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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION CALLING FOR A HEARING OF THE HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE COOK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ON SERVICE GAPS IN COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago closed six of its 12 Community Mental Health Clinics in April of 2012; and,
WHEREAS, according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, the reduction in funding for mental health services across multiple levels of government, including the Chicago clinic closures, has resulted in the Cook County Jail being the largest mental health facility in the state and possibly the nation; and,
WHEREAS, according to a joint report authored by the Mental Health Movement of Chicago and AFSCME Council 31, Chicago's closure of half of its mental health clinics resulted in a failure by the City of Chicago to account for hundreds and perhaps thousands of people who had depended on these clinics for mental health treatment services; and,
WHEREAS, that same report, entitled "Abandoning the Most Vulnerable," cites a complete lack of a comprehensive effort to determine how many people lost access to mental health treatment services after the Chicago clinic closures and similar lack of effort to make contact with the individuals who lost access to treatment and connect them with new service providers; and,
WHEREAS, Cook County, which is charged with providing services to the most vulnerable members of our local population, deals every day with the consequences of an inadequate safety net that has stranded too many of our residents without access to care that they urgently need; and,
WHEREAS, we count among those consequences an overcrowded Jail, court system and Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, all of which constitute a significant drain on Cook County's Budget and resources;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Cook County President and Board of Commissioners does hereby request a meeting of the Human Relations Committee of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, to take place Thursday, March 19, 2015 at 10 AM at 118 North Clark Street, Rm. 569, Chicago, Illinois.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Cook County President and the Board of Commissioners that the above referenced meeting of the Human Relations Committee of the Cook County Board of Commissioners focus exclusively on the service gaps caused by reduction in Community Mental Health Services in the City of Chicago and its impact on the Cook County Budget and the population that the County serves.
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