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| 1 | AN ACT concerning health.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
| 5 | Illinois Mental Health First Aid Training Act. | ||||||
| 6 | Section 5. Purpose.
Through the use of innovative | ||||||
| 7 | strategies, Mental Health First Aid training shall be | ||||||
| 8 | implemented throughout the State. Mental Health First Aid | ||||||
| 9 | training is designed to train individuals to assist someone who | ||||||
| 10 | is developing a mental health disorder or an alcohol or | ||||||
| 11 | substance abuse disorder, or who is experiencing a mental | ||||||
| 12 | health or substance abuse crisis and it can be reasonably | ||||||
| 13 | assumed that a mental health disorder or an alcohol or | ||||||
| 14 | substance abuse disorder is a contributing or precipitating | ||||||
| 15 | factor.
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| 16 | Section 10. Definitions.
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| 17 | "Illinois Mental Health First Aid training program" means | ||||||
| 18 | the Mental Health First Aid training program administered by | ||||||
| 19 | the Department of Human Services. | ||||||
| 20 | "Certified trainers" means individuals who obtain | ||||||
| 21 | certification in Mental Health First Aid training by | ||||||
| 22 | successfully completing (i) the Instructor Training Program | ||||||
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| 1 | offered by the Illinois Mental Health First Aid training | ||||||
| 2 | program or (ii) the Instructor Training Program offered by the | ||||||
| 3 | National Authorities of Mental Health First Aid.
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| 4 | Section 15. Illinois Mental Health First Aid training | ||||||
| 5 | program.
The Department of Human Services shall administer the | ||||||
| 6 | Illinois Mental Health First Aid training program so that | ||||||
| 7 | certified trainers can provide Illinois residents, | ||||||
| 8 | professionals, and members of the public with training on how | ||||||
| 9 | to identify and assist someone who is believed to be developing | ||||||
| 10 | or has developed a mental health disorder or an alcohol or | ||||||
| 11 | substance abuse disorder or who is believed to be experiencing | ||||||
| 12 | a mental health or substance abuse crisis. | ||||||
| 13 | Section 20. Mental health first aid training grants.
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| 14 | Subject to appropriations made to the Department of Human | ||||||
| 15 | Services and other State agencies, the Department of Human | ||||||
| 16 | Services and other State agencies shall support training grants | ||||||
| 17 | for Illinois Mental Health First Aid training. These training | ||||||
| 18 | grants may support hardship subsidies for Illinois Mental | ||||||
| 19 | Health First Aid training fees.
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| 20 | Section 25. Objectives of the training program. The | ||||||
| 21 | Illinois Mental Health First Aid training program shall be | ||||||
| 22 | designed to train individuals to accomplish the following | ||||||
| 23 | objectives as deemed appropriate for the individuals to be | ||||||
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| 1 | trained, taking into consideration the individual's age: | ||||||
| 2 | (1) Build mental health, alcohol abuse, and substance | ||||||
| 3 | abuse literacy designed to help the public identify, | ||||||
| 4 | understand, and respond to the signs of mental illness, | ||||||
| 5 | alcohol abuse, and substance abuse. | ||||||
| 6 | (2) Assist someone who is believed to be developing or | ||||||
| 7 | has developed a mental health disorder or an alcohol or | ||||||
| 8 | substance abuse disorder or who is believed to be | ||||||
| 9 | experiencing a mental health disorder or an alcohol or | ||||||
| 10 | substance abuse crisis. Such assistance shall include the | ||||||
| 11 | following: | ||||||
| 12 | (A) Knowing how to recognize the symptoms of a | ||||||
| 13 | mental health disorder or an alcohol or substance abuse | ||||||
| 14 | disorder. | ||||||
| 15 | (B) Knowing how to provide initial help. | ||||||
| 16 | (C) Knowing how to guide individuals requiring | ||||||
| 17 | assistance toward appropriate professional help, | ||||||
| 18 | including help for individuals who may be in crisis. | ||||||
| 19 | (D) Knowing how to provide comfort to the person | ||||||
| 20 | experiencing a mental health disorder or an alcohol or | ||||||
| 21 | substance abuse disorder. | ||||||
| 22 | (E) Knowing how to prevent a mental health disorder | ||||||
| 23 | or an alcohol or substance abuse disorder from | ||||||
| 24 | deteriorating into a more serious condition which may | ||||||
| 25 | lead to more costly interventions and treatments. | ||||||
| 26 | (F) Knowing how to promote healing, recovery, and | ||||||
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| 1 | good mental health. | ||||||
| 2 | Section 30. Distribution of training grants.
When awarding | ||||||
| 3 | training grants under this Act, the Department or other | ||||||
| 4 | appropriate State agency shall distribute training grants | ||||||
| 5 | equitably among the geographical regions of the State paying | ||||||
| 6 | particular attention to the training needs of rural areas and | ||||||
| 7 | areas with underserved populations or professional shortages. | ||||||
| 8 | Section 35. Evaluation. The Department of Human Services, | ||||||
| 9 | as the Illinois Mental Health First Aid training authority, | ||||||
| 10 | shall ensure that evaluative criteria are established which | ||||||
| 11 | measure the distribution of the training grants and the | ||||||
| 12 | fidelity of the training processes to the objective of building | ||||||
| 13 | mental health, alcohol abuse, and substance abuse literacy | ||||||
| 14 | designed to help the public identify, understand, and respond | ||||||
| 15 | to the signs of mental illness, alcohol abuse, and substance | ||||||
| 16 | abuse. | ||||||
| 17 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 18 | becoming law.
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