102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB2944

 

Introduced 2/19/2021, by Rep. Barbara Hernandez

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Mind Strong Act. Requires the Department of Public Health, or a third party contractor with experience in successful public education and awareness campaigns selected by the Department of Public Health, to develop and lead a 2-year educational campaign within each of Illinois' 11 health regions on the availability of adult mobile crisis response services within each region. Requires the Department to work in collaboration with community stakeholders, including certain organizations, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and the Department of Human Services. Requires the public awareness campaign to begin no later than January 1, 2022. Sets forth certain requirements for the public awareness campaign, including that it be culturally competent and that any written materials be written in plain, easy-to-understand language and available in multiple languages that are representative of the communities in a particular health region. Lists the types of organizations that must be the focus of the educational campaign. Requires the Department of Human Services to establish, subject to appropriation, a grant program for adult mobile crisis response services to any adult age 18 or older experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis regardless of insurance status. Requires the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to develop and implement training and protocols for individuals answering crisis calls to the Crisis and Referral Entry Services (CARES) line. Contains provisions concerning the use of data to strengthen CARES line responses and adult mobile crisis response services, and other matters. Requires the Departments of Public Health, Human Services, and Healthcare and Family Services to adopt rules to implement the Act. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB2944LRB102 14030 KTG 19382 b

1    AN ACT concerning mental health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Mind
5Strong Act.
 
6    Section 5. Purpose. This Act is intended to strengthen
7State mental health and substance use crisis response services
8to avoid the unnecessary involvement of law enforcement in
9such crises.
 
10    Section 10. Public awareness campaign. For purposes of
11educating targeted community stakeholders about the
12availability of adult mobile crisis response services for
13individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use
14crisis as an alternative to a law enforcement response when
15appropriate, the Department of Public Health, or a third party
16contractor with experience in successful public education and
17awareness campaigns selected by the Department of Public
18Health, shall develop and lead a 2-year educational campaign
19within each of Illinois' 11 health regions on the availability
20of adult mobile crisis response services within each region.
21The Department of Public Health shall work on this public
22awareness and educational campaign in collaboration with

 

 

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1community stakeholders, including the types of organizations
2listed in paragraph (5), the Department of Healthcare and
3Family Services, and the Department of Human Services. The
4public awareness campaign shall begin no later than January 1,
52022.
6        (1) The public awareness campaign shall be culturally
7    competent and locally tailored to ensure local buy-in and
8    community understanding and use of adult mobile crisis
9    response services.
10        (2) Any written public or community awareness
11    materials must be written in plain, easy-to-understand
12    language, and shall be available in multiple languages
13    that are representative of the communities in a particular
14    health region.
15        (3) All written or visual materials, videos, webinars,
16    presentations, social media, or other methods of
17    communication or marketing used for increasing community
18    awareness and public support and use of adult mobile
19    crisis response services shall be specifically tailored
20    for different types of community stakeholders or
21    audiences, including, but not limited to, healthcare
22    providers, law enforcement, and community groups, for
23    purposes of increasing support for and use of such
24    services.
25        (4) The public awareness and educational campaign
26    shall be directed toward community entities and actors,

 

 

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1    including, but not limited to, those listed in paragraph
2    (5), that are likely to come into contact with individuals
3    in crisis or that have broad community involvement and
4    support, as well as to individuals who might seek mental
5    health or substance use crisis support services.
6        (5) The following types of organizations shall be the
7    focus of the educational campaign and shall be included as
8    partner-stakeholders in the development of the campaign:
9            (A) Individuals who have or might use adult mobile
10        crisis response services.
11            (B) Mental health and substance use disorder
12        organizations representing individuals and family
13        members, including peer support networks.
14            (C) Hospitals and primary care clinics.
15            (D) Local law enforcement.
16            (E) Law enforcement associations.
17            (F) The Illinois Law Enforcement Training
18        Standards Board.
19            (G) The Illinois State Police.
20            (H) Local fire departments.
21            (I) Faith-based organizations.
22            (J) Food pantries.
23            (K) Homeless shelters.
24            (L) Local public officials.
25            (M) Nursing homes, specialized mental health
26        rehabilitation facilities, and facilities that qualify

 

 

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1        as an institution for mental diseases as defined in 42
2        U.S.C. 1369(d)(i).
3            (N) Other community organizations or providers
4        that may come into frequent contact with individuals
5        in a mental health or substance use crisis, or that
6        have broad community support and involvement.
 
7    Section 15. Enabling universal access to adult mobile
8crisis services as an alternative to a law enforcement
9response. Subject to appropriation, the Department of Human
10Services shall establish a grant program for purposes of
11providing adult mobile crisis response services to any adult
12age 18 or older experiencing a mental health or substance use
13crisis regardless of insurance status, including individuals
14with private health insurance and individuals who are
15uninsured. The adult mobile crisis response services covered
16by the grant shall mirror the adult mobile crisis services
17covered by Illinois' Medicaid program at a minimum. For
18purposes of preventing repeating mental health or substance
19use crises and to stabilize individuals post-crisis, such
20grant shall also cover linkage, case management, and any wrap
21around treatment and support services that are medically
22necessary for up to 90 days following a mental health or
23substance use crisis if the individual's health benefits do
24not cover such services or if the individual is uninsured.
25Such grant shall also support the service provider's work on

 

 

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1enrolling the individual in Medicaid if they are eligible for
2enrollment. The grant services covered in accordance with this
3Section shall not be used to pay for adult mobile crisis
4response services or other services for individuals enrolled
5in Illinois' Medicaid program, as Medicaid will be the payor
6for such services for Medicaid enrollees. The Department of
7Human Services' Division of Mental Health and Division of
8Substance Use Prevention and Recovery shall (i) convene a
9working group of providers and other stakeholders for purposes
10of receiving meaningful input on development of the grant
11program covered by this Section, (ii) ensure that there is no
12duplication of services, and (iii) avoid placing any
13unnecessary barriers that impede access to crisis response
14services.
 
