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Learning Event Support: NAMI Wisconsin Facilitates Mental Health Action Partnership Learning Summit

Advancing statewide mental health system improvement by identifying gaps, sharing best practices, and empowering community-driven solutions across Wisconsin

Full Project Name:Learning Event Support: NAMI Wisconsin Facilitates Mental Health Action Partnership Learning SummitPrimary Community Organization:National Alliance on Mental Illness WisconsinAward Amount:$5,000
Award Date
April2025
Project Duration:8 months

Project Summary:


The goal for this event is to identify opportunities for long-term statewide mental health system improvement and the next steps participants can take in their own community or organization. Previous mental health reform efforts in Wisconsin have had limited long-term impact due to the lack of collaboration between mental health providers and other stakeholders and inadequate representation from underserved populations. People from one part of the system don’t understand the challenges and barriers in other parts of the system. Learning more about perspectives from various sectors will allow participants to see the whole picture and more effectively engage in system improvement.

The Mental Health Action Partnership (MHAP) identifies gaps and barriers in the system and investigates effective reform elsewhere in the nation that could be adapted in Wisconsin. MHAP has four workgroups: Workforce & Medicaid, Access & Equity, Criminal Justice Diversion, and Mental Health Data. During the summit participants will learn from the workgroups about needs, best practices, and strategies for mental health system improvement. Learning objectives enable MHAP participants to:

  1. Learn principles for long-term system improvement and identify barriers to care,
  2. Examine best practices in system improvement within Wisconsin and from other states,
  3. Discuss how participants can adapt and implement best practices in the context of Wisconsin’s county-based human service system,
  4. Develop plans for MHAP workgroups to analyze findings from the meeting and produce reports for consideration by the full MHAP partnership. Speakers from the Department of Health Services and content experts from the MHAP workgroups will discuss system needs, model improvements, and actions participants can take in their own communities.

Participants will learn from each other as they share experiences from their perspective. Materials will include research-based information on mental health system improvement, cost benefit, and engagement and outcomes. The summit will include organizational representatives and individuals who participate in MHAP. MHAP participants include county and nonprofit frontline service providers and administrators, service recipients, families, representatives of underserved populations, and representatives from organizations in adjacent systems such as health, criminal justice and education. These participants joined MHAP and are attending the summit to evaluate the status of MHAP’s work and identify strategies for continued mental health system improvement. We anticipate 100 participants.

The agenda for this event is informed by the MHAP workgroups which are comprised of service providers, services recipients, representatives of underserved populations, and adjacent systems. Previous MHAP events have utilized round table and small group discussions to identify needs and formulate recommendations based on participants’ lived experience and professional perspective. Guest speakers will discuss barriers and expand on examples of best practices and processes for implementation in the community.

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