SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois lawmakers are moving forward with the Gov. JB Pritzker's proposed behavioral health transformation for children.
Pritzker is calling for a clear, consistent, and comprehensive way for families to find mental and behavioral healthcare options for young children and teenagers.
Senate Bill 724 could create an inter-agency youth services team to improve service coordination, implement new technology for referring families to resources, and increase capacity to meet the demand for care.
"It also includes a requirement for the Illinois State Board of Education to build foundation for a plan to implement annual mental health screenings for students in grades K-12," said Michelle Jenkins, legislative director for the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Jenkins also explained that the bill could formalize the study of workforce shortages across the state for children's mental health, substance use, and developmental disabilities by requiring reports of daily staff and occupancy.
The governor named Dr. Dana Weiner as the state's Director of the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative on February 24. Weiner led the Chapin Hall research team that worked alongside the Illinois Departments of Human Services, Healthcare and Family Services, Children and Family Services, Juvenile Justice, Public Health, and the State Board of Education to create the recommendations to re-imagine behavioral health.
"Through all of these shifts and improvements, we will have the foundation that we need to implement the blueprint recommendations," Dr. Weiner told the House Mental Health & Addiction Committee Thursday. "We recognize that this process will not be quick or easy. But in time, through strategic coordinated efforts, we believe that we can improve the state's ability to respond to the needs of children and adolescents promoting equity, well-being, and mental and behavioral health among all Illinois young people."
The Illinois Collaboration On Youth supports the significant changes included in this plan. Although, CEO Andrea Durbin said there a few concerns that need to be addressed before the legislation can be implemented. Durbin noted that the bill allows for placement in comprehensive community-based youth service system host homes and emergency shelters. She stressed that the CCBYS host homes and temporary emergency shelters don't exist yet.
"While this bill is set to become effective immediately, there must be a transition period to allow for placement of young people in alternative settings such as foster homes in the interim," Durbin said. "Development of a licensing procedure for host homes is still in the rule-making process."
Rep. Lindsey LaPointe testified about the children's behavioral health transformation during a House Mental Health & Addiction Committee on April 27, 2023.
Durbin told lawmakers that the state may realistically need several months or a year to make host homes an option for young people in need. She said a similar timeline is needed to create the temporary emergency shelters. Durbin explained she is working with Dr. Weiner and lead sponsor Lindsey LaPointe (D-Chicago) to file an amendment addressing that issue.
Senate Bill 724 passed unanimously out of the House Mental Health & Addiction Committee. The legislation now moves to the House floor for further consideration when lawmakers return to Springfield next week.
"We have six child-serving agencies, and we've all experienced that historically they don't collaborate or communicate well," LaPointe said. "That ship has really begun to turn around."
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