Facing a growing demand for mental health services Milwaukee County is recruiting licensed clinicians.
Since the Mental Health Complex in Wauwatosa closed about a year ago the county shifted to community-based care. Leaders say they have seen "significant reductions" in admissions and emergency visits but the need is still pressing.
Cait Fleming is one of the clinicians you might hear after dialing the Milwaukee County Crisis line.
"There are days when we don't get a lot and there are days where we got 20..30...40...50 calls in the same day," Fleming said.
She is on the Milwaukee Mobile Crisis team, which is tasked with helping the caller navigate mental health resources.
When it is needed clinicians will go out into the community in teams to meet with individuals and better serve them.
Fleming feels the community-based approach is more impactful than being in a hospital setting like the former Mental Health Complex where she used to work
"Now we get to spend a lot more time going out and talking to people in their homes in the community and getting them resources before they reach the point that they are in needing to be in the hospital," Fleming explained.
Generally, the crisis line receives more than 20,000 calls in a year according to county data.
In all of last year, the Milwaukee Mobile Crisis team completed about 2,323 mobile visits. From January to September of 2023, the team made 4,330 mobile visits.
"The more clinicians we have the more time we can take with the person we're seeing," said Alex Zurek, another mobile crisis clinician.
Leaders are offering incentives to hire at least six more clinicians.
There is a $7,500 sign-on bonus for full-time clinicians and a $3,750 bonus for part-time. Depending on experience the hourly rate is between $25.21-35.08. Additionally, the team offers on-site supervised hours for people working towards acquiring their full licensure.
The work is challenging, but having a 24/7 line open is critical.
"It's really important and it's not easy to pick up the call and say I've got something going on," Zurek explained.
Apply and learn more information by clicking here.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
