Sheboygan County residents dependent upon County services are being advised that changes are on the way. In a Tuesday release, Director Matt Strittmater said that the Sheboygan County Department of Health & Human Services will be implementing shifts in service delivery due to a difficult budget cycle. The major changes included in the 2027 budget plan include:
- Reduced funding for City of Sheboygan Mobile Crisis Co-Response
- Eliminated funding for the open Door Drop-In Center
- Eliminated funding for the Student Engagement Team (SET) Program
- Adjusted Service Delivery within Children and Family Services and the Division of Public Health
- Delayed Recruitment and hiring for positions across Health and Human Services
The measures are needed, according to the release, after years of rising costs and stagnant funding on both the state and federal levels.
Impacts will be felt across several areas of support. Some of the functions impacted will include the 84 current hours per week dedicated by mental health professionals to working with City of Sheboygan Police Officers. According to the county, on average 9 community members receive support from a mental health professional via the city’s Co-Responder team each week.
The County Department of H&HS funding for the City of Sheboygan’s Co-Responder Program amounts to a change from $470,112 to $225,112. It is anticipated that this will result in a reduction of mental health professional service hours available within the City of Sheboygan each week.
Sheboygan County will no longer financially support the Open Door Drop-In Center, a peer support and recovery center for adults with mental illness that offers a safe, supportive environment for individuals who have experienced mental illness, trauma, addiction, and emotional challenges. Currently this represents 26 members on a daily basis.
Aside from those and the many other changes involved, the County said that the department remains steadfast in a commitment to providing high-level public health services, prioritizing essential work such as communicable disease investigation and prevention, environmental health monitoring of food and water, WIC nutrition support, ,and collaborative resource navigation for families.
All proposed changes are scheduled to take place gradually, with final measures completed by January 1, 2027.
A link to the County’s answers to frequently asked questions about the issue is here.
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