As part of National Mental Health Awareness Month, Dane County’s Behavioral Health Resource Center (BHRC) is releasing its inaugural five-year report detailing trends, populations served, vulnerable residents reached, connections, and outreach, as well as consumer needs, barriers, and feedback. The BHRC is a non-crisis, voluntary person and family centered service for mental and behavioral health care in the county and first opened its doors in October 2020. The BHRC has seen a 67% increase in the number of people served per year since 2021, highlighting its need and growing reach in the Dane County community.
“The Behavioral Health Resource Center (BHRC) report illustrates the need of critical services and how the county has grown and adapted to help the Dane County community navigate the mental and behavioral health care landscape with care, compassion, and understanding,” said Dane County Department of Human Services Director John Schlueter. “We are proud of the positive impact and partnerships the Behavioral Health Resource Center and the provider community collaboratively built and look forward to what we can accomplish in the next five years and beyond.”
The BHRC bridges private and public mental and behavioral health care providers—making it easier for patients, their families, and even providers to navigate care and advocate for loved ones. The BHRC is designed to help all Dane County residents connect to mental health services and substance use services regardless of insurance status, financial status, age, identity, ability or legal status. Staff assist Dane County residents from all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life.
“The BHRC staff were so kind, patient, and informative,” wrote one anonymous consumer. “Their compassionate and understanding persistence helped connect me with resources I desperately needed during a time of crisis when it was hard to even send an email.”
The BHRC has grown tremendously in five years of operation. People seeking services for themselves (56%) and people reaching out on behalf of someone they care about (25%) continue to make up the majority of contacts. Other contacts include professional staff seeking case consultation (19%). Over the last five years in service, the BHRC served over 11,000 individuals and made over 41,000 referrals to providers and community agencies. Referrals were made to over 500 providers, community partners, and/or behavioral health organizations.
7 in 10 individuals who contact the BHRC were seeking mental health services and resources, while 1 in 5 individuals were seeking substance use services and resources. 1 in 12 individuals were seeking non-behavioral health resources.
“The BHRC was designed to reduce stigma and empower people to get connected to care that feels helpful to them, ideally before reaching the point of a crisis,” said Behavioral Health Community Services Manager Carrie Simon. “It takes a lot for someone to reach out for help, and figuring out how to get it can be overwhelming, confusing, and demoralizing. As a no-wrong-door entry point for anyone in our community, grounded in empathy and advocacy, the BHRC is a unique and powerful force in breaking down barriers and making mental health and substance use supports more accessible for all.”
In 2023, the BHRC learned through data collection that Latino and Hmong residents were underrepresented in the BHRC population compared to the Dane County population. The BHRC identified this gap and now has one Hmong Bilingual and one Spanish Bilingual Case Manager. These case managers specialize in providing BHRC services to people whose first language is not English or would prefer to speak in their primary language. These bilingual case managers focus primarily on improving access to behavioral health services to meet the needs of Latino and Hmong communities in Dane County, including attending community events, giving presentations for local organizations that serve Latino and Hmong residents, active partnerships on committees, and targeted outreach to specific community locations where Hmong and Latino residents can learn about what the BHRC does.
“Meeting people where they’re at means doing things a little differently,” said Community Outreach Coordinator Julie Clayton. “That’s what the BHRC excels at—keeping people’s autonomy in the forefront while helping to find quality resources.”
Overall results indicate that consumers, concerned others, and professionals alike had a positive experience with the BHRC. In a survey of 200 respondents, 90% reported they were “very” or “extremely satisfied” with the service they received and 89% would reach out again if they needed further assistance. Even when folks are happy with their connection to resources, those resources may not always be a good match for their needs or preferences. The BHRC intentionally asks about barriers to access like transportation, location and scheduling, and personal preferences for provider fit like the gender, race, and language availability for a provider. 4 out of 5 respondents said the resources and/or provider was a good fit for them, indicating the BHRC is successfully connecting people to services and providers that meets their needs and goals.
For more information, visit www.danebhrc.org.
