Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in Wisconsin

There’s a way to get affordable mental health care that you might not know about. That’s Wisconsin’s public mental health system.

If you qualify, you can get mental health care at a publicly-funded program for a small co-pay or a low sliding-scale fee. But even if you don’t qualify for services at a state-funded program, the Wisconsin mental health system can still give you information, referrals to affordable local providers, and other essential help for free.

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If you’re in a hurry and want to get the most important information about what’s available in the Wisconsin mental health system and who it’s for, you can read our quick start guide below.

To learn more about public mental health services in Wisconsin, keep reading. We’ve done the research to uncover essential facts about who’s eligible, what services you can get, when to go, where to call, and how it works so you can decide if Wisconsin’s mental health system might be right for you.

Who Is Eligible?

The Wisconsin public mental health system can help with a wide range of mental health needs, but you should especially consider looking into it if you (or a loved one) are having a mental health crisis, have a severe mental health condition, have Medicaid, or have a limited income.

Everyone in Wisconsin can use the state-funded mental health emergency response system. If you or someone you love is in crisis, you can call a state or local crisis line to get the help you need, quickly.

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Public mental health services are usually the best option if you’re having a mental health crisis and need help right away.

State mental health programs are required to provide mental health crisis response services and are one of the fastest ways to get care when you’re having a mental health emergency.

The people who answer state and county crisis lines can provide caring attention and support as they help you determine the best response to a crisis, whether it’s inpatient treatment or an appointment with a counselor.

Even if you’re not in crisis, you can call your local mental health hotline for information about affordable mental health services in your area. When you call, you can find out whether you might qualify for state-funded mental health services, schedule an assessment or intake appointment, or get free information about other affordable local providers.

In general, the Wisconsin mental health system is pretty accessible. There are no statewide eligibility criteria for public outpatient mental health services in Wisconsin and many state-funded programs serve people with a wide range of mental health needs.

However, eligibility criteria and which services are available vary from county to county. Some counties and programs have stricter eligibility criteria than others. In general, county mental health programs have stricter eligibility criteria than private programs.

That said, when county programs offer counseling, the eligibility criteria are generally less strict than for specialty services like PACT, day treatment, and community-based care.

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County mental health programs in Wisconsin are great places to find specialized and intensive mental health services like case management and day treatment that can be hard to find anywhere else. These specialty programs can give you extra help when you’re dealing with severe symptoms.

While there are no statewide eligibility criteria for publicly-funded mental health services in Wisconsin, you get priority admission if you have a severe mental health condition, a limited income, or otherwise face circumstances that make it hard to get the care you need (such as needing specialty services your insurance doesn’t cover).

Which services you can get from your county depends on where you live. Some counties in Wisconsin operate county clinics that offer counseling services. Some operate community service programs for people with severe mental health conditions and contract with private providers for clinic services. Some do not directly provide mental health services at all.

However, most counties in Wisconsin provide some mental health services directly and also contract with local agencies to provide additional care. Eligibility criteria, which services are available, and how quickly you can get an appointment depends on your county’s funding, policies, and provider network.

Most programs that participate in the mental health system accept Medicaid and a range of other public, private, and commercial insurance plans. Most also offer sliding-scale fees if you don’t have insurance or don’t have an insurance plan they accept.

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One of the most important things to know about the Wisconsin mental health system is that which services are available and who’s eligible varies from county to county and program to program.

So, it’s important to check with your local mental health department to find out what’s available where you live or to call the program you’re interested in directly to find out what their eligibility criteria are and whether they have a waitlist.

You can call your county mental health program or a local agency to learn more about what services they offer, whether you’re eligible, and whether there’s a waitlist. You can find the numbers for local programs in the directory below.

We encourage you to call even if you’re not sure whether you’re eligible or whether you’ve found the right program. Even if you don’t meet the program’s requirements or they don’t offer the service you want, they can probably still help you.

People who work at state-funded agencies are knowledgeable about local resources and will often give you free information or even referrals to other affordable providers nearby, including local non-profits that provide free or low-cost counseling.

Where Do You Call to Get Started?

The easiest way to learn more about state-funded mental health care in Wisconsin is to call your county mental health department or call the program you’re interested in directly. You can find contact information for your county in the directory in the next section.

There are also many numbers you can call for help no matter where you are in Wisconsin. You can find the numbers for statewide helplines and hotlines in the information box directly below.

