Milwaukee Coalition for Children’s Mental Health (CCMH)

Many of the coalition’s founding members had long-standing relationships with one another, creating a stable base to start the difficult work of aligning efforts and agreeing upon what community behavioral health needs the coalition would address. After convening, CCMH began outreach efforts to representatives of related initiatives and service providers in Milwaukee, while also constructing a plan to authentically engage people with lived experience in the coalition from the very beginning.

While CCMH originally included representatives from 12 local healthcare, education, and community-based organizations, they expanded membership to include faith-based communities, governmental agencies, education, academia, community-based organizations, and people with lived experience – mainly parents and caregivers.

Membership ultimately expanded considerably, moving from 12 members across 16 organizations and initiatives to 130 members representing over 50 organizations. The coalition worked collaboratively to develop effective strategies that promote prevention efforts and early identification of developmental and mental health concerns among Milwaukee’s young children, focusing on those 0-8 years old.

A relationship-based and power-sharing approach was adopted to ensure CCMH leadership would take the time needed to form authentic relationships and bring in the voices of those most impacted by racial disparities in outcomes and build opportunities for shared leadership.