HB1364 EngrossedLRB103 24835 AWJ 51167 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
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 9-8-8
5Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Workgroup Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
7    (1) In the summer of 2022, 31% of Illinois adults
8experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression more than half
9of the days of each week, which is an increase of 20% since
102019.
11    (2) Suicide is the third leading cause of death in
12Illinois for young adults who are 15 to 34 years of age, and it
13is the 11th leading cause of death for all Illinoisans. In
142021, 1,488 Illinois lives were lost to suicide, and an
15estimated 376,000 adults had thoughts of suicide.
16    (3) Historically, people in Illinois and nationwide have
17had few and fragmented options to call upon during a mental
18health crisis and have relied upon 9-1-1 and various privately
19funded crisis lines for help.
20    (4) In July 2022, Illinois joined the nation in launching
21the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a universal 3-digit
22dialing code for a national suicide prevention and mental
23health hotline, meant to offer 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week

 

 

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1access to trained counselors who can help people experiencing
2mental health-related distress.
3    (5) Congress delegated to the states significant
4decision-making responsibility for structuring and funding the
5states' 9-8-8 call center networks.
6    (6) States had limited data on which to base their initial
7decisions because the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
8Services Administration's projections of future increases in
9call volumes varied widely, and there was no national
10best-practice model for the number and organization of 9-8-8
11call centers.
12    (7) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
13Administration described the 2022 launch of 9-8-8 as being
14just the first step toward reimagining our country's mental
15health crisis system and stipulated that long-term
16transformation will rely on the willingness of states and
17territories to build and invest strategically in every level
18of the continuum of mental health crisis care over the next
19several years.
20    (8) In 2023, the General Assembly and other State leaders
21can assess the first year of operations of the 9-8-8 call
22center system, identify legislative solutions to any funding
23and programmatic gaps that are emerging, and set the course
24for Illinois to eventually lead the country in providing
25quality and accessible 9-8-8 care and in connecting
26individuals with the mental health resources necessary to

 

 

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1sustain long-term recovery.
2    (9) The launch of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
3has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve
4mental health crisis care in Illinois.
5    (10) Illinois' success or failure in building a
6high-quality call center network in the initial years will be
7an important factor in determining whether 9-8-8 is perceived
8as a trusted resource in the State.
9    (11) Illinois' success or failure in building a
10high-quality 9-8-8 call center network will disproportionately
11affect Black, Brown, and other marginalized residents who are
12most likely to rely on crisis services to access mental health
13care and are most likely to be criminalized or harmed by the
14existing crisis response system.
 
15    Section 10. Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Workgroup.
16    (a) The Department of Human Services, Division of Mental
17Health, shall convene a working group that includes:
18        (1) bicameral, bipartisan members of the General
19    Assembly;
20        (2) at least one representative from the Department of
21    Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention and
22    Recovery; the Department of Public Health; the Department
23    of Healthcare and Family Services; and the Department of
24    Insurance;
25        (3) the State's Chief Behavioral Health Officer;

 

 

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1        (4) the Director of the Children's Behavioral Health
2    Transformation Initiative;
3        (5) service providers from the regional and statewide
4    9-8-8 call centers;
5        (6) representatives of organizations that represent
6    people with mental health conditions or substance use
7    disorders;
8        (7) representatives of organizations that operate an
9    Illinois social services helpline or crisis line other
10    than 9-8-8, including veterans' crisis services;
11        (8) more than one individual with personal or family
12    lived experience of a mental health condition or substance
13    use disorder;
14        (9) experts in research and operational evaluation;
15    and
16        (10) and any other person or persons as determined by
17    the Department of Human Services, Division of Mental
18    Health.
19    (b) On or before December 31, 2023, the Department of
20Human Services, Division of Mental Health, shall submit a
21report to the General Assembly regarding the Workgroup's
22findings under Section 15 related to the 9-8-8 call system.
 
23    Section 15. Responsibilities; action plan.
24    (a) The Workforce has the following responsibilities:
25        (1) to review existing information about the first

 

 

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1    year of 9-8-8 call center operations in Illinois,
2    including, but not limited to, state-level and
3    county-level use data, progress around the federal
4    measures of success determined by the Substance Abuse and
5    Mental Health Services Administration, and research
6    conducted by any State-contracted partners around cost
7    projections, best-practice standards, and geographic
8    needs;
9        (2) to review other states' models and emerging best
10    practices around structuring 9-8-8 call center networks,
11    with an emphasis on promoting high-quality phone
12    interventions, coordination with other crisis lines and
13    crisis services, and connection to community-based support
14    for those in need;
15        (3) to review governmental infrastructures created in
16    other states to promote sustainability and quality in
17    9-8-8 call centers and crisis system operations;
18        (4) to review changes and new initiatives that have
19    been advanced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
20    Services Administration and Vibrant Emotional Health since
21    Vibrant transitioned to 9-8-8 in July 2022, such as new
22    training curricula for call takers and new technology
23    platforms;
24        (5) to consider input from call center personnel,
25    providers, and advocates about strengths, weaknesses, and
26    service gaps in Illinois; and

 

 

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1        (6) to develop an action plan with recommendations to
2    the General Assembly that include the following:
3            (A) a future structure for a network of 9-8-8 call
4        centers in Illinois that will best promote equity,
5        quality, and connection to care;
6            (B) metrics that Illinois should use to measure
7        the success of our statewide system in promoting
8        equity, quality, and connection to care and a system
9        to measure those metrics, considering the metrics
10        imposed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
11        Services Administration as only a starting point for
12        measurement of success in Illinois;
13            (C) recommendations to further fund and strengthen
14        the rest of Illinois' behavioral health services and
15        crisis assistance programs based on lessons learned
16        from 9-8-8 use; and
17            (D) recommendations on a long-term governmental
18        infrastructure to provide advice and recommendations
19        necessary to sustainably implement and monitor the
20        progress of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in
21        Illinois and to make recommendations for the statewide
22        improvement of behavioral health crisis response and
23        suicide prevention services in the State.
24        The action plan shall be approved by a majority of
25    Workgroup members.
26    (b) Nothing in the action plan filed under this Section

 

 

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1shall be construed to supersede the recommendations of the
2Statewide Advisory Committee or Regional Advisory Committees
3created by the Community Emergency Services and Support Act.
 
4    Section 20. Repeal. This Act is repealed on January 1,
52025.
 
6    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
7becoming law.