Parisi’s 2023 budget includes $3 million to study the feasibility of opening a commercial grade, community scale manure processing plant and funding to acquire a site for this potential development. Ending winter spreading will help reduce the phosphorus load. Society has ways to manage human waste at a community-wide scale. If the same principles are applied to animal waste, Dane County can substantively move the dial on cleaning area lakes in a way never previously conceived as possible.
Parisi is adding over $484,000 in new money to further increase staff at the Behavioral Health Resource Center. This investment will enhance excellent response times and customer service standards and increase the Center’s presence in the community.
When constructed, the Crisis Triage Center will provide around the clock, short-term observation, assessment, treatment, and planning for those experiencing a behavioral health crisis as a result of their mental health, substance use, and/or disability. Parisi’s budget includes over $1.3 million to inform next steps once Dane County completes a request for proposals this fall to evaluate different models for how the Crisis Triage Center could operate.
Anesis Therapy and Journey Mental Health have come together to create a new BIPOC Mental Health Coalition. Parisi’s budget invests $135,000 for the agencies to team together to address mental health needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and advocate for systemic changes needed to reduce disparities and improve care.
Parisi’s budget also includes $500,000 for the Sheriff’s Office to expand its team of mobile crisis workers and an additional $190,000 for civilian vehicles and equipment so staff can directly respond to incidents where a mental health professional, not a law enforcement officer alone, is what’s needed to defuse a situation.
Additionally, Sheriff Barrett has agreed to reassign more community deputies to work exclusively on mental health. These deputies will work in tandem with the new mobile crisis workers, allowing for teams of professionals trained in this subject matter to improve outcomes of calls involving behavioral health.
In September, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi joined community advocates to announce the Harm Reduction and Prevention Act. Parisi’s 2023 budget includes $283,500 to support these efforts, including funding a new full-time position at OutReach and a new prevention specialist within Dane County Emergency Management.
