HB4714: CHILDREN'S MENTAL HLTH ACT

HB4714 Enrolled LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 AN ACT concerning mental health. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Children's Mental Health Act is amended by 5 changing Section 5 as follows: 6 (405 ILCS 49/5) 7 Sec. 5. Children's Mental Health Partnership; Children's 8 Mental Health Plan. 9 (a) The Children's Mental Health Partnership (hereafter 10 referred to as "the Partnership") created under Public Act 11 93-495 and continued under Public Act 102-899 shall advise 12 State agencies and the Children's Behavioral Health 13 Transformation Initiative on designing and implementing 14 short-term and long-term strategies to provide comprehensive 15 and coordinated services for children from birth to age 25 and 16 their families with the goal of addressing children's mental 17 health needs across a full continuum of care, including social 18 determinants of health, prevention, early identification, and 19 treatment. The recommended strategies shall build upon the 20 recommendations in the Children's Mental Health Plan of 2022 21 and may include, but are not limited to, recommendations 22 regarding the following: 23 (1) Increasing public awareness on issues connected to HB4714 Enrolled - 2 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 children's mental health and wellness to decrease stigma, 2 promote acceptance, and strengthen the ability of 3 children, families, and communities to access supports. 4 (2) Coordination of programs, services, and policies 5 across child-serving State agencies to best monitor and 6 assess spending, as well as foster innovation of adaptive 7 or new practices. 8 (3) Funding and resources for children's mental health 9 prevention, early identification, and treatment across 10 child-serving State agencies. 11 (4) Review Facilitation of research on best practices 12 and model programs and dissemination of this information 13 to State policymakers, practitioners, and the general 14 public. 15 (5) Monitoring programs, services, and policies 16 addressing children's mental health and wellness. 17 (6) Growing, retaining, diversifying, and supporting 18 the child-serving workforce, with special emphasis on 19 professional development around child and family mental 20 health and wellness services. 21 (7) Supporting the design, implementation, and 22 evaluation of a quality-driven children's mental health 23 system of care across all child services that prevents 24 mental health concerns and mitigates trauma. 25 (8) Improving the system to more effectively meet the 26 emergency and residential placement needs for all children HB4714 Enrolled - 3 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 with severe mental and behavioral challenges. 2 (b) The Partnership shall have the responsibility of 3 developing and updating the Children's Mental Health Plan and 4 advising the relevant State agencies on implementation of the 5 Plan. The Children's Mental Health Partnership shall be 6 comprised of the following members: 7 (1) The Governor or the Governor's his or her 8 designee. 9 (2) (Blank). The Attorney General or his or her 10 designee. 11 (3) The Secretary of the Department of Human Services 12 or the Secretary's his or her designee. 13 (4) The State Superintendent of Education or the State 14 Superintendent's his or her designee. 15 (5) The Director of the Department of Children and 16 Family Services or the Director's his or her designee. 17 (6) The Director of the Department of Healthcare and 18 Family Services or the Director's his or her designee. 19 (7) The Director of the Department of Public Health or 20 the Director's his or her designee. 21 (8) The Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice 22 or the Director's his or her designee. 23 (9) The Secretary of Early Childhood or the 24 Secretary's his or her designee. 25 (10) The Director of the Criminal Justice Information 26 Authority or the Director's his or her designee. HB4714 Enrolled - 4 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 (11) One member of the General Assembly appointed by 2 the Speaker of the House. 3 (12) One member of the General Assembly appointed by 4 the President of the Senate. 5 (13) One member of the General Assembly appointed by 6 the Minority Leader of the Senate. 7 (14) One member of the General Assembly appointed by 8 the Minority Leader of the House. 9 (15) Up to 25 representatives from the public 10 reflecting a diversity of age, sexual orientation, gender 11 identity, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and 12 geographic location, to be appointed by the Governor. 13 Those public members appointed under this paragraph must 14 include, but are not limited to: 15 (A) a family member or individual with lived 16 experience in the children's mental health system; 17 (B) a child advocate; 18 (C) a community mental health expert, 19 practitioner, or provider; 20 (D) a representative of a statewide association 21 representing a majority of hospitals in the State; 22 (E) an early childhood expert or practitioner; 23 (F) a representative from the K-12 school system; 24 (G) a representative from the health care sector; 25 (H) a substance use prevention expert or 26 practitioner, or a representative of a statewide HB4714 Enrolled - 5 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 association representing community-based mental health 2 substance use disorder treatment providers in the 3 State; 4 (I) a violence prevention expert or practitioner; 5 (J) a representative from the juvenile justice 6 system; 7 (K) a school social worker; and 8 (L) a representative of a statewide organization 9 representing pediatricians. 10 (16) Two co-chairs appointed by the Governor, one 11 being a representative from the public and one being the 12 Director of the Department of Public Health or the 13 Director's designee . 14 The public co-chair is included among the 25 public 15 representatives appointed under paragraph (15), and the 16 Director of Public Health (or the Director's designee) serving 17 as co-chair is the same individual listed under paragraph (7). 