The spring legislative session started in early January this year, and your NAMI Illinois Legislative Committee is on the job, actively monitoring bills and organizing the grassroots voice of mental health in Springfield and beyond.
After a momentous 2021 session that saw mental health advance on many fronts, issues related to coordination, implementation, equity, and sustainable funding are emerging as 2022 themes. The timeline may be abbreviated, but agendas are full, as NAMI and its allies support efforts to increase Medicaid rates, rebuild the mental health workforce, launch the national 988 mental health phoneline, and overhaul the crisis response system.
Work also continues on longstanding issues like the shortage of inpatient beds and supportive housing, expanding the workforce role of peers, and advancing our partnership with Sinai Urban Health Initiative to launch a Community Health Worker program focused on behavioral health.
NAMI Illinois is also working to follow up our win on the Access to Mental Health Information Act (SB 1970) with expanded education to help people living with serious mental illness, providers, and families understand how to use the Act and other tools to support patient care.
NAMI's statewide policy voice is orchestrated by an active Legislative Committee that coordinates advocacy by our 20 local affiliates, hundreds of individual activists, and through coalition partners including the Mental Health Summit, Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives Coalition, and issue-focused organizations like our friends at the Supportive Housing Taskforce.
