Full Text of SJR0091 093rd General Assembly
SJ0091 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Tinley Park Mental Health Center (MHC) is an | 3 |
| essential element in the network of mental health care | 4 |
| providers serving Chicago's south side, south suburban Cook | 5 |
| County, and Will, Grundy, and Kankakee counties; and
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| WHEREAS, Community-based agencies in this region provide | 7 |
| outpatient therapy, housing assistance, and case management | 8 |
| for many thousands of individuals with mental illness; and
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| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC effectively functions as a safety | 10 |
| net for community-based agencies that can refer mentally ill | 11 |
| individuals to Tinley Park MHC when they are in crisis and | 12 |
| represent a danger to themselves or others or are in need of | 13 |
| more intensive psychiatric services; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC is a nationally accredited, highly | 15 |
| regarded treatment center which offers an exceptional and | 16 |
| comprehensive range of medical, social, and psychiatric | 17 |
| supports to clients in acute phases of their illness; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC also functions as an essential | 19 |
| alternative to incarceration for individuals with mental | 20 |
| illness who engage in anti-social behavior that brings them | 21 |
| into contact with law enforcement officials; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, The communities served by Tinley Park MHC already | 23 |
| suffer from a shortage of affordable, accessible mental health | 24 |
| services; and | 25 |
| WHEREAS, With over 140 beds, Tinley Park MHC is the largest | 26 |
| inpatient psychiatric treatment center in the region, with more | 27 |
| than 2,000 admissions annually; and | 28 |
| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC has excelled at stabilizing |
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| individuals in crisis and aiding them to return to independent | 2 |
| lives in their communities, with an average length of inpatient | 3 |
| treatment of just ten days; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC maintains close working | 5 |
| relationships with community-based mental health agencies and | 6 |
| services, jointly developing discharge plans, linking patients | 7 |
| with community resources, and providing transition services; | 8 |
| and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, Those private hospitals in the region that do have | 10 |
| inpatient psychiatric units frequently refer their poorest and | 11 |
| most difficult patients to Tinley Park MHC and few have the | 12 |
| comprehensive level of services that Tinley Park MHC offers; | 13 |
| and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, As a State-operated facility, Tinley Park MHC | 15 |
| treats patients who have no insurance or who have exhausted | 16 |
| their mental health coverage and is the only mental health | 17 |
| resource in the region that reliably provides inpatient | 18 |
| treatment to those who cannot pay; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, The costs at Tinley Park MHC are more than 50% | 20 |
| below those of comparable private hospitals in the area; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, Although the Department of Human Services' (DHS) | 22 |
| FY05 budget includes full-year funding for Tinley Park MHC, the | 23 |
| budget narrative states that the budget is premised on the | 24 |
| "closure and sale of the Tinley Park mental health facility"; | 25 |
| and | 26 |
| WHEREAS, DHS has established a Metro South Planning Task | 27 |
| Force to develop the best possible network of services for the | 28 |
| Chicago "Southland" region; and | 29 |
| WHEREAS, The Cook County Board and more than two dozen |
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| Southland elected officials, as well as professional and | 2 |
| advocacy organizations, have spoken out against closing Tinley | 3 |
| Park MHC; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, This broad consensus makes clear that closing down | 5 |
| the Southland region's only public inpatient mental health | 6 |
| center would violate the will of the affected communities; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC has a dedicated and skilled | 8 |
| workforce with a unique body of experience in treating the most | 9 |
| severely mentally ill; and
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| WHEREAS, Tinley Park MHC is not an aged or dilapidated | 11 |
| facility; in fact, it is newer than many of the private | 12 |
| hospitals in the region; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | 14 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 15 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that Chicago's South Side, Southern Cook | 16 |
| County, Will County, and Kankakee County, all of which are now | 17 |
| served by Tinley Park MHC, must continue to have a public | 18 |
| inpatient mental health facility that can appropriately serve | 19 |
| the most severely mentally ill; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That if the Metro Task Force determines that the | 21 |
| current Tinley Park MHC facility cannot continue to meet the | 22 |
| needs of these communities, a new facility should be purchased | 23 |
| or built; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That Tinley Park MHC should remain open at its | 25 |
| current location unless and until a new DHS-operated inpatient | 26 |
| mental health center is opened in the Southland region; and be | 27 |
| it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services maintain | 29 |
| its full admission and service capacity at the Tinley Park MHC; |
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| and be it further | 2 |
| RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services should | 3 |
| continue to work to foster a comprehensive array of services | 4 |
| throughout the region; and be it further | 5 |
| RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be delivered to | 6 |
| the Secretary of Human Services.
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