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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Tinley Park Mental Health Center is an essential
3 element in the network of mental health care providers serving
4 Chicago's south side, south suburban Cook, and Will, Grundy,
5 and Kankakee counties; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Community-based agencies in this region provide
7 outpatient therapy, housing assistance, and case management
8 for many thousands of individuals with mental illness; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC effectively functions as a safety
10 net for community-based agencies that can refer mentally ill
11 individuals to Tinley Park MHC when they are in crisis and
12 represent a danger to themselves or others or are in need of
13 more intensive psychiatric services; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC provides a safe and secure
15 inpatient treatment setting for those individuals with severe
16 mental illness who are in crisis and require more intensive
17 services than can be provided in an outpatient setting; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC is a nationally-accredited,
19 highly regarded treatment center which offers an exceptional
20 and comprehensive range of medical, social, and psychiatric
21 supports to clients in acute phases of their illness; and
 
22     WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC also functions as an essential
23 alternative to incarceration for individuals with mental
24 illness who engage in anti-social behavior that brings them
25 into contact with law enforcement officials; and
 
26     WHEREAS, The communities served by Tinley Park MHC already
27 suffer from a shortage of affordable, accessible mental health
28 services; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, With over 140 beds, Tinley Park MHC is the largest
2 inpatient psychiatric treatment center in the region, with more
3 than 2,000 admissions annually; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC has excelled at stabilizing
5 individuals in crisis and aiding them to return to independent
6 lives in their communities, with an average length of inpatient
7 treatment of just ten days; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Those private hospitals in the region that do have
9 inpatient psychiatric units frequently refer their poorest and
10 most difficult patients to Tinley Park MHC and few have the
11 comprehensive level of services that Tinley Park MHC offers;
12 and
 
13     WHEREAS, As a State-operated facility, Tinley Park MHC
14 treats patients who have no insurance or who have exhausted
15 their mental health coverage and is the only mental health
16 resource in the region that reliably provides inpatient
17 treatment to those who cannot pay; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC maintains close working
19 relationships with community-based mental health agencies and
20 services, jointly developing discharge plans, linking patients
21 with community resources, and providing transition services;
22 and
 
23     WHEREAS, Community-based agencies can expand the scope of
24 their services in this region and should have more resources to
25 do so, without such additional resources being taken away from
26 Tinley Park MHC; and
 
27     WHEREAS, The costs at Tinley Park MHC are more than 50%
28 below those of comparable private hospitals in the area; and
 
29     WHEREAS, Although the Department of Human Services'

 

 

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1 proposed FY05 budget includes full year funding for Tinley Park
2 MHC, the budget narrative states that the budget is premised on
3 the "closure and sale of the Tinley Park mental health
4 facility" during this budget year; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services has acknowledged
6 that the decision to close Tinley Park MHC was made even though
7 there are no known alternatives that can provide the same
8 comprehensive level of services to the same population within
9 the same cost range; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The Department testified before a special House
11 Appropriations Committee hearing that it definitely plans to
12 close Tinley Park MHC and that the "planning process" initiated
13 by the Department is intended only to consider what kind of
14 alternative services can be developed; and
 
15     WHEREAS, No justification has been presented for closing
16 Tinley Park MHC and doing so would deprive its service area of
17 vital services; therefore, be it
 
18     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
20 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we oppose the proposed closure
21 of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center; and be it further
 
22     RESOLVED, That we call on the Department of Human Services
23 to immediately terminate its "planning process" and all other
24 activities related to the closure of Tinley Park Mental Health
25 Center; and be it further
 
26     RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services should seek
27 to foster a comprehensive, well-coordinated system of care that
28 strengthens community-based services that can work in
29 conjunction with Tinley Park MHC in the affected region; and be
30 it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to
2 the Secretary of Human Services.