The 2025 fall Institute for Research on Poverty seminars hosted “Who Responds to Mental Health Crises in Wisconsin?” on Thursday, Sept. 18, open to the public for discussion focusing on frontline worker mental health crises, and building community-engaged responses.
The UW Institute for Research on Poverty began presenting the seminars in 2016. The seminars cover specific intersections of a wide variety of topics, ranging from race to economic and family systems, according to the IRP.
Rural EMS outreach program manager, James Smalls, who previously served as the Chief of the Palmyra Public Safety Department and Altoona Fire Chief and spoke on emotional exhaustion, stress and problems managing a work and life balance while being a first responder. Many first responders face mental exhaustion, particularly in rural areas and leadership positions, Smalls said…