2019-2021 LIFE REPORT SUCCESS & PROGRESS

• The Marathon County School-Based Counseling Consortium offers on-site mental health counseling to every Marathon County public school district.
• To serve the growing population of seniors and increase social and community connections, a multimillion-dollar initiative to develop new facilities and programming has been put into place. Those efforts include development of the YMCA’s The Landing and extensive renovations at North Central Health Care.
• A Crisis Assessment Response Team (CART) was implemented with the goals to reduce the numbers of involuntary detentions, provide better access, divert persons to mental health services, and provide immediate crisis response to alleviate demand on the crisis services. Marathon County has experienced a significant reduction in emergency detentions for individuals with a mental health crisis with the formation of two CARTs, which pair a law enforcement officer with a crisis professional.
• The Marathon County Board of Supervisors has made it a priority to identify the gaps in high speed internet access and help residents connect to affordable high speed Internet services.
• The Marathon County Board of Supervisors has identified the protection and enhancement of surface water and groundwater quality and quantity as a priority objective in the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan.
• As a community, Marathon County has responded to raise awareness and address the opioid (and other drugs) epidemic with prevention, treatment, and enforcement efforts through changes in organizational policies and practices. Grant funding from the Wisconsin Division of Health Services was secured to create a Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) program in the county jail. This program will be the first in the State to offer Suboxone or Vivitrol to our inmate population to assist with opioid addiction issues.
• Access to higher education in Central WI is better than ever. Barriers to higher education have been greatly reduced and is evident with more young people getting degrees than previous generations. Marathon County residents age 25-44 received Bachelor’s degrees at a higher rate than previous generations.
• The Marathon County Hunger Coalition member pantries collaborated to ensure individuals/families receive the needed food to keep them healthy and fed. More requests for food assistance were met by pantries throughout Marathon County. School districts, as well as post-secondary institutions, worked to solve hunger for students within their schools by opening food pantries within the schools.
• The Marathon County Board passed a resolution in 2019 to recognize June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) PRIDE month.
• Overall, Marathon County school districts meet or exceed WI state educational standards (Forward Exam, ACT), leading to all school districts in Marathon County exceeding the state average rate for high school graduation.