Wis. county grant builds on efforts to improve inmate mental healthcare

Forty-six percent of inmates within the county’s jail system were diagnosed with some form of mental health ailment

Ben Baker
Badger Herald

DANE COUNTY, Wis. — Dane County received a series of grants to further improve mental healthcare access within the criminal justice system and broader population.

The Dane County Criminal Justice Council applied for a grant to assist countywide efforts in developing stronger, less racialized mental healthcare for its prison population. The National Association of Counties and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided Dane County additional funding for their mission, prompting celebration among county officials like Colleen Clark Bernhardt, the CJC Equity and Criminal Justice Council Coordinator.

As part of this new grant, Dane County will begin working with the Peer Learning Network, a collaborative effort of counties and criminal justice experts, to reduce the number of incarcerated people suffering from mental illness, Bernhardt said. The CJC’s Behavioral and Mental Health Subcommittee, created in May 2019, is tasked specifically with issues like this, Bernhardt said.

Full story: Dane County grant builds on efforts to strengthen mental healthcare access for inmates