Bill Text: IL HB2944 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Alternatives to Crisis Escalation (ACE) 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 and how to access such services. Requires the Department to develop and implement this public awareness and educational campaign 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 and to take into account crisis services, if any. 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 stakeholders that shall be included as partner-stakeholders in the development of the campaign. Requires the Department of Human Services to establish, subject to appropriation, a grant program for the purposes of providing 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-04-23 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB2944 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB2944-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB2944 Introduced , 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
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AN ACT concerning mental 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 Mind
Strong Act.
Section 5. Purpose. This Act is intended to strengthen
State mental health and substance use crisis response services
to avoid the unnecessary involvement of law enforcement in
such crises.
Section 10. Public awareness campaign. For purposes of
educating targeted community stakeholders about the
availability of adult mobile crisis response services for
individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use
crisis as an alternative to a law enforcement response when
appropriate, 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, shall 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.
The Department of Public Health shall work on this public
awareness and educational campaign in collaboration with

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community stakeholders, including the types of organizations
listed in paragraph (5), the Department of Healthcare and
Family Services, and the Department of Human Services. The
public awareness campaign shall begin no later than January 1,
2022.
(1) The public awareness campaign shall be culturally
competent and locally tailored to ensure local buy-in and
community understanding and use of adult mobile crisis
response services.
(2) Any written public or community awareness
materials must be written in plain, easy-to-understand
language, and shall be available in multiple languages
that are representative of the communities in a particular
health region.
(3) All written or visual materials, videos, webinars,
presentations, social media, or other methods of
communication or marketing used for increasing community
awareness and public support and use of adult mobile
crisis response services shall be specifically tailored
for different types of community stakeholders or
audiences, including, but not limited to, healthcare
providers, law enforcement, and community groups, for
purposes of increasing support for and use of such
services.
(4) The public awareness and educational campaign
shall be directed toward community entities and actors,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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