Where to get help:

In Taylor County, there is no inpatient care, meaning there is no facility in Taylor County that provides overnight hospitalization to provide treatment services for mental health and substance abuse related situations and crises. Taylor County Human Services most often sends patients in need of inpatient care to the Norwood Health Center located in the Wood County Annex and Health Center in Marshfield, as well as other places in the Green Bay and Oshkosh areas.

Meyer and Walsh also talked about what to do if community members witness someone having some difficulty or a mental health crisis. “So you either have people that go into action and start to take care of business or they also start to panic with the person. So call somebody who can be helpful. Typically 911 is what should be called,” said Meyer.

Meyer explained that after calling 911, an officer would arrive on scene and get in contact with the correct person who can help. At that point, the person will receive medical evaluation so it can be determined if the cause is a physical or mental health condition. Human Services said that they have to get medical clearance first before they can step in and assist. Along with calling 911, there are also a number of crisis lines that can be called. Walsh suggested that people save the county’s 24-hour crisis line number into their mobile phone’s contact.

On July 16, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission announced that they would be establishing a national three-digit phone number to take the place of the current National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, which is 1-800-273-8255. The new number would be 988, an easy to remember number similar to how 911 works as a general emergency number. When the news was announced, it was said they it’d take two years to make the transition to the 988 number, which would connect callers with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors.

Meyer explained that there are high risk factors to take into consideration when facing a crisis. So when working with a person facing a mental health related incident, they try to look to see if the person is in one of these high risk groups. Some of these groups include members of the LGBTQ community, farmers, and males from age 18 to 60, according to Meyer. They also look out for signs of substance abuse and physical abuse.

Recently, Walsh and one of their mental health therapists were trained through the school to provide youth and adult mental health first aid. Walsh compared the training to that of CPR training for someone in a mental health crisis. She said that the goal is to be able to give that training to other groups of people outside of school staff. Some staff at Stepping Stones have also received this training.

Stepping Stones is a non-profit organization located in Medford that provides free and confidential advocacy services to the community. While their primary focus is helping survivors and victims of violence, they have a wide variety of resources and are always willing to help anyone who calls them. One thing that Stepping Stones can do is give people resources for whatever situation they are going through. They can help with safety planning and providing emergency shelter. Courtney Scholl, the co-director of Stepping Stones, explained that they have a binder full of community resources for just about any and every crisis and situation so they can help people the best they can.

Stepping Stones also has a 24-hour crisis and support hotline, as well as a text line that is available between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. “People are able to contact us at any time and reach an advocate, day or night. That could be for emotional support, questions, information, or referrals they are looking for,” said Scholl.

Scholl said that the schools have also been prioritizing the mental health of their students. Meyers also emphasized the increase in mental health awareness and care in the community’s youth. About five years ago, the Medford school district established the CARES model to provide mental health services to students in any of the school’s buildings.

The CARES model stands for Counseling for All to Reach Emotional Success and acts as a comprehensive model for providing mental health counseling within the schools. The CARES model program is also a partnership between the Medford school, Aspirus hospital, and Counseling Connections. “Basically, we have licensed community mental health counselors in each of our school buildings that spend part of their day [at the school],” said Joseph Greget, the director of student services and special education.

For students that utilize that counseling offered through the school, the cost will either be covered by the parent’s insurance or by funding through Aspirus. While a lot of students that go through the CARES model were introduced by teacher and parent referral, students are able to seek out counseling themselves.

Where to get help:

Taylor County Crisis Line: 1-866-317-9362 OR text “hopeline” to 741741 Veteran Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 press 1 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 OR for Spanish: 1-888-628-9454 Deaf or hearing impaired: 1-800-799-4889 Trevor Lifeline (for LGBTQ+): 1-866-488-7286 Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 Taylor County Human Services: 715-748-3332 Taylor County Child Abuse and Neglect Line: 715-3140696

Taylor County Sheriff’s Office: 715-748-2200 Crime Tip Line: 1-866-892-7463 Stepping Stones: 715-748-3795 Stepping Stones Crisis Hotline: 1-715-748-5140 OR 1-866-343-5140 Steeping Stones Text Line (8 a.m. - 10 p.m.): 715-965-9109 Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 Greget said that the desire and need to provide such mental health resources started a decade ago after the district lost a student to suicide. “I knew at that time that we needed to do more to try to prevent that from ever happening again,” said Greget.

Greget explained that there’s a lot of federal, state, and local interest in mental health awareness and resources, so there are a lot of grants available to utilize. With that, the CARES model has since expanded outside of the Medford school district to Rib Lake, Gilman, and Holy Rosary schools.

Coming up on September 10, there is the suicide prevention walk at the city park. This is an event that’s organized to bring awareness. Meyer said that it also acts as a memorial for those who have lost loved ones to suicide. When it comes to mental health, it’s important to check in with oneself and with other community members. It’s also important to be mindful of what others could be going through and be aware of all the resources available in the county.