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The statewide Wisconsin mental health crisis hotline is 988.

The Crisis Text Line for the state of Wisconsin is 741741.

For help and referrals for mental health and many other needs, you can call 211.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline is 1-800-950-NAMI (6264).

You can reach the non-emergency NAMI Wisconsin Helpline by calling (608) 268-6000.

If you just want to talk about what you’re going through, you can speak with a peer from 12PM to 12AM daily by calling the Uplift Wisconsin Warmline at (534) 202-5438.

You can contact the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which oversees the state mental health system, by calling (608) 266-1865.

Public mental health services in Wisconsin are managed on the state level by the Department of Health Services. For general information about Wisconsin’s system, you can contact DHS at (608) 266-1865.

However, you’ll probably get the best results by calling your county mental health department or the program you’re interested in directly. You can find the contact information for your county in the directory below.

Wisconsin Mental Health Directory

There are 72 counties in Wisconsin and each has a department or division that manages local mental health services. Some counties have dedicated mental health departments, while others have mental health divisions in their health, human services, or community services departments.

Some Wisconsin counties provide mental health services directly through a county-run mental health clinic or community service program. Some contract with private providers to deliver local state-funded mental health services. Many do both.

Each county has a phone number you can call to get information about mental health services or to get help in a crisis. You can find listings for the programs that serve your county, as well as the numbers for your local mental health department and crisis line, in the directory below.

Note that many providers that participate in the public system also provide services to residents of nearby counties, so don’t assume you’re limited to the providers listed for your county. You can call any program you’re interested in to learn more.

Some counties have crisis lines that are staffed 24 hours a day, while others have a daytime crisis line run by their mental health department and an after-hours crisis hotline answered by the local sheriff’s department. Just ask for a crisis worker when you call and you’ll get routed to the right person.

If you need information after hours or aren’t sure whether you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, it’s okay to call a state or local crisis line for help. The staff who answer are trained to quickly figure out what you need and can tell you what steps you need to take to connect with the right services.

You can also call 988 from anywhere in Wisconsin to connect with 24-hour mental health crisis and information services. You can call 211 throughout Wisconsin to learn more about local resources including mental health programs.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services also has a page on “Finding and Choosing Mental Health Treatment Programs” which includes links to mental health program directories as well as an online provider search.

Also Consider: Federally Qualified Health Centers

Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are another great way to get affordable publicly-funded mental health services in Wisconsin.

These federally-funded programs provide cutting-edge care in places where good primary healthcare was once hard to find. Most provide integrated care so you can get primary medical and mental health services at the same location. Each FQHC accepts Medicaid and Medicare and offers low sliding-scale fees if you don’t have insurance.

You can search for FQHCs near you by using the online search tool on the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration website.

Troubleshooting Guide

The state mental health system is complicated and can be confusing to navigate. If you’re having any issues, we’re here to help. Here are some of our solutions to common problems you might experience.

If you’ve run into a problem that we haven’t addressed, don’t give up. Call someone at the program (or a state or local mental health hotline) and tell them what’s going on.

You’re much more likely to get the help you need when you advocate for yourself and are persistent. Tell the person you talk to what you need or what problem you’re having.

If they don’t help the first time, call them back and tell them. If you keep calling and keep calm and focused, you should eventually get through to someone who can help you.

Deep Dive: How Does the System Work?

To understand Wisconsin’s mental health system, it helps to understand how it started and how it’s changed since then.

Public mental health services have been around for a surprisingly long time. But for over a hundred years in America, the only way to get them was in a psychiatric hospital.

DEEP DIVE

To learn more about what the public mental health system was like in the early days—and how psychiatric inpatient care has evolved since then—you can read our article “Do Insane Asylums Still Exist? The Surprising Past and Present.”

To learn more about what inpatient mental health treatment is like now, and the differences between how it works in general hospitals and specialized psychiatric facilities, you can read our article “How Inpatient Mental Health Treatment Works.”

In the 1960s, Americans started thinking differently about mental health care. Conditions in psychiatric hospitals were getting worse and new medications made it possible to provide mental health treatment on an outpatient basis.

In response, new laws were passed that required state and local governments to establish community mental health programs as alternatives to institutionalization for people with serious mental illness. The most important was the Community Mental Health Act, which President John F. Kennedy signed into law in 1963.

Many state mental health programs trace their origins back to the 1960s when these important changes started to happen. Wisconsin is no exception. It spent the next few decades developing a pioneering and innovative community mental health system.

