SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, WI (WHBL) - Sheboygan County’s Health and Human Services Department is making a change in how is will serve mental health patients in the future.
Amy Culver, Supervisor of Case Management, tells WHBL News the department is weaning off the Community Support Program, which has been in place since the 1970s to keep people out of institutions and hospitals.
Since then more programs have come about, including the Comprehensive Community Services, giving mental health patients a chance for more independence.
"The philosophy behind C-S-P was we’re gonna hold your hand, you’re gonna have a case manager for the rest of your life; if you’re mentally ill, you’re never gonna be able to do it alone, and we have discovered throughout the years that’s not the case," says Culver.
C-C-S has also been a favorite of Governor Scott Walker, who has given the program more funding.
Culver says putting more people on C-C-S will mean less local tax money going into C-S-P. "Estimated up until this point of the year, if we’d had done this we would have had an extra 40 to 50 thousand dollars in revenue coming in."
Culver says the change is more administrative, meaning mental health patients should see little if any change to their services.