Illinois gets 'D' for mental health care system
Illinois' mental health care system has raised its grade on an advocacy group's report card to a D from an F.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness issued its second "Grading the States" report Wednesday. The grade for the United States also was a D, the same rating the nation received in the first report in 2006.
Illinois made progress on training some police to work with community mental health providers, the report said. It also took steps to link some courts to mental health services. Both efforts help keep the mentally ill out of jails.
A "Say It Out Loud" public relations campaign was another improvement, the report said. The campaign promotes the idea that people with mental illness can talk openly about it and ask for help.
But many Illinois residents with mental illness don't have access to services because of state budgets cuts, according to the report.
"We recognize that Illinois is in an extreme budget crisis," said Lora Thomas, executive director of NAMI Illinois in Springfield. "But if we don't spend money effectively, we spend more money in emergency rooms, hospitals, jails and prisons."
The state serves more than 80,000 people with serious mental illnesses. The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors said Illinois spent $1 billion in 2006, ranking 30th in per capita mental health spending.
Since 1980, Illinois has shut down seven state-run mental hospitals, leaving only 1,480 public hospital beds for mental patients. Nursing homes took up the slack when the hospitals closed. Ending the reliance on nursing homes was an "urgent need" for Illinois, the report said.
Over the next five years, state officials hope to move nearly 700 mentally ill people out of nursing homes during a federal demonstration project called "Money Follows the Person."
Illinois officials take the report seriously and share NAMI's goals for greater access to improved care, said Tom Green, a spokesman for the state's Department of Human Services.
"We believe sincerely that the NAMI-National Report Card fails to assess either the intensity of our effort or the merits of many of our most vital and valuable strategies and initiatives," Green said in a statement.
NAMI lobbies for laws requiring insurance plans to treat mental health patients on par with those who have physical ailments. The report card gives states higher grades if they have mental health parity laws. Illinois has such a law, but it excludes small group plans that cover fewer than 50 people.
The grades were based on 65 criteria, including access to medication, housing, family education and support to National Guard members. States provided most of the information on which the grades were based.
NAMI recommends tax increases to increase public funding for mental health care and better tracking of mental health data at the federal level.
"There have been advances in pharmaceuticals and treatments," Thomas of NAMI Illinois said. "We know what to do. We need to be able to make those services available to every community throughout Illinois."
At a glance
A look at Illinois' mental health care system:
NUMBERS: The state serves more than 141,000 people with mental illness, including 80,000 people with serious mental illnesses.
SPENDING: Illinois spent $1 billion in 2006, ranking 30th in per capita mental health spending.
HOSPITAL BEDS: Since 1980, Illinois has shut down seven state-run mental hospitals, leaving only 1,480 public hospital beds for mental patients.