Effort to combat drug, mental health crisis expands

The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office will be able to establish a second “co-responder” team to deal with crisis situations, thanks to a $75,000 state grant that a county committee voted to accept last week. 

The grant will allow the county Human Services Department to hire a clinician to work with a sheriff’s deputy to “promote effective strategies to identify and reduce the risk of harm to individuals with behavioral health needs or those experiencing an acute crisis who encounter law enforcement,” according to a memo to the Public Safety Committee from Sheriff Christy Knowles.

The first co-responder team was created in 2024 to provide screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment assessments including suicide risk evaluations, engage in supportive listening techniques and facilitate referrals to behavioral health services, Knowles said. 

The second team will include an officer funded by the Mequon Police Department, she said.

The  co-responder teams and other efforts to combat rampant drug use in the county and its effects are generally funded by court settlements against the manufacturers and distributors of prescription oxycodone and other drugs.

“This grant will save $75,000 that would otherwise be spent from the opioid settlement funds for one year,” Knowles said.

The grant will cover the clinician’s salary, while the settlement funds will be used for the employee’s benefits, she said.

The clinician has already been hired, Knowles told the committee.

The mental health and drug addiction crisis in the county, officials say, saps resources, exhausts personnel and causes facilities to overflow. 

The teams are trained to de-escalate such crisis situations and help find appropriate treatment options.

The co-responder teams also are proactive, reaching out to those with mental health issues who are already known to law enforcement and mental health professionals before a crisis occurs.

Law enforcement, emergency medical service personnel and other first responders in the county have received training in recent years on how to handle situations when mental illness or drug use are involved, but adding the co-responder team  has helped reduce the number of incidents and their level of danger, Knowles said.

The committee’s action requires approval from the County Board.

Knowles has said the increasing number of mental health calls is a major drain on deputies’ time, saying the average case requires at least seven hours of observation by a deputy and averages about 13.5 hours, taking personnel away from other calls.

Knowles has said she hopes to eventually have three teams to cover more shifts.

Knowles also hopes to develop a “respite center” or mental health emergency center where a person could be stabilized.

Nearly two-thirds of Ozaukee County jail inmates have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, officials say, and often have no plan for what to do or how to live once they are released.

More than half the jail population is from outside the county, Knowles said.