18 The members appointed by the Governor shall be appointed 19 for 4-year terms 4 years with the one opportunity for 20 reappointment , except as otherwise provided for in this 21 subsection. Members who were appointed by the Governor and are 22 serving on January 1, 2023 (the effective date of Public Act 23 102-899) shall maintain their appointment until the term of 24 their appointment has expired. For new appointments made 25 pursuant to Public Act 102-899, members shall be appointed for 26 one-year, 2-year, or 4-year terms, as determined by the HB4714 Enrolled - 6 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 Governor, with no more than 9 of the Governor's new or existing 2 appointees serving the same term. Those new appointments 3 serving a one-year or 2-year term may be appointed to 2 4 additional 4-year terms. If a vacancy occurs in the 5 Partnership membership, the vacancy shall be filled in the 6 same manner as the original appointment for the remainder of 7 the term . 8 The Partnership shall be convened no later than January 9 31, 2023 to discuss the changes in Public Act 102-899. 10 The members of the Partnership shall serve without 11 compensation but may be entitled to reimbursement for all 12 necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their 13 official duties as members of the Partnership from funds 14 appropriated for that purpose . 15 The Partnership may convene and appoint special committees 16 or study groups to operate under the direction of the 17 Partnership. Persons appointed to such special committees or 18 study groups shall only receive reimbursement for reasonable 19 expenses. 20 (b-5) The Partnership shall include an adjunct council 21 comprised of up to 10 no more than 6 youth aged 16 14 to 25 and 22 up to 4 representatives of 4 different community-based 23 organizations that focus on youth mental health. Of the 24 community-based organizations that focus on youth mental 25 health, one of the community-based organizations shall be led 26 by an LGBTQ-identified person, one of the community-based HB4714 Enrolled - 7 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 organizations shall be led by a person of color, and one of the 2 community-based organizations shall be led by a woman. Of the 3 representatives appointed to the council from the 4 community-based organizations, at least one representative 5 shall be LGBTQ-identified, at least one representative shall 6 be a person of color, and at least one representative shall be 7 a woman. The council members shall be appointed by the Chair of 8 the Partnership and shall reflect the racial, gender identity, 9 sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic, ethnic, and 10 geographic diversity of the State, including rural, suburban, 11 and urban appointees. The council shall make recommendations 12 to the Partnership regarding youth mental health, including, 13 but not limited to, identifying barriers to youth feeling 14 supported by and empowered by the system of mental health and 15 treatment providers, barriers perceived by youth in accessing 16 mental health services, gaps in the mental health system, 17 available resources in schools, including youth's perceptions 18 and experiences with outreach personnel, agency websites, and 19 informational materials, methods to destigmatize mental health 20 services, and how to improve State policy concerning student 21 mental health. The mental health system may include services 22 for substance use disorders and addiction. The council shall 23 meet at least 4 times annually. 24 (c) (Blank). 25 (d) The Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership has 26 the following powers and duties: HB4714 Enrolled - 8 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 (1) Reviewing or facilitating needs Conducting 2 research assessments to better understand the challenges 3 determine the needs and gaps of programs, services, and 4 policies related to that touch children's mental health. 5 (2) Monitoring policy development related to 6 children's mental health in Illinois at the local, State, 7 and federal level, especially regarding interagency 8 collaboration, varying modes of mental health services 9 delivery, and considering Developing policy statements for 10 interagency cooperation to cover all aspects of mental 11 health delivery, including social determinants of health, 12 prevention, early identification, and treatment. 13 (3) Raising awareness about Recommending policies and 14 providing information on effective programs for delivery 15 of mental health services. 16 (4) Promoting Using funding from federal, State, or 17 philanthropic partners, to fund pilot programs or research 18 activities to resource innovative practices by 19 organizational partners that will address children's 20 mental health. However, the Partnership may not provide 21 direct services. 22 (4.1) Working The Partnership shall work with 23 community networks and the Children's Behavioral Health 24 Transformation Initiative team to implement a community 25 needs assessment, that will raise awareness of gaps in 26 existing community-based services for youth. HB4714 Enrolled - 9 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 (5) Submitting an annual report, on or before December 2 15 30 of each year, to the Governor and the General 3 Assembly on the progress of the Plan, any recommendations 4 regarding State policies, laws, or rules necessary to 5 fulfill the purposes of the Act, and any additional 6 recommendations regarding mental or behavioral health that 7 the Partnership deems necessary. 8 (6) (Blank). 9 (7) Regularly reviewing aggregate and de-identified 10 data on the need for children's behavioral health services 11 in Illinois that is collected by the Behavioral Health 12 Care and Ongoing Navigation (BEACON) portal to ensure that 13 system transformation can continue to be driven by data. 14 The Partnership may designate a fiscal and administrative 15 agent that can accept funds to carry out its duties as outlined 16 in this Section. 17 The Department of Public Health shall provide technical 18 and administrative support for the Partnership. 19 (e) (Blank). The Partnership may accept monetary gifts or 20 grants from the federal government or any agency thereof, from 21 any charitable foundation or professional association, or from 22 any reputable source for implementation of any program 23 necessary or desirable to carry out the powers and duties as 24 defined under this Section. 25 (f) On or before January 1, 2027, the Partnership shall 26 submit recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly HB4714 Enrolled - 10 - LRB104 20027 KTG 33478 b 1 that includes recommended updates to the Act to reflect the 2 current mental health landscape in this State. 3 (Source: P.A. 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 103-594, eff. 6-25-24; 4 103-885, eff. 8-9-24; 104-417, eff. 8-15-25.)