Prevention and Community Response Services Washtenaw County Public Health
What we doOur mental health staff provide a wide variety of services to promote wellness in the areas of emotional / mental health, as well as personal, professional, and organizational growth and development. These services are delivered to a variety of individuals, groups, and organizations in community settings throughout Washtenaw County by our team of mental health and organizational development professionals, either through outreach efforts or in response to requests for services.
Click below to learn about our services
Community Resource DevelopmentCommunity Resource Development
To support our mission of "enhancing the emotional well-being" of the community, Community Services staff participate in community coalitions and organizations. This participation is intended to create, develop and/or maintain resources in the community.
In addition, we provide facilitation and/or crisis intervention services to organizations experiencing crisis.
Community Crisis Response
We provide and coordinate a wide range of crisis response services in order to create a safety net for the psychological well being of Washtenaw County residents and workers during times of trauma or disaster. Two crisis response teams – the Traumatic Events Response Network (TERN) and the Washtenaw County Critical Incident Stress Management Team – operate out of our unit. TERN provides debriefings, and other such services, to traumatized people in most all community settings. The Washtenaw County CISM Team does so for emergency response personnel. Similar services are provided for County governmental agencies and both public and private school systems. Training and consultation is also available to help you meet your crisis planning or trauma response needs.Grief and Loss
Community Services staff are available to provide services in response to bereavement needs in Washtenaw County. Part of our involvement is the "behind the scene" coordination with, and support of, various caregivers (such as emergency response teams in the schools, bereavement professionals, etc.) to make sure there is an adequate support system in place when a death occurs. In addition, we provide various community education services designed to increase awareness of and facilitate the grief process (including the grief needs of children), we provide literature relevant to specific grief needs, and we maintain listings of local bereavement resources.
Community Services Staff also coordinates a volunteer network of support for families who are experiencing grief or trauma, called "re-connect of Michigan." Grief and Loss Services include a free quarterly newsletter, re-connections, and consultation and training services related to grief and trauma. Also available, for a fee, is a manual entitled Starting a re-connect Network In Your Community, as is consultation on how to implement and maintain such a network. Training and/or consultation is also available on a wide range of grief related topics.
Mental Health Education
Community Services staff work to increase the quality of life of both the community at large and of consumers of mental health services. This is done through consultation, education, and awareness training that promotes acceptance of people with mental illness or developmental disabilities as full members of our community. We also provide support to workers, teams, agencies, etc., internal as well as external, in settings such as, group homes, community housing organizations, shelter programs, community coalitions, club house membership organizations, religious organizations, neighborhoods, and businesses.
Training and Consultation
Our very knowledgeable and experienced Training and Consultation team is available for all of the above listed service areas. Our team is especially adept at customizing the content and format of training programs to meet your specific needs.