September 27, Wisconsin Health News

This week, the Speaker’s Task Force on Suicide Prevention unveiled its recommendations, ranging from creating a suicide prevention program at the Department of Health Services to requiring student ID cards to have the phone number of a suicide prevention hotline.

Among the measures are a series of grants targeting suicide prevention efforts, creating an interim license for psychologists to practice, and providing money for farmers to enroll in technical college courses on farm and business management as well as funding for a center that provides mental health training for schools.

Chair Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, said that since they announced the proposals Wednesday, they’ve heard more suggestions.

“The more we talk about this, the more engagement there is,” she said in a recent interview. “Hopefully, we’ll come up with additional items that we can propose if not this session, then next session.”

Ballweg spoke to Wisconsin Health News about some of the task force’s recommendations and their next steps. 

Read more.