Our Position in Brief:
The League supports a comprehensive and coordinated system
of treatment and rehabilitation services for mentally ill
adults and children. There should be adequate funding,
planning, program standards, and personnel training requirements
for both state facilities and community programs.
The League supports a broad array of adequate and accessible
community services. Although primary responsibility should
rest with the state, funding from local, federal, and non-governmental
sources should be encouraged. A system of local boards to
levy taxes, administer all funds, and to plan and coordinate
services should be required throughout the state. The State
should require local governments to provide in their zoning
ordinances for residential programs for mentally ill persons.
Full Statement of Where We Stand on Mental Health
League Activity/Outlook
Latest News/Update: In November, 2009, LWVIL President Nancy Marcus, Mental Health Issue Specialist Darlene Bakk, and Criminal Justice Issue Specialist, Eileen Subak, submitted written testimony for the Governor's Nursing Home Task Force based on our mental health and criminal justice positions. Click HERE for the League's testimony. Additional testimonies and information can be found at http://www2.illinois.gov/nursinghomesafety/Pages/default.aspx.
Earlier Activity:
In the mid-80s the League adopted a mental health position that states,
The League supports a comprehensive and coordinated system
of treatment and rehabilitation services for mentally ill adults
and children. There should be adequate funding, planning, program
standards, and personnel training requirements for both state facilities
and community programs. The League supports a broad array of adequate
and accessible community services. Although primary responsibility
should rest with the state, funding from local, federal, and non-governmental
sources should be encouraged. A system of local boards to levy taxes,
administer all funds, and to plan and coordinate services should
be required throughout the state. The State should require local
governments to provide in their zoning ordinances for residential
programs for mentally ill persons.
Since that time the League has participated with other organizations
who share the same goals that there should be adequate
funding and planning with a broad array of adequate and accessible
services for persons with serious mental illnesses.
One of the jobs of the LWVIL MH Issue Specialist is to send
Action Alerts which address the concerns based on the League's
MH position to grassroots advocates who wish to contact
their elected officials regarding current legislation.The
Issue Specialist also acts as a liaison for local Leagues
that have questions or need information on taking action based
on the State's position at the local level.
Various state-wide local leagues have done their own studies and taken action on the state’s mental health position targeting their own community issues. One resource which might be helpful to mental health advocates was done in 2007 by the Leagues in Kane County (Elgin Area, Carpentersville Dundee Area — currently Elgin Area; Geneva-St. Charles and Batavia — currently Kane County Central) entitled Kane County Mental Illness/Developmental Disability Study. This document is available at http://lwvnet.org/lwv/il/elgin/files/profile_of_care.pdf. Please note that the reference and participants’ pages are in the process of being updated. If you have questions please contact mentalhealth@lwvil.org.
If you are interested in sharing what your league is doing in this area, or if you want to do your own study and need help,
please contact the MH issue specialist at mentalhealth@lwvil.org. We want to hear from you!
Interested in working on this issue?
Please email issues@lwvil.org
and cite the Issue on the subject line.
Additional Resources:
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