DEEP DIVE

Public mental health services in Wisconsin are managed on the state level by the Division of Care and Treatment Services in the Department of Health Services.

This division within the health department operates the state’s seven inpatient psychiatric facilities, oversees the operation and funding of community mental health services, and evaluates and licenses mental health programs.

Each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties has a government division that manages mental health services. In most counties, this is either the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, or a branch of one of these departments. A few counties assign mental health services to Community Services or Social Services departments.

Many Wisconsin counties directly provide mental health services, while others contract with private state-licensed community mental health providers. Many counties do both. The state largely funds community mental health programs through Medicaid. There are also some grants to help programs offer reduced or sliding-scale rates to people who lack insurance.

After the federal Community Mental Health Act was passed, Wisconsin started funding and building community mental health programs across the state.

Wisconsin amended its mental health law in 1971 to establish community mental health boards and shift responsibility for planning, developing, and funding public mental health services from the state government to county governments.

The purpose of the new law was to increase the number of community mental health programs, reduce hospitalization rates, and successfully transition away from reliance on state hospitals as the primary form of public mental health care in Wisconsin.

The state’s efforts were a success. Wisconsin led the nation in innovations that made community mental health more effective, including pioneering efforts to literally meet clients where they were in their local communities.

DEEP DIVE

In the early 1970s, the staff at the Mendota Mental Health Institute, the state psychiatric hospital in Madison, developed the Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT).

PACT teams coordinate community-based services to address a client’s full spectrum of needs, including housing, financial, and daily living needs. In-home interventions are an important part of PACT. By providing support that addresses the functional impairments caused by severe mental illness, PACT reduces the risk of rehospitalization.

PACT was already a success by the late 1970s and has since been adopted throughout the state, across the country, and around the world. To this date, the mental health system in Wisconsin still focuses more on wraparound services like PACT than counseling, though many county programs also offer counseling.

Wisconsin’s investment in its mental health system frequently puts it at or near the top of state mental health rankings like Mental Health America’s. However, the state still struggles with issues of access to mental health care, including long wait times for outpatient mental health services.

The mental health crisis response system also faces challenges such as reliance on police to transport people in mental health crisis and a lack of enough mental health crisis facilities. Many counties still rely on local sheriff’s departments for their after-hours crisis lines.

In response, the Wisconsin government is seeking to invest more in the state mental health system, especially crisis care, and is funding the development of crisis urgent care facilities in underserved areas. Wisconsin also launched the statewide 988 mental health crisis line in July 2022 in an effort to streamline access to crisis care.

You can use these new state services to get the help you need. If you’re in crisis or need mental health care and aren’t sure what to do, you can start by calling 988 or your county crisis line—the people who answer know how the system works and will help you get where you need to go.

Conclusion

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 53 percent of people in Wisconsin who have mental health conditions get treatment for them. Many of them qualify for public mental health services but don’t know about them.

You can make a difference by reaching out and connecting with local mental health resources to get the care you need. If you’re not sure whether you qualify for Wisconsin state mental health services, call a local program or your county’s mental health department. You may find out you can get mental health services from a state-funded program or that there’s another affordable option nearby.

The most important thing is to get started—the help you need may be only a call or click away.

Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.

Therapy with No Waiting Rooms or Driving. Take a quick quiz about your preferences and needs and get matched to a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in Wisconsin

Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.

Have you been in therapy before?

Quick Start Guide

Who Is Eligible?

PRO TIP

Use the State System When You're in Crisis

PRO TIP

Check Out the State System If You Need Specialized Services

PRO TIP

Check With Your County for Accurate Local Eligibility Information

Where Do You Call to Get Started?

PRO TIP

Important Numbers in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Mental Health Directory

County Contact Information

Northern Wisconsin Clinics and Crisis Lines

Northeastern Wisconsin Clinics and Crisis Lines

Southeastern Wisconsin Clinics and Crisis Lines

Southern Wisconsin Clinics and Crisis Lines

Western Wisconsin Clinics and Crisis Lines

Also Consider: Federally Qualified Health Centers

Troubleshooting Guide

Problems and Solutions

Deep Dive: How Does the System Work?

DEEP DIVE

For More Information

DEEP DIVE

What Is the Structure of the Wisconsin Mental Health System?

DEEP DIVE

Programs of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

Conclusion

Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.

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