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* Center Square…
The capital bill sets aside $80 million to assist mental health facilities all over the state, according to a recent announcement by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. […]
With diminishing financial support, state psychiatric hospitals and community facilities were forced to close their doors. Chicago used to have 20 community facilities, but is currently down to five.
“We used to have 33,000 state psychiatric hospital beds,” [Mark J. Heyrman, facilitator with the Mental Health Summit and Mental Health America of Illinois] said. “Now, we have fewer than 1,200.” […]
“There are areas of the city [and] there are areas of the state where it’s a long drive to get to a community health provider,” he said. […]
While it is unknown where the $80 million will be directed, Heyrman stated 2019 has been good for mental health services in Illinois due to more money from the Medicaid budget, which will be used to build more physical spaces for provisional services.
“This is the best year we had,” he said. “I can’t remember how long it’s been.”
* WILL…
A new Illinois law aims to ensure that parents of justice-involved youth who need costly mental health services don’t have to trade custody for treatment for their child. […]
In the past, [Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert] said, if a child or teen got arrested and it was found what they really needed was mental health treatment, “the delinquency judge would have to adjudicate the child a ward of DCFS and then that could be paid for, otherwise the parents would have to pay out of pocket.”
That meant if parents couldn’t afford the roughly $100,000 a year for residential treatment, they had to choose: keep custody but forgo mental health services and risk the child entering juvenile detention, or give up custody to the Department of Children and Family Services and get them into treatment. […]
Families facing these circumstances in the future could be spared from having to trade custody for treatment, with one caveat: the family must have a state grant known as the “Family Support Program” to pay for the services, or have an application pending with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
* SJ-R…
An AFSCME spokesman said that local union leaders who work at McFarland Mental Health Center and representatives from the Illinois Department of Human Services central office had a “substantive meeting” Wednesday morning.
The meeting laid out “concrete steps to address our concerns and make McFarland safer for employees and patients alike,” said Anders Lindall, the public affairs director for AFSCME Council 31. […]
The workplace safety issue seemingly came to a head early last week when a patient choked an employee until she lost consciousness. […]
An earlier news release indicated that employees accused facility management of routinely dismissing violence against staff as “part of the job.” They also said management ignored calls to increase hiring, improve training, provide needed equipment or make other changes to improve safety. […]
Lindall credited DHS representatives for being “responsive to the situation.”
* Related…
* Illinois To Create Online Database Of Mental Health Resources For Students, Parents And School Staff: “But what makes this interesting, and something that we’re supportive of, is the fact that we can be sharing resources with other districts and see other what resources other districts are using to potentially get new ideas or new interventions or new supports,” [Matt Liberatore, president of the Illinois School Counselors Association] said.
* ‘A lack of mental health services has plagued Chicago for decades’: Holy Cross Hospital expanding to fill that void on the Southwest Side: Holy Cross Hospital on the city’s Southwest Side seeks to address the issue with the opening of a $6.5 million unit this week to treat patients experiencing mental health crises. The 12,000-square-foot unit, housed mostly in new construction on the east side of the hospital, can treat up to 32 patients at a time.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 11:47 am
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Thanks for reporting this news. I think many will be interested.
Comment by Elizabeth Neill Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 11:54 am
This might be appropriate to include under this topic, given this event is Wednesday with Congresswoman Underwood and Congressman Joe Kennedy, III (D, MA), and according to the link, this is not a political event, the restrictions make it very clear.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/generation-zmillennial-mental-health-forum-tickets-64425750153
Comment by Former Quigley Supporter Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 12:19 pm
I know two families that gave guardianship to the state because they were told that was the only way they could get services for their disabled child. This happened during the Quinn administration, and during the Rauner administration. I continue to get calls from parents telling me that they are being told the only way to get services is to give up their rights to their child. What a state sad of affairs.
Comment by Wondering Wendy Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 12:19 pm
If anything, the problem may actually be worse downstate. Something that’s been tried and seems to help a lot to fill in these gaps is telemedicine, that is, quality two-way video chat. It’s a good fit for psychiatric counseling and evaluation and lets more people get some access to counseling and care with the available pool of mental health professionals. The state’s broadband initiative can be a part of expanding that coverage.
Comment by It's all health care Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 12:24 pm
Both families were from Chicago. I assumed that there should be services available for them, but the state would not help them until they gave us guardianship, and within days they were receiving services. Yes, telemedicine has been a huge help for southern Illinois.
Comment by Wondering Wendy Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 12:28 pm
While the $40+ billion capital bill was too high for a state that can’t pay its bills, to only dedicate $80 million to mental health facilities is disappointing.
I get that it is an extremely complex issue, but it will get exponentially worse if it isn’t properly addressed. And while JB didn’t create the problem, he gets to solve it.
Comment by SSL Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 12:33 pm
But can they comply with GATA?
Comment by CrunchCrunch Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 12:54 pm
Closing JDC proved really helpful to this underserved population.
Comment by Wilson Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 1:03 pm
Oh. I was hoping to see Oscar’s photo with this headline.
Comment by walker Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 1:48 pm
The lack of beds is no surprise. Why should a hospital risk a 10-15 bed behavioral health unit with questionable payments/rates/MCO denials when that same space can be post-surgical recovery or emergency with higher rates.
“2019 has been good for mental health services.” ‘Good’ is a pretty flexible term. Is it good because a wealthy state spends some money after years of flat rates? Is it good because Illinois is not ranked 50 out of 50 states? Is it good because the number of people with mental Illnesses in jail finally got someone’s attention? Is it good so that next year GA response can be ‘you got yours last year’?
Comment by zatoichi Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 1:54 pm
Is it time to join the rest of the civilized world… in terms of healthcare?
Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 2:06 pm
The state has had individual care grants for kids for decades through the state mental health department. I know at least one family well into the middle class who managed to get one and their child was placed in an out-of-state facility for a year, no transfer of custody required. Not sure why we need legislation to fix access to a government service which should be available to all eligible citizens regardless of the kid’s DCFS status. The taxpayer was going to pay in either case-ICG or DCFS.
Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 2:10 pm
The closing of JDC was a fiasco. The residents were basically sold to highest bidder. All in the name of state contracts.
Comment by Generic Drone Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 2:53 pm
By the way, JDC still sits empty. And still owned by the state…
Comment by DrMark Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 3:35 pm
Cassandra
Read HB 2154 from this year—….addresses the Children’s Mental Health Crisis you are referring to. Families should never be faced with relinquishing their children to the state in order to get services.
Comment by catcherintherye Thursday, Jul 25, 19 @ 11:41 pm