New Neighbor, New Cooperation, New Development

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has decided to develop the historic Pabst brewery site into the new home for the new School of Public Health. We at the Planning Council for Health and Human Services are very pleased to welcome them to the neighborhood in the near future. By locating the School of Public Health downtown, UWM hopes to “connect their faculty and students with others dedicated to addressing the public health needs of the state”. Their mission of serving the community aligns with ours. We are interested in and looking forward to possible cooperation with them.

For starters, we are glad to help them spread the word about several interesting speeches that are going to be presented by candidates for the Community Behavioral Health Promotion/Health Disparities faculty positions. The next one is tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 24). Anyone who is interested is welcomed to join Dr. Joshua Garoon in Room 181, UWM Student Union from 9:30 – 10:30 am in the discussion of Health, Everyday Life, and the Art of Poaching: Comparing Community-Based Research Approaches in Rural Zambia and Urban Baltimore.

We have also been informed of future presentation dates (all at 9:30 am):

Oct 8
Oct 18
Oct 22
Oct 28

More details can be found here. We will keep you posted.

Your friends at the Planning Council are planning to attend the talks. We are curious about how the scholarly findings can translate into our projects. Hopefully, we will be able to take away something that might shed light on our work.

Planning Council Supports Mental Health Services for Youth

Did you know that...

• Research predicts that approximately 26,000 children living in Milwaukee currently have an unmet need for mental health treatment?
• In 2008, the Planning Council for Health and Human Services, Inc. facilitated an outcome-focused planning process to develop strategies to help students with emergent mental health needs achieve educational and life success?
• The Greater Milwaukee Foundation recently awarded $150,000 to the Planning Council to support a coalition in implementing a pilot program to improve youth mental health services?

Milwaukee's Youth Mental Health Initiative (MYMHI) is a pilot program that will allow community providers to deliver services in schools or other convenient locations, raise awareness about mental health among teachers and parents, and develop policy solutions to sustain funding for mental health services for youth over the long-term.

Partners include representatives from Pathfinders, Aurora Family Services, Rogers Memorial Hospital, Sebastian Family Psychology Practice, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), the City Health Department, Milwaukee County, Medical College of Wisconsin, and HMOs.

MYMHI will be implemented this fall in four diverse MPS schools (Hopkins Street Elementary School, Audubon Technology and Communications Center, Wedgewood Park International School, and O.W. Holmes Elementary School), and will focus on students who have needs that extend beyond what can be addressed in a traditional school setting, but are not yet at a crisis level.