Mental health board representatives brief committee on board composition, Parachute House funding and peer services uncertainty

Representatives of the Milwaukee County Mental Health Board briefed the Health Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning Committee on April 10 about board composition, committee structure and current threats to peer-run services after state and federal funding changes.

The presenter told the committee the Mental Health Board is organized under state authority created by Act 203 and said the board has 13 members (11 voting, two non-voting). A presenter said one longstanding challenge is filling a medical-college staff vacancy due to faculty scheduling. The board has standing committees for finance, governance, quality and community engagement; an executive committee includes the committee chairs and vice chair Ken Ginlick (director, Serenities Inn) and secretary Shirley Drake (Peer Specialists Limited).

Why it matters: presenters emphasized the board’s role in oversight and partnership with Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services and noted recent funding disruptions that could affect community services used by county residents. The briefing highlighted the potential near-term impact on peer-run crisis respite and warm-line services that serve people in crisis and provide nonjudgmental peer support.

Funding disruptions described: presenters described a funding cut in late March affecting peer-run programs that had received state funding after earlier county or state support. Parachute House, a peer-run four-bedroom crisis respite (described in the briefing as free, peer-staffed and serving stays up to seven days), originally received county start-up funding and later state support; presenters said Parachute House and another statewide peer program, Uplift Wisconsin (run by Mental Health America of Wisconsin), faced cuts after an ARPA/earmark change. Presenters said both programs received shutdown notices March 27, that an emergency press conference followed and that a court injunction has since ordered funding to be reinstated while litigation proceeds. The briefing said Uplift Wisconsin took about 24,000 calls in 2024 and 7,500 calls in the first quarter of 2025; presenters said about 20 peer specialist positions and roughly 11 Parachute House staff would have been affected by the cut.

Board membership and statute: presenters noted the board was created under state law (the presentation referenced a statute: section 59.794(3)(b) and the legislation that established the board, Act 203). A committee member asked whether county supervisors may serve on the mental health board; presenters said the statute excludes elected officials from membership, and county supervisors may instead observe meetings and engage through public comment.

Budget context: presenters said the county behavioral health budget for the previous year was $243,000,000, with a statutory floor of approximately $53,000,000 and a cap near $65,000,000 of tax levy for that program. The presenters invited collaboration with the county board on shared matters including jail audit comments and cross-system issues such as emergency housing funding.

Meeting outcome and next steps: the briefing was informational only. Presenters said the Mental Health Board will meet April 24 (finance committee at 8 a.m.; full board at 9 a.m., Coggs Building Room 101) and will continue outreach; the presenters asked the county board committee to coordinate on items including mental health month outreach and the board’s intended comments on the jail audit.

Speakers identified in the presentation included a Mental Health Board presenter (name not specified on the record), Administrator Lappin (first reference in the meeting record), Director LeGrand, Shaquita Grama McLane (Department of Health and Human Services), and Mike (surname not specified) who added comments about system impacts.