Aldermen, mental health professionals unveil plan to improve city mental health services
Accessible community health services are vital to the City of Chicago. The lack of services contributes to homelessness, emergency room visits, psychiatric hospitalizations, incarceration and sometimes tragic consequences as a result of police interventions. Recent tragedies, such as the fatal shooting of Quintonio LeGrier, have shone stark light on the urgent need to reverse years of cuts and closures to public mental health services in Chicago.
At a City Hall news conference on February 3, Alderman Jason Ervin (28th ward) and eight other City Council members joined employees of city mental health clinics, members of AFSCME Local 505, and mental health self-advocates to discuss a new plan that would enable the City of Chicago mental health clinics to treat more people in neighborhoods of greatest need by joining managed-care networks.
“Our members want to prevent any further disruption of the city’s vital mental health safety net,” said AFSCME Local 505 President Cherone Gladney-Morris. “That is why we are working to pass the Mental Health Safety Net ordinance.”
Sponsored by Ald. Ervin, the ordinance would the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to join Medicaid managed care networks, hire an adequate number of psychiatrists and launch a community outreach campaign.
“These are basic steps that will improve services, increase the number of clients and bring in more revenue,” said Gladney-Morris.
The six clinics are located in medically underserved areas and provide a vital safety net for those who have few alternatives. Robert Steward, a therapist at Englewood Mental Health Center and a member of AFSCME Local 505, spoke of the need for more psychiatrists at the six clinics. “We can’t have someone just one day a week—clients can’t get prescriptions when they need them,” he told reporters.
Specifically, the Mental Health Safety Net Ordinance would require CDPH to:
- Expand community outreach and public education to ensure those struggling with mental health issues are aware of opportunities for treatment and the six clinics are serving as many patients as possible.
- Hire needed staff for city mental health clinics, in particular adequate psychiatrist staffing. In the past two years the number of psychiatrist hours of care at the mental health clinics has dropped significantly, compromising care and halting the intake of new clients in some clinics.
- Join three managed care networks that reimburse for mental health care to raise revenue and enable more individuals to seek treatment. Most Medicaid recipients have been moved to managed care networks. But because the clinics are not part of these networks, CDPH has been unable to bill for reimbursement for these clients.
“This ordinance would ensure adequate psychiatric care for those who need it the most,” said Ald. Ervin. “There are clear cases where a lack of mental health care has cost human lives—and cost our city millions of dollars. At a minimum, we need to make the very best use of the six clinics our city currently operates.”
Ald. Ervin was joined by eight other aldermen: Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th Ward), James Cappleman (46th Ward), Raymond Lopez (15th Ward), Deb Mell (33rd Ward), David Moore (17th Ward), Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward), Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward), and Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward).