Milwaukee County DHHS Publishes Strategic Plan with a Bold Vision for Creating a Healthy Community

MILWAUKEE—The Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has published a new strategic plan, 2025-2027 DHHS Strategic Plan: Opening Doors to Thriving Communities, which outlines tactics to address four pillars to improve community health including housing, community safety, mental wellness and becoming an age-friendly community. The department’s new strategic plan builds on the successes of the previous plan from the redesign of the behavioral health care system to affordable housing, Community Violence Intervention programming, to plans to reimagine Senior Centers. It will advance two core strategies: Strategy #1- No Wrong Door; Strategy #2- Collective Impact and System Change. The plan was developed over nine months with input gathered from 40 sessions with staff and community members.

“I am committed to advancing innovative policies and service delivery improvements that address health equity and move us closer to achieving our goal of becoming the healthiest county in the state,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “DHHS’ strategic direction addresses key drivers of community health in supporting children and families across our community, continuing to strengthen our connection to residents by advancing our No Wrong Door model of care. I’m looking forward to witnessing the results of our work in the years ahead.”

“This new strategic plan builds on our positive momentum and tremendous accomplishments of the past four years. It is bold and courageous focusing on collective impact for housing, mental health, violence prevention, serving children, families, older adults, individuals with disabilities, and veterans,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, DHHS Executive Director. “This would not be possible without the deep commitment of DHHS staff to our community. Staff at all levels have embraced change, adapted, and embarked on the journey together to bring our vision to life—Together, creating healthy communities.”

A foundational concept in the new plan is creating interdisciplinary teams to operationalize the “No Wrong Door” model of customer service and best serve participant’s needs while overcoming access to barriers. In 2020, DHHS adopted a No Wrong Door model of customer service to connect residents more effectively to person-centered care across the human services continuum of care. The new interdisciplinary teams feature No Wrong Door Navigators to improve assessment capabilities by leveraging cross-department expertise in new ways, ensuring a collaborative approach.

“A lot of thoughtful consideration went into the development of the new DHHS Strategic Plan. I’m excited to further advance DHHS’ two key strategies to improve individual and community health with an evolved strategic direction,” said Emily Kenney, Strategic Initiatives and Transformation Director. “Critical to the success of the new plan is working closely with our partners and provider network to advocate for change at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure policies are equitable and fair, and resourced to support our vision.”

In this plan, there are four systemic focus areas that will have a transformative impact on community health and well-being. By putting individuals at the center and focusing on addressing social drivers of health, DHHS will fully operationalize No Wrong Door and maximize collective impact in these areas:

• HOUSING—We have invested $45M in the development of affordable housing units across Milwaukee County; for the first time Milwaukee County owns a building for emergency housing, which connects people to services onsite. By 2027, work will have taken place to achieve housing justice and equity for all by reducing the number of individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity.
• COMMUNITY SAFETY—Recently released data suggests promising results from the past four years of Community Violence Intervention work. By 2027, our continued investment in Community Violence Intervention, will decrease youth in detention/state run facilities and an overall reduction in community violence.
• MENTAL/EMOTIONAL WELLNESS—By 2027, the redesign of the behavioral healthcare system will be complete, and all residents will have improved access to responsive, high quality, community-based supports with expanded services for children, youth, and adults.
• AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES—By 2027, quality of life for older adults and people of all ages will be improved through the implementation of the AARP Livable Communities model. Milwaukee County will reimagine Senior Centers creating community hubs so residents of all ages can live fully engaged lives.

DHHS is committed to the health of residents of Milwaukee County. The department’s new strategic direction supports the vision of Milwaukee County: “By achieving race and health equity, we will be the healthiest county in the state.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.