102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB4256

 

Introduced 1/5/2023, by Sen. Laura Fine

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force Act. Provides that the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force shall be composed of 12 appointed members and the State's Chief Behavioral Health Officer, or his or her representative. Provides that the 2 Task Force co-chairs shall appoint experts to contribute and participate in the Task Force as nonvoting members. Provides for meetings of the Task Force and responsibilities relating to examination of the first year of implementation and use of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Illinois. Requires the development of an action plan with specified recommendations to be filed with the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2023. Includes legislative findings. Repeals the Act on January 1, 2025. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB4256LRB102 30020 AWJ 42211 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 9-8-8
5Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
7    (1) In the summer of 2022, 31% of Illinois adults
8experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression more than half
9of the days of each week, which is an increase of 20% since
102019.
11    (2) Suicide is the third leading cause of death in
12Illinois for young adults who are 15 to 34 years of age, and it
13is the 11th leading cause of death for all Illinoisans. In
142021, 1,488 Illinois lives were lost to suicide, and an
15estimated 376,000 adults had thoughts of suicide.
16    (3) Historically, people in Illinois and nationwide have
17had few and fragmented options to call upon during a mental
18health crisis and have relied upon 9-1-1 and various privately
19funded crisis lines for help.
20    (4) In July 2022, Illinois joined the nation in launching
21the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a universal three-digit
22dialing code for a national suicide prevention and mental
23health hotline, meant to offer 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week

 

 

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1access to trained counselors who can help people experiencing
2mental-health-related distress.
3    (5) Congress delegated to the states significant
4decision-making responsibility for structuring and funding the
5states' 9-8-8 call center networks.
6    (6) States had limited data on which to base their initial
7decisions because the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
8Services Administration's projections of future increases in
9call volumes varied widely, and there was no national
10best-practice model for the number and organization of 9-8-8
11call centers.
12    (7) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
13Administration described the 2022 launch of 9-8-8 as being
14just the first step toward reimagining our country's mental
15health crisis system and stipulated that long-term
16transformation will rely on the willingness of states and
17territories to build and invest strategically in every level
18of the continuum of mental health crisis care over the next
19several years.
20    (8) In 2023, the General Assembly and other state leaders
21can assess the first year of operations of the 9-8-8 call
22center system, identify legislative solutions to any funding
23and programmatic gaps that are emerging, and set the course
24for Illinois to eventually lead the country in providing
25quality and accessible 9-8-8 care and in connecting
26individuals with the mental health resources necessary to

 

 

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1sustain long-term recovery.
2    (9) The launch of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
3has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve
4mental health crisis care in Illinois.
5    (10) Illinois' success or failure in building a
6high-quality call center network in the initial years will be
7an important factor in determining whether 9-8-8 is perceived
8as a trusted resource in the State.
9    (11) Illinois' success or failure in building a
10high-quality 9-8-8 call center network will disproportionately
11affect Black, Brown, and other marginalized residents who are
12most likely to rely on crisis services to access mental health
13care and are most likely to be criminalized or harmed by the
14existing crisis response system.
 
15    Section 10. Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force.
16    (a) The 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force is
17created. The Task Force shall be composed of the following
18voting members:
19        (1) 4 members of the House of Representatives, 2
20    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives
21    and 2 appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of
22    Representatives;
23        (2) 4 members of the Senate, 2 appointed by the
24    President of the Senate and 2 appointed by the Minority
25    Leader of the Senate;

 

 

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1        (3) a representative from the Department of Human
2    Services, Division of Mental Health, appointed by the
3    Governor;
4        (4) a representative from the Department of Public
5    Health, appointed by the Governor;
6        (5) a representative from the Department of Healthcare
7    and Family Services, appointed by the Governor;
8        (6) a representative from the Department of Insurance,
9    appointed by the Governor; and
10        (7) the State's Chief Behavioral Health Officer, or
11    his or her representative.
12    (b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
13President of the Senate shall appoint one co-chair from each
14chamber of the General Assembly, selecting from the 8 members
15appointed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
16    (c) The 2 co-chairs shall select expert participants, who
17will be nonvoting members, to contribute to and participate in
18this Task Force. Expert participants shall include, at a
19minimum:
20        (1) service providers from regional and statewide
21    9-8-8 call centers;
22        (2) providers, or representatives of providers, of
23    community-based mobile crisis response services, including
24    representation from both urban and nonurban settings;
25        (3) a representative of an organization that advocates
26    for people with mental health conditions or substance use

 

 

