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Here are some of the Legislation Issues at various levels regarding Mental Health:

Reforms at the State (Wisconsin) Level

1. Amend the Chapter 51 Involuntary Commitment standard for being able to get care from “imminent danger to self or others” to something like New York’s Kendra’s Law or California’s Prop 1. Possible changes to the Chapter 51 state statutes.
2. Allow Psychiatric Advanced Directives (PADS) so people can let their families know their wishes before they become psychotic and unable to make coherent decisions.
3. Provide more funding to counties to help them care for those in their community with serious mental illness (SMI).
4. Ask the state to apply for a waiver to the IMD Exclusion, which prohibits the federal government from reimbursing the states for Medicaid. This should result in more psychiatric beds in the state. This SB635/AB616. PASSED!
5. Support SB462/AB467 to provide more crisis stabilization centers. PASSED!
6. SB595/AB634 is called the Good Samaritan Law and would protect people who call 911 during an overdose crisis from prosecution. Did not pass.
7. On April 4, 2024, Governor Evers signed Senate Bill 668 into law, which directs the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions to create an ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) savings account program for people with disabilities. We will take the WIN!

Reforms at the Milwaukee County Level

1. Increase the number of psychiatric beds in the county. Many organizations have recommended 30-50 beds per 100,000 people, so Milwaukee County should have 300-500 beds, and they aren’t even close.
2. Stop the “revolving door.” Keep patients in the hospital long enough to stabilize them.
3. Provide supportive housing- community-based residential facilities (CBRFs) for those with SMI who are unable to live safely on their own. Case managers would be assigned to make sure their clients remain stable and to help them access needed services. These facilities should be in safe neighborhoods.
4. Provide more funding for services that help prevent crises from happening in the first place.
5. Decriminalize serious mental illness (SMI). Treat people in hospitals, not jails. Over 50% of the inmates at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility have a mental illness, according to their own website.

Reforms at the Federal Level

1. Reform HIPPA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to allow families of those in active psychosis to be involved in their loved one’s treatment. Right now they can only be involved in certain circumstances
2. Eliminate the 1965 Institute for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion. If those between 21-65 on Medicaid go to any hospital for treatment, they are covered and the federal government reimburses the state. If they go to a mental health hospital, the federal government won’t reimburse the states for Medicaid unless there are 16 or fewer beds. This results in a shortage of psychiatric beds across the country.
3. Reclassify serious mental illness (SMI) from a behavioral issue to what it is–a neurological condition.
4. Prioritize and provide more funding for those with SMI.

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ADMIRE GETS AN AWARD FOR ADVOCACY AT THE COUNTY LEVEL! ADMIRE was given a commendation for our advocacy in Milwaukee County! Thanks to Supervisor Priscilla Coggs-Jones, who nominated us!!