title
PROPOSED GRANT AWARD
Department: Cook County Health
Grantee: Cook County Health
Grantor: Department of Health and Human Services/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services/ Administration Center for Mental Health Services
Request: Authorization to accept grant
Purpose: Cook County Health Children’s Mental Health Initiative
Grant Amount: $999,999.00
Grant Period: 9/30/2026-9/29/2027
Fiscal Impact: None
Accounts: 41215.4896.10755
Concurrences:
The Budget Department has received all requisite documents and determined the fiscal impact on Cook County, if any.
Summary: This is a formal request to accept the Cook County Health Children’s Mental Health Initiative Grant. Cook County faces a severe youth behavioral health crisis. In 2023, more than 30,000 minors required behavioral health hospitalization in Chicago, and over 1,100 youth died by suicide between 2019 and 2023. Despite increasing demand, many youth do not receive timely care due to fragmentation and limited access. CareConnect Youth (CCY) addresses these challenges by establishing a coordinated infrastructure that connects identification to care. CCY is a community-based, school-linked system of care designed to improve access to behavioral health services for children, youth, and young adults (ages 0–21) with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and those at risk in Cook County, Illinois. Led by the Cook County Health Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) in partnership with Open Roads Behavioral Health a network of schools, health systems, and community organizations, CCY addresses critical gaps, including fragmented referral pathways, long wait times, and limited care coordination. The initiative will be implemented in high-need communities served by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Noble Schools, which collectively serve over 328,000 students, most of whom are Medicaid-insured. These settings provide a critical entry point for reaching youth with serious emotional disturbance ...
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