Times Weekly, News
Governor JB Pritzker signed two pieces of legislation into law intended to expand and improve access to children’s mental health services, particularly for children in foster care. The bill SB3889 recently signed will form a Children’s Mental Health Council to research and recommend legislative action for children with mental and behavioral disabilities, particularly around residential placement needs.
Bill HB4306 amends the Children and Family Services Act to require youth in foster care to be assigned a mental health provider to perform well-being assessments. “We know the pandemic further exacerbated the mental health challenges our young people were already facing, and it is time we take action,” said Governor Pritzker. “The Holistic Mental Health Care for Youth in Care Task Force will work to create policies based on real-world, lived experiences to better support our foster youth. There is nothing more important than caring for our young people,” Pritzker said. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that up to 80 percent of children in foster care have significant mental health issues, creating a pressing need for treatment.
The Holistic Mental Health Care for Youth in Care Task Force will assess capacity levels for mental healthcare providers serving children in care and review payment rates and recruitment to ensure retention of providers, particularly providers of color who serve the diverse population of children in care.
