Team Connect
Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division
Remaining connected to patients after they are discharged is a critical part of their recovery. Milwaukee County’s Behavioral Health Division has made connecting with patients post-discharge a priority.
In June, BHD launched Team Connect, a program dedicated to providing additional follow-up services and support for individuals discharged from the division’s psychiatric crisis services, observation and acute care units.
The group works to reduce the risk of harm to individuals once they are discharged and seeks to improve the links to ongoing care and resources in the community. No other facility in the Milwaukee area provides such services.
“Our Behavioral Health Division is continuing to move forward with programmatic changes that provide more community-focused services,” said Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele. “We heard from our community that they need services now and that they want peers involved at all levels of treatment.”
Team Connect, a group of master’s level licensed clinicians and certified peer specialists, works in pairs to follow up with individual patients post-discharge.
The peer specialists have lived through similar experiences, which allows them to connect to patients uniquely, encourage conversation and support them on their recovery journey.
Hospitals and care providers have discharge plans for patients leaving the hospital with medical conditions; this program provides the same services for behavioral health patients.
The program helps connect patients with a variety of community resources post-discharge to help with their transition. The team follows up to make sure patients make it to their appointments, and connects them to outpatient therapy providers, disability services, recovery centers and other providers.
