Click here to view the WisconsinEye discussion on mental health services in light of recent events.  Barbara Beckert, Milwaukee Mental health Task Force coordinator, participated on the panel.

WisconsinEye’s description of the video:  Recent mass shootings and the gun-control debate nationally has focused attention on mental health programs. Gov. Scott Walker’s budget included $30 million more for these programs, for example, and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele has promised to close the county’s 150-patient mental health hospital and place them in community-based settings. Experts who discussed the need for new programs and efforts to deal with the stigma of mental illness were Newsmakers panelists Rep. Sandy Pasch, a mental health nurse; Barbara Beckert, Milwaukee Office Director of Disability Rights Wisconsin; Shel Gross, director of public policy for Mental Health America of Wisconsin and Hugh Davis, executive director of Wisconsin Family Ties.