Community survey results share insight for Macon Co. Mental Health Board

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Macon County Mental Health Board's 'Unmet Needs' survey results are in.

"The same top 10 unmet needs continue to be unmet," said Tim Macken, Executive Director of the MCMHB. "It's expected to a certain extent because they weren't being met because there wasn't funding to provide those services then, and there hasn't been a miraculous increase in funding to meet those needs."

Macken estimates that, in Macon County alone, it would have cost about $80 million to fund all the unmet needs in 2022, the last time the survey was conducted.

This year's results did provide the MCMHB some insight.

"One of the ones that was clear was a lack of access to acute inpatient psychiatric care," Macken said. "So, we have a lot of individuals that need that care that can't get it."

To get more funding for more programs, Macken says calling your lawmakers is more effective than you may realize.

"Those legislators respond to numbers," Macken said. "The numbers of people making comments and telling them they want something done. That can impact them and keeps the issue at the forefront of their thoughts."