(110 ILCS 185/65-5)

Sec. 65-5. Findings. The General Assembly finds as follows:

(1) There are insufficient behavioral health professionals in this State's behavioral health workforce and further that there are insufficient behavioral health professionals trained in evidence-based practices.

(2) The Illinois behavioral health workforce situation is at a crisis state and the lack of a behavioral health strategy is exacerbating the problem.

(3) In 2019, the Journal of Community Health found that suicide rates are disproportionately higher among African American adolescents. From 2001 to 2017, the rate for African American teen boys rose 60%, according to the study. Among African American teen girls, rates nearly tripled, rising by an astounding 182%. Illinois was among the 10 states with the greatest number of African American adolescent suicides (2015-2017).

(4) Workforce shortages are evident in all behavioral health professions, including, but not limited to, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, psychiatric physician assistant, social work (licensed social work, licensed clinical social work), counseling (licensed professional counseling, licensed clinical professional counseling), marriage and family therapy, licensed clinical psychology, occupational therapy, prevention, substance use disorder counseling, and peer support.

(5) The shortage of behavioral health practitioners affects every Illinois county, every group of people with behavioral health needs, including children and adolescents, justice-involved populations, working adults, people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and older adults, and every health care and social service setting, from residential facilities and hospitals to community-based organizations and primary care clinics.

(6) Estimates of unmet needs consistently highlight the dire situation in Illinois. Mental Health America ranks Illinois 29th in the country in mental health workforce availability based on its 480-to-1 ratio of population to mental health professionals, and the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that only 23.3% of Illinoisans' mental health needs can be met with its current workforce.

(7) Shortages are especially acute in rural areas and among low-income and under-insured individuals and families. 30.3% of Illinois' rural hospitals are in designated primary care shortage areas and 93.7% are in designated mental health shortage areas. Nationally, 40% of psychiatrists work in cash-only practices, limiting access for those who cannot afford high out-of-pocket costs, especially Medicaid eligible individuals and families.

(8) Spanish-speaking therapists in suburban Cook County, as well as in immigrant new growth communities throughout the State, for example, and master's-prepared social workers in rural communities are especially difficult to recruit and retain.

(9) Illinois' shortage of psychiatrists specializing in serving children and adolescents is also severe. Eighty-one out of 102 Illinois counties have no child and adolescent psychiatrists, and the remaining 21 counties have only 310 child and adolescent psychiatrists for a population of 2,450,000 children.

(10) Only 38.9% of the 121,000 Illinois youth aged 12 through 17 who experienced a major depressive episode received care.

(11) An annual average of 799,000 people in Illinois aged 12 and older need but do not receive substance use disorder treatment at specialty facilities.

(12) According to the Statewide Semiannual Opioid Report, Illinois Department of Public Health, September 2020, the number of opioid deaths in Illinois has increased 3% from 2,167 deaths in 2018 to 2,233 deaths in 2019.

(13) Behavioral health workforce shortages have led to well-documented problems of long wait times for appointments with psychiatrists (4 to 6 months in some cases), high turnover, and unfilled vacancies for social workers and other behavioral health professionals that have eroded the gains in insurance coverage for mental illness and substance use disorder under the federal Affordable Care Act and parity laws.

(14) As a result, individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders end up in hospital emergency rooms, which are the most expensive level of care, or are incarcerated and do not receive adequate care, if any.

(15) There are many organizations and institutions that are affected by behavioral health workforce shortages, but no one entity is responsible for monitoring the workforce supply and intervening to ensure it can effectively meet behavioral health needs throughout the State.

(16) Workforce shortages are more complex than simple numerical shortfalls. Identifying the optimal number, type, and location of behavioral health professionals to meet the differing needs of Illinois' diverse regions and populations across the lifespan is a difficult logistical problem at the system and practice level that requires coordinated efforts in research, education, service delivery, and policy.

(17) This State has a compelling and substantial interest in building a pipeline for behavioral health professionals and to anchor research and education for behavioral health workforce development. Beginning with the proposed Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center of Illinois, Illinois has the chance to develop a blueprint to be a national leader in behavioral health workforce development.

(18) The State must act now to improve the ability of its residents to achieve their human potential and to live healthy, productive lives by reducing the misery and suffering with unmet behavioral health needs.

(Source: P.A. 102-4, eff. 4-27-21.)