▶Videoyoutube.comBetter Ways To Cope
Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services Behavioral Health Services harm reduction, prevention, treatment and recovery campaign (US-WI, Milwaukee County) started in 2021, combining 'Mental Health Minute' videos, influencer coping videos, radio interviews and a community toolkit with regrants to community groups; the 2026-2028 grantee cohort ($2 million) is paid from the county's opioid settlement funds.
- Years
- 2021–now
- Country
- United States
- Budget
- $2 million in 24-month grants (10 organizations x $200,000) from July 2026, 'made possible through Milwaukee County's allocation of opioid settlement funds'; an earlier cohort announced January 2025 was TANF-funded (search snippet).
- Topic
- DrugsHarm reductionMental healthOpioids
- Asks people to
- Seek helpSubstituteTalk to someone
- Strategy
- Multi level communityTestimonialTrusted messenger
- Channel
- EventsInfluencerRadioSocial (organic)Website
- Audience
- AdultsGeneral publicYouthMilwaukee County residents; teen strand (BWTC Teens) and Spanish-language partner content (Escucha Tus Emociones).
Evidence
NoneUnknown
No outcome evaluation found.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, Behavioral Health Services State local government, funder and lead
- Milwaukee County opioid settlement funds Settlement funded, funder (2026 grantee cohort)
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Executions (individual ads)
- BWTC Overview Video social-organic · youtube
- Changing Hands BWTC Campaign Recap Video social-organic · youtube
- #SaidNoOneEver 5 social-organic · youtube
- Runner's High 5 social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Sam social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: T'Keyah social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute featuring Tahira social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Santana social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Ambrose social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Shalina social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Cindy LaGrand social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute featuring Ana social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Crisis Mobile Team featuring Alex social-organic · youtube
- Mental Health Minute: Lindsay Fuss social-organic · youtube
- DJ Breezy (influencer coping video) influencer · youtube
- Spin NMKE social-organic · youtube
- Rebecca Social influencer · youtube
- Mack social-organic · youtube
Sources
Research notes
US-WI (Milwaukee County). county.milwaukee.gov is behind a Cloudflare challenge; campaign pages read through the Wayback Machine. Covers substance misuse and coping broadly (mental health, alcohol, opioids), not opioids alone; included because it is the county's substance-use campaign and its 2026 cohort is paid from opioid settlement funds. The toolkit says the county 'engaged local community members, interviewed experts via radio platforms, invited social media influencers to share their coping strategies'. Executions are the Milwaukee County DHHS YouTube videos embedded on the 2023 campaign page and 2024 toolkit (oEmbed-confirmed; upload years not captured, YouTube blocked date lookups). Grantee videos also embedded there (Running Rebels, Escucha Tus Emociones, Neo Soul Productions) are not listed. Unverified (no page found that credits the agency): no production agency named. Separate from the county's planned settlement-funded overdose and adulterants campaign for Black and Brown communities (announced August 2024, Milwaukee Courier; no launch found). Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17. Ad library search: "Better Ways To Cope", "Milwaukee County DHHS". Procurement search 2026-10-22: no award or contract naming a vendor for this campaign was found (USAspending subawards, state/local procurement and spending portals where searchable, settlement reports, web search).
Record cases/milwaukee-better-ways-to-cope.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign