Wayne County is reimagining crisis response—and it’s working

Mental health crises too often land people in jail instead of hospitals.

That’s what happened in Traverse City, where this weekend, a man attacked 11 random Walmart shoppers. According to his family, he had suffered for decades from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and he “fell through the cracks” of the system again.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, four people died after a shooter opened fire in an office building housing NFL offices. The gunman pleaded grievances in a note tied to suspected brain injuries and noted a mental health history.

These incidents remind us why reforming the system—and the people who interact with it—matters.

In Wayne County, nearly half of the people in jail are medicated for severe mental illness. And 911 received over 15,000 mental health calls last year alone.

Over the past decade, a coalition of groups has been working to change how we respond to things like mental health crises in Wayne County. It’s having an impact.

Since 2016, jail bookings in Wayne County dropped more than 50%.

Police now receive specialized training, social workers ride alongside officers, and mobile crisis teams sometimes respond without law enforcement.

At the center of this transformation is Dr. Sheryl Kubiak. She’s the founding director of the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice at Wayne State University and dean of Wayne State’s School of Social Work. Her team has led pilot programs, built shared data systems, and worked to break down silos.

She joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to share what’s working, what still needs to change, and how communities can respond before crisis turns to catastrophe.

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