SR0546 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0546 LRB093 22192 KEF 51066 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Tinley Park Mental Health Center is an essential element in the network of mental health care providers serving Chicago's south side, south suburban Cook, and Will, Grundy, and Kankakee counties; and

WHEREAS, Community-based agencies in this region provide outpatient therapy, housing assistance, and case management for many thousands of individuals with mental illness; and

WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC effectively functions as a safety net for community-based agencies that can refer mentally ill individuals to Tinley Park MHC when they are in crisis and represent a danger to themselves or others or are in need of more intensive psychiatric services; and

WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC provides a safe and secure inpatient treatment setting for those individuals with severe mental illness who are in crisis and require more intensive services than can be provided in an outpatient setting; and

WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC is a nationally-accredited, highly regarded treatment center which offers an exceptional and comprehensive range of medical, social, and psychiatric supports to clients in acute phases of their illness; and

WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC also functions as an essential alternative to incarceration for individuals with mental illness who engage in anti-social behavior that brings them into contact with law enforcement officials; and

WHEREAS, The communities served by Tinley Park MHC already suffer from a shortage of affordable, accessible mental health services; and

WHEREAS, With over 140 beds, Tinley Park MHC is the largest inpatient psychiatric treatment center in the region, with more than 2,000 admissions annually; and

WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC has excelled at stabilizing individuals in crisis and aiding them to return to independent lives in their communities, with an average length of inpatient treatment of just ten days; and

WHEREAS, Those private hospitals in the region that do have inpatient psychiatric units frequently refer their poorest and most difficult patients to Tinley Park MHC and few have the comprehensive level of services that Tinley Park MHC offers; and

WHEREAS, As a State-operated facility, Tinley Park MHC treats patients who have no insurance or who have exhausted their mental health coverage and is the only mental health resource in the region that reliably provides inpatient treatment to those who cannot pay; and

WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC maintains close working relationships with community-based mental health agencies and services, jointly developing discharge plans, linking patients with community resources, and providing transition services; and

WHEREAS, Community-based agencies can expand the scope of their services in this region and should have more resources to do so, without such additional resources being taken away from Tinley Park MHC; and

WHEREAS, The costs at Tinley Park MHC are more than 50% below those of comparable private hospitals in the area; and

WHEREAS, Although the Department of Human Services' proposed FY05 budget includes full year funding for Tinley Park MHC, the budget narrative states that the budget is premised on the "closure and sale of the Tinley Park mental health facility" during this budget year; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services has acknowledged that the decision to close Tinley Park MHC was made even though there are no known alternatives that can provide the same comprehensive level of services to the same population within the same cost range; and

WHEREAS, The Department testified before a special House Appropriations Committee hearing that it definitely plans to close Tinley Park MHC and that the "planning process" initiated by the Department is intended only to consider what kind of alternative services can be developed; and

WHEREAS, No justification has been presented for closing Tinley Park MHC and doing so would deprive its service area of vital services; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we oppose the proposed closure of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call on the Department of Human Services to immediately terminate its "planning process" and all other activities related to the closure of Tinley Park Mental Health Center; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services should seek to foster a comprehensive, well-coordinated system of care that strengthens community-based services that can work in conjunction with Tinley Park MHC in the affected region; and be it further

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