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Sustaining a Behavioral Health System in Marathon County

Extending school-based mental health services in Marathon County school districts

Full Project Name:Sustaining a Behavioral Health System in Marathon CountyPrimary Community Organization:Marathon County Health DepartmentPrimary Academic Partner:Michelle Broaddus, PhD, Psychiatry and Behavioral MedicineAward Amount:$300,000
Award Date
July2022
Project Duration:24 months

Project Description Narrative:


In phase three of its Advancing Behavioral Health initiative, the Marathon County School-Based Counseling Consortium aims to implement a sustainability plan for backbone staff, refine coalition structure, and embed school-based mental health within all Marathon County school districts.

The coalition will also identify remaining barriers to school-based mental health counseling and devise strategies to overcome them while strengthening community support and leveraging resources for school-based mental health services.

Coalition partners will work to determine key elements of successful school-based mental health in Marathon County and disseminate practices and strategies that successfully influence school policy change to make school-based mental health sustainable.

The COVID-19 pandemic hindered the coalition's dissemination of the program's success and challenges. This new project phase will allow partners to re-engage with community initiatives, connect resources, and share data to drive policy change around youth mental health.

Creating a community that values, prioritizes, and improves youth mental health is the coalition's ultimate goal. Marathon County community partners are poised and ready to make that change.

Community partners: Abbotsford School District, Achieve Center, Athens School District, Bridge Community Health Clinic, Center for Human Development, Centre for Wellbeing, Charis Counseling, Children's Wisconsin, Colby School District, Compass Counseling, D.C. Everest School District, Empower Mental Health Clinic, Marathon County Health Department, Marathon County Special Education, Marathon School District, Mosinee School District, North Central Health Care, Peaceful Solutions Counseling, Rosholt School District, Spencer School District, Stratford School District, The Caring Tree, Wausau Police Department, Wausau School District

Project Updates:


  • Continued to support Marathon County school districts in embedding school-based mental health counseling
  • Completed a variety of education and advocacy efforts around youth mental health and comprehensive school mental health (CSMH), including traditional and social media stories and local and statewide presentations
  • Led the production of a suicide and crisis resource video which highlighted various community resources for mental health, including the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
  • Working to position the Marathon County School-Based Counseling Consortium (MCS-BCC) for strategic conversations about sustainability and the future of the MCS-BCC
  • Leveraged over 58 hours of volunteer support from community partners to advance project efforts and disseminated about the project through 12 presentations, including the Department of Public Instruction's Comprehensive School Mental Health Webinar Series and the 2023 Wisconsin Public Health Association Conference

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