Board of Commissioners of Cook County - File #: 21-5290

• File #: 21-5290
• Version: 2
• Name: DECLARING MENTAL HEALTH A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
• Type: Resolution
• Status: Approved
• File created: 9/15/2021
• In control: Health & Hospitals Committee
• On agenda: 9/23/2021
• Final action: 10/7/2021
• Title: PROPOSED RESOLUTION PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE ITEM # 21-5290- DECLARING MENTAL HEALTH A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS WHEREAS, Public Health Awareness raises awareness of the relationship between the health of individuals and the health of their communities; and WHEREAS, behavioral health is a person's condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being including substance use disorders; and WHEREAS, in light of the pandemic we have seen a rise in the use of and need for behavioral health services across the United States; and WHEREAS ,according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness and 1 in 2o have a serious mental illness; and WHEREAS, according to NAMI, people with serious mental illness have an increased risk for chronic disease, like diabetes or cancer, 18% of U.S. adults with mental illness also have a substance use disorder, 21% of people experiencing homelessness also have a serious mental illness, 1 in 8 of all v...
• Sponsors: DENNIS DEER, ALMA E. ANAYA, BRANDON JOHNSON, BILL LOWRY, FRANK J. AGUILAR, LUIS ARROYO JR, SCOTT R. BRITTON, JOHN P. DALEY, BRIDGET DEGNEN, BRIDGET GAINER, DONNA MILLER, STANLEY MOORE, KEVIN B. MORRISON, SEAN M. MORRISON, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS, LARRY SUFFREDIN

Date	Ver.	Action By	Motion	Result
10/7/2021	2	Board of Commissioners	approve as substituted	Pass
10/5/2021	1	Health & Hospitals Committee	accept as substituted	Pass
10/5/2021	1	Health & Hospitals Committee	recommend for approval as substituted	Pass
9/23/2021	1	Board of Commissioners	refer

title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION

PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE ITEM # 21-5290-

DECLARING MENTAL HEALTH A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

WHEREAS, Public Health Awareness raises awareness of the relationship between the health of individuals and the health of their communities; and

WHEREAS, behavioral health is a person's condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being including substance use disorders; and

WHEREAS, in light of the pandemic we have seen a rise in the use of and need for behavioral health services across the United States; and

WHEREAS ,according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness and 1 in 2o have a serious mental illness; and

WHEREAS, according to NAMI, people with serious mental illness have an increased risk for chronic disease, like diabetes or cancer, 18% of U.S. adults with mental illness also have a substance use disorder, 21% of people experiencing homelessness also have a serious mental illness, 1 in 8 of all visits to U.S. emergency departments are related to mental and substance use disorders, and

WHEREAS, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death of people ages 10-34 in the US and 46% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosed mental health condition; and


WHEREAS, according to data collected by the Chicago Department of Public Health, in 2018, roughly 54,000 people received behavioral health treatment while in 2020 there were over 68,000 people who received behavioral health treatment, accounting for an 26% increase in comparison