Public Act 100-0184
 
HB3502 EnrolledLRB100 10098 RLC 20271 b

    AN ACT concerning health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Advisory Council on Early Identification and Treatment of
Mental Health Conditions Act.
 
    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
        (1) the medical science is clear that mental health
    treatment works to improve mental health conditions and
    manage symptoms but it can take, on average, 10 years for a
    child or young adult with a significant condition to
    receive the right diagnosis and treatment from the time the
    first symptoms began, and nearly two-thirds of children and
    adults never get treatment;
        (2) long treatment lags can lead to debilitating
    conditions and permanent disability;
        (3) suicide, often due to untreated depression, is the
    second leading cause of death in this State for children
    and young adults ranging in age from 10 to 34;
        (4) between 40% to 50% of heroin and other drug
    addiction begins to self-medicate an underlying, untreated
    mental health condition;
        (5) important State reforms on improving access to
    mental health and substance use treatment are underway and
    others are pending, but more needs to be done to address
    this State's serious systemic challenges to early
    identification and treatment of mental health conditions;
        (6) the medical and mental health treatment
    communities across this State are implementing many
    evidence-based best practices on early screening,
    identification and treatment of mental health conditions,
    including co-located and integrated care, despite limited
    resources and major access to care challenges across the
    State; and
        (7) establishing an Advisory Council on Early
    Identification and Treatment of Mental Health Conditions
    to:
            (A) report and share information on evidence-based
        best practices related to early identification and
        treatment being implemented across this State and
        other states;
            (B) assist in advancing all providers to move
        toward implementation of evidence-based best
        practices, irrespective of payer such as Medicaid or
        private insurance,
            (C) identify the barriers to statewide
        implementation of early identification and treatment
        across all providers; and
            (D) reduce the stigma of mental health conditions
        by treating them like any other medical condition will
        outline the path to enabling thousands of children,
        youth, and young adults in this State living with
        mental health conditions, including those related to
        trauma, to get the early diagnosis and treatment they
        need to effectively manage their condition and avoid
        potentially life-long debilitating symptoms.
 
    Section 10. Advisory Council on Early Identification and
Treatment of Mental Health Conditions.
    (a) There is created the Advisory Council on Early
Identification and Treatment of Mental Health Conditions
within the Department of Human Services. The Department of
Human Services shall provide administrative support for the
Advisory Council. The report, recommendations, and action plan
required by this Section shall reflect the consensus of a
majority of the Council.
    (b) The Advisory Council shall:
        (1) review and identify evidence-based best practice
    models and promising practices supported by peer-reviewed
    literature being implemented in this State and other states
    on regular screening and early identification of mental
    health and substance use conditions in children and young
    adults, including depression, bi-polar disorder,
    schizophrenia, and other similar conditions, beginning at
    the age endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics,
    through young adulthood, irrespective of coverage by
    public or private health insurance, resulting in early
    treatment;
        (2) identify evidence-based mental health prevention
    and promotion initiatives;
        (3) identify strategies to enable additional medical
    providers and community-based providers to implement
    evidence-based best practices on regular screening, and
    early identification and treatment of mental health
    conditions;
        (4) identify barriers to the success of early
    screening, identification and treatment of mental health
    conditions across this State, including but not limited to,
    treatment access challenges, specific mental health
    workforce issues, regional challenges, training and
    knowledge-base needs of providers, provider infrastructure
    needs, reimbursement and payment issues, and public and
    private insurance coverage issues;
        (5) based on the findings in paragraphs (1) through (4)
    of this subsection (b), develop a set of recommendations
    and an action plan to address the barriers to early and
    regular screening and identification of mental health
    conditions in children, adolescents and young adults in
    this State;
        (6) complete and deliver the recommendations and
    action plan required by paragraph (5) of this subsection
    (b) to the Governor and the General Assembly within one
    year of the first meeting of the Advisory Council; and
        (7) upon completion and delivery of the
    recommendations and action plan to the Governor and General
    Assembly, the Advisory Council shall be dissolved.
    (c) The Advisory Council shall be composed of no more than
27 members and 3 ex officio members, including:
        (1) Two members of the House of Representatives, one
    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives
    and one appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of
    Representatives.
        (2) Two members of the Senate, one appointed by the
    President of the Senate and one appointed by the Minority
    Leader of the Senate.
        (3) One representative of the Office of the Governor
    appointed by the Governor.
        (4) Twenty-two members of the public as follows;
    however, provider representatives selected shall include a
    balance of those delivering care to persons with private
    health insurance and those serving underserved
    populations:
            (A) Four pediatricians recommended by a statewide
        organization that represents pediatricians, one from
        the Chicago area, one from suburban Chicago, one from
        central Illinois, and one from downstate Illinois,
        appointed by the Speaker of the House of
        Representatives.
            (B) Four family primary care physicians
        recommended by a statewide organization that
        represents family physicians, one from the Chicago
        area, one from suburban Chicago, one from central
        Illinois, and one from downstate Illinois, appointed
        by the President of the Senate.
            (C) Two advanced practice nurses recommended by a
        statewide organization that represents advanced
        practice nurses, one from Chicago and one from central
        or downstate Illinois, appointed by the Speaker of the
        House of Representatives.
            (D) Two psychiatrists, including one child
        psychiatrist, recommended by a statewide organization
        that represents psychiatrists, one from the Chicago
        metropolitan region and one from central or downstate
        Illinois, appointed by the President of the Senate.
            (E) Two psychologists, including one child
        psychologist, recommended by a statewide organization
        that represents psychologists, one from the Chicago
        metropolitan region and one from central or downstate
        Illinois, appointed by the Speaker of the House of
        Representatives.
            (F) One representative from an organization that
        advocates for families and youth with mental health
        conditions who is a parent with a child living with a
        mental health condition, appointed by the President of
        the Senate.
            (G) Two community mental health service providers
        recommended by a statewide organization that
        represents community mental health providers, one from
        the Chicago metropolitan region and one from central
        Illinois or downstate Illinois, appointed by the
        Speaker of the House of Representatives.
            (H) Two substance use treatment providers
        recommended by a statewide organization that
        represents substance use treatment providers, one from
        the Chicago metropolitan region, one from central or
        downstate Illinois, appointed by the President of the
        Senate.
            (I) One representative from an organization that
        advocates for families and youth with mental health
        conditions who is an individual with lived experience
        of a mental health condition, appointed by the
        President of the Senate.
            (J) Two representatives from private insurance
        companies, one appointed by the Speaker of the House of
        Representatives and one appointed by the President of
        the Senate.
            (K) The following 3 officials shall serve as ex
        officio members:
                (i) the Director of Public Health, or his or
            her designee;
                (ii) the Director of Healthcare and Family
            Services, or his or her designee; and
                (iii) the Director of the Division of Mental
            Health within the Department of Human Services, or
            his or her designee.
    (d) Members shall serve without compensation and are
responsible for the cost of all reasonable and necessary travel
expenses connected to Advisory Council business. Advisory
Council members shall not be reimbursed by the State for these
costs. Advisory Council members shall be appointed within 60
days after the effective date of this Act. The Advisory Council
shall hold its initial meeting within 60 days after at least
50% of the members have been appointed. One representative from
the pediatricians or primary care physicians and one
representative from the mental health treatment community
shall be the co-chairs of the Advisory Council. At the first
meeting of the Advisory Council, the members shall select a 7
person Steering Committee that include the co-chairs. The
Advisory Council may establish committees that address
specific issues or populations and may appoint persons with
relevant expertise who are not appointed members of the
Advisory Council to serve on the committees as needed.