Quinn to sign mental-health legislation in suburbs

SPRINGFIELD — Tight public budgets and more people on unemployment mean the challenge of getting people mental-health care is getting more difficult, officials say.

Fewer people have the insurance they need to get care. And Scott Burgess, executive director of Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health, says care of mental illness should focus less on placing people in nursing home settings and more on integrating people into the community.

For those reasons, Burgess went to state officials with the idea of a task force that could create a plan to address the challenges of caring for people with mental illnesses.

“We’re trying to put the resources where you’re going to get the most bang for your buck,” Burgess said.

On Thursday, Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to be at the Alexian Brothers facility in Arlington Heights to sign legislation that creates such a task force. Its members will be charged with creating a five-year plan to address issues in providing mental-health care.

Rep. Fred Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said that despite good facilities in the suburbs, tough budget times make providing good care difficult. Illinois, he said, is among the worst states when it comes for paying for mental-illness treatment.

“It’s a terrible place to be,” Crespo said.

“These are the neediest of the needy,” Crespo added. “Many of these people can’t afford lobbyists. They get lost in the shuffle.”

The proposal Quinn plans to sign would require lawmakers to vote on the task force’s proposal within a year of its submission.

Positions on the panel are unpaid.

Burgess said that previously, many of the people who lacked the insurance needed to get mental-health care had the most severe illnesses.

Now, he said, more people are losing their jobs and losing insurance with them. So people with milder conditions are losing access to care, too.

Also, Burgess said he’d like to see more emphasis placed on getting treatment to people while they’re in the community, rather than putting them in a nursing home.

“Individuals can be treated very effectively in the community,” Burgess said.

The legislation Quinn plans to sign was approved by lawmakers earlier this year. Sen. Mike Noland, an Elgin Democrat, sponsored the plan in the Senate.