Background

Since 2015, the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) has grown to an over $400 million national initiative funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The initiative, which has expanded to over 100 cities and counties, supports collaboration among local leaders and communities to reduce over-incarceration in local criminal legal systems by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails. Policy Research, Inc., (PRI) partners with the MacArthur Foundation to help SJC communities reduce the number of individuals with mental illness, substance use, and other complex needs who are involved, or at risk of involvement with, their local criminal legal systems. This resource, “Spotlight on the Legacy of Behavioral Health Reform in Milwaukee County, WI,” spotlights the behavioral health-focused work of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

Milwaukee’s Behavioral Health Success

Since engaging with the SJC in 2015, Milwaukee County has developed multiple strategies to address the needs of people with behavioral health conditions, focusing on diversion and community intervention. The Community Justice Council has championed the county’s comprehensive approach to better serve people with behavioral health and related complex needs. The brief presents the county’s myriad accomplishments by intercept, including the following:

  • Intercept 0: Milwaukee expanded community-based crisis response through non-police mobile teams, crisis resource centers, and peer support specialists trained across the system.
  • Intercept 1: Milwaukee scaled its co-responder crisis program to serve the whole county and delivered trauma-informed crisis intervention training to vested partners across law enforcement, courts, and corrections.
  • Intercept 2: Milwaukee created a Behavioral Health Criminal Justice Liaison to conduct booking-level assessments and connect people to community resources, and implemented PRA’s Brief Jail Mental Health Screen.
  • Intercept 3: Milwaukee scaled its Mental Health Court to full capacity, established interdisciplinary Jail Population Review Teams, and launched a Competency to Stand Trial Workgroup to create clear pathways out of the criminal legal system and into treatment.
  • Intercept 4: Milwaukee strengthened reentry by establishing a Transitions Clinic that provides peer-supported health services, hosting resource fairs, and maintaining a dedicated employment resource website for returning citizens.

Policy Research’s Technical Support

Policy Research has provided technical assistance to Milwaukee through the SJC, including facilitating three Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Workshops. In these workshops, local cross-system representatives were brought together to identify gaps and resources and build consensus on strategies. Initiative leaders met regularly to update the Milwaukee Sequential Intercept Model Map to increase or re-establish collaboration, which was vital to their continued momentum.

Suggested Citation

Krider, A. (2026). Spotlight on the legacy of behavioral health reform in Milwaukee County, WI. Policy Research. https://prainc.com/resource-library

First released in 2026.

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