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1    disorders, or both health conditions and substance use
2    disorders;
3        (4) a representative of an organization that operates
4    an Illinois social services helpline or crisis line other
5    than 9-8-8;
6        (5) more than one individual with personal or
7    family-lived experience of a mental health condition or
8    substance use disorder;
9        (6) a representative of the University of Illinois at
10    Chicago involved in providing research and analytical
11    support to the State's 9-8-8 operations; and
12        (7) a representative with expertise in 9-1-1 call
13    center protocols and operations.
14    (d) Members and expert participants shall serve without
15compensation and are responsible for the cost of all
16reasonable and necessary travel expenses connected to Task
17Force business.
18    Task Force members shall be appointed by June 1, 2023. The
19Task Force must convene its first meeting by July 1, 2023 and
20may meet at other times at the call of a co-chair appointed
21under subsection (b). Expert participants shall be selected by
22the Task Force co-chairs before the first meeting. The Task
23Force may establish committees that address specific issues or
24populations and may select expert participants to serve on
25committees as needed. The Department of Human Services will
26provide administrative and other support to the Task Force.

 

 

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1     (e) If a vacancy occurs in the Task Force membership or
2the expert participant membership, the vacancy shall be filled
3in the same manner as the original appointment for the
4remainder of the term of the Task Force.
 
5    Section 15. Responsibilities; action plan.
6    (a) The Task Force has the following responsibilities:
7        (1) to review existing information about the first
8    year of 9-8-8 call center operations in Illinois,
9    including, but not limited to, state-level and
10    county-level use data, progress around the federal
11    measures of success determined by the Substance Abuse and
12    Mental Health Services Administration, and research
13    conducted by any State-contracted partners around cost
14    projections, best practice standards, and geographic
15    needs;
16        (2) to review the recommendations and decisions of
17    previous State-led workgroups on transforming the mental
18    health crisis response system, including, but not limited
19    to, the 9-8-8 Stakeholder Coalition and Subcommittees
20    convened in 2021 and the Statewide Advisory Committee and
21    Regional Advisory Committees established under the
22    Community Emergency Services and Support Act;
23        (3) to review other states' models and emerging best
24    practices around structuring 9-8-8 call center networks,
25    with an emphasis on promoting high-quality phone

 

 

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1    interventions, coordination with other crisis lines and
2    crisis services, and connection to community-based support
3    for those in need;
4        (4) to review governmental infrastructures created in
5    other states to promote sustainability and quality in
6    9-8-8 call centers and crisis system operations;
7        (5) to review changes and new initiatives that have
8    been advanced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
9    Services Administration and Vibrant Emotional Health since
10    Illinois launched 9-8-8 in July 2022, such as new training
11    curricula for call takers and new technology platforms;
12        (6) to consider testimony from call-center personnel,
13    providers, and advocates about strengths, weaknesses, and
14    service gaps in Illinois; and
15        (7) to develop an action plan with recommendations to
16    the Governor and General Assembly that include the
17    following:
18            (A) a future structure for a network of 9-8-8 call
19        centers in Illinois that will best promote equity,
20        quality, and connection to care;
21            (B) metrics that Illinois should use to measure
22        the success of our statewide system in promoting
23        equity, quality, and connection to care and a system
24        to measure those metrics, considering the metrics
25        imposed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
26        Services Administration as only a starting point for

 

 

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1        measurement of success in Illinois;
2            (C) a plan to sustainably fund a statewide 9-8-8
3        call center network under subparagraphs (A) and (B) in
4        fiscal year 2025 and beyond, which shall identify
5        potential funding sources, future funding amounts, and
6        a mechanism by which funding needs can be calculated;
7            (D) recommendations to further fund and strengthen
8        the rest of Illinois' behavioral health services and
9        crisis assistance programs based on lessons learned
10        from 9-8-8 use; and
11            (E) recommendations on a long-term governmental
12        infrastructure to provide advice and recommendations
13        necessary to sustainably implement and monitor the
14        progress of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in
15        Illinois and to make recommendations for the statewide
16        improvement of behavioral health crisis response and
17        suicide prevention services in the State.
18        The action plan shall be approved by a majority of
19    Task Force members who are voting members.
20    (b) The Task Force shall complete and file the action plan
21with the Governor and General Assembly by no later than
22December 31, 2023.
23    (c) Nothing in the action plan filed under this Section
24shall be construed to supersede the recommendations of the
25Statewide Advisory Committee or Regional Advisory Committees
26created by the Community Emergency Services and Support Act.
 

 

 

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1    Section 20. Repeal. This Act is repealed on January 1,
22025.
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.