15    Section 20. Centralized program for the CARES line and
16adult mobile crisis response services.
17    (a) By no later than one year after the effective date of
18this Act, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services,
19with meaningful stakeholder input and input from states and
20localities across the country that have implemented nationally
21recognized or emerging best practices in crisis response
22systems of care, shall do all of the following:
23        (1) Develop and implement training and protocols for
24    individuals answering crisis calls to the Crisis and
25    Referral Entry Services (CARES) line that support and

 

 

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1    enable providing triage and de-escalation to CARES line
2    callers when appropriate and safe. The Department of
3    Healthcare and Family Services shall ensure that CARES
4    line call takers are trained mental health professionals,
5    which may also include peers who are individuals with a
6    lived experience of a mental health or substance use
7    condition.
8        (2) Develop and implement protocols and training for
9    CARES line staff to conduct quality control and caller
10    satisfaction follow up.
11        (3) Ensure coordination of adult mobile crisis
12    response services and CARES line services with other
13    existing and future crisis response services and hotlines.
14    (b) By no later than one year after the effective date of
15this Act, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services,
16with meaningful input from adult mobile crisis response and
17CARES line providers and organizations representing
18individuals and families with lived experience of mental
19health and substance use conditions, shall identify crisis
20response policies and practices that must be standardized
21across providers to ensure quality and consistency of crisis
22response care, and shall identify strategies to expand
23staffing for CARES line call takers to reduce wait times. Any
24standardization of policies and practices must also allow for
25variability to ensure the ability to effectively provide these
26services in a manner that reflects the unique needs of the

 

 

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1communities served in each health region.
2    (c) The Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall
3convene a workgroup that includes the appropriate stakeholders
4to help inform the development and implementation of this
5subsection.
6    (d) By no later than one year after the effective date of
7this Act, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services,
8with meaningful stakeholder input from adult mobile crisis
9response providers and organizations representing individuals
10and families with lived experience of mental health or
11substance use conditions, shall develop an annual training, or
12contract with experts or organizations with the appropriate
13expertise, for purposes of training adult mobile crisis
14response provider personnel on the voluntary and involuntary
15commitment processes, and any other processes or services that
16are unique to accessing mental health or substance use
17services for individuals in crisis.
 
18    Section 25. Use of data to strengthen CARES line responses
19and adult mobile crisis response services. The Department of
20Healthcare and Family Services shall collect the following
21annual data, and use such data for developing a crisis
22response system of care in each of Illinois' 11 health
23regions. Data collection shall be done using claims data to
24the extent possible to minimize the administrative burden on
25providers.

 

 

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1        (1) The number and percentage of calls to the CARES
2    line by adults in a mental health crisis.
3        (2) The number and percentage of calls to the CARES
4    line by adults in a substance use crisis.
5        (3) The number and percentage of CARES line calls for
6    which adult mobile crisis response services were rejected
7    or not provided and why.
8        (4) Demographics (race, gender expression, and
9    Illinois health region of residence) for individuals who
10    received adult mobile crisis response services.
11        (5) The annual percentage increase or decrease from
12    the previous year in CARES line calls for mental health
13    crises and for substance use crises following the first
14    year of data collection.
15        (6) The number of providers delivering adult mobile
16    crisis response services in each of Illinois' 11 health
17    regions, and the zip codes in which they operate.
18        (7) The number of CARES line calls by health region.
19        (8) The number and percentage of adult mobile crisis
20    response services calls that involved law enforcement,
21    including transportation services and safety risks.
22        (9) The types of mental health or substance use
23    services to which individuals are linked and the
24    percentage of that type of linkage through the year
25    following a call to the CARES line and following adult
26    mobile crisis response services, including:

 

 

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1            (A) Hospital emergency rooms.
2            (B) Inpatient hospitalization.
3            (C) Crisis stabilization or triage units.
4            (D) Detoxification services.
5            (E) Substance use disorder residential treatment.
6            (F) Outpatient substance use disorder treatment.
7            (G) Living room services.
8            (H) Assertive community treatment.
9            (I) Community support treatment.
10            (J) Case management.
11            (K) Individual or group mental health or substance
12        use services.
13            (L) Placement in a nursing home, an institution
14        for mental diseases, or a specialized mental health
15        rehabilitation facility.
16        (10) The number of callers to the CARES line that need
17    to be referred to a second provider due to a wait list or
18    the inability to access timely services.
19        (11) Caller satisfaction with CARES line calls and
20    adult mobile crisis response services.
 
21    Section 30. Rulemaking Authority. The Departments of
22Public Health, Human Services, and Healthcare and Family
23Services shall adopt, within one year after the effective date
24of this Act, any rules necessary to implement the provisions
25of this Act.
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.