Mental health board can help fill need

Now that Northwest Community Hospital has announced the closing of its inpatient mental health unit, the need for additional mental health services in the Northwest suburbs, already acute, has grown.

A partial solution is at hand. On April 1, as part of the municipal election, voters in Palatine Township will have the opportunity to create a Community Mental Health Board. If the voters approve the referendum, the new board will be able to provide additional services and support for people living with mental health challenges, substance use disorders and/or developmental disabilities.

And those additional services are sorely needed. Nationwide statistics show 6% of the people live with a serious mental illness and that one-third of them are getting no treatment at all. In 2023, there were 30% more deaths by drug overdose than by homicide in Cook County. And once young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities graduate from the public school system, they wait an average of five years to get supportive services from the state. During that time, many lose progress they had made while in school.

Once the referendum passes, the township supervisor will appoint a seven-member volunteer board that will conduct a needs assessment to see what additional mental health, substance use and developmental disability services are needed in the Township. The board will then draw up a budget, within the tax limit set by the referendum, to at least partially meet those needs.

The board will not provide these services itself, but instead will provide grants to local agencies to increase or improve their services for residents of Palatine Township only.

We at NAMI-NWSC see the need for additional services every day and we urge the voters to approve the referendum and create a Community Mental Health Board for Palatine Township on April 1.

Hugh Brady, National Alliance on Mental Illness

Northwest Suburbs