

"Is there something we can do to enhance what's going on?" he said.

That is the question participants will address as they meet in conjunction with the Grassroots Empowerment Project, a statewide nonprofit organization based in Madison directed by mental health care consumers, he said.

The meeting will focus on explaining the project's method in designing programs, Strittmater said.

He hopes for a turnout of 30 to 50 people, including people who use mental health services and their family members and representatives, as well as representatives of health care agencies, law enforcement, community groups and schools.

"Everyone has the opportunity to design and create resources," he said.

"We will narrow down the process and pull things together to develop a strong group of family members and service agencies," Strittmater said.

The group would spend the next 12 months winnowing through available and potential services to improve prevention efforts, he said.

The consortium was created last year with the help of a $600,000 federal block grant to be used to reorganize delivery of mental health services and improve access in rural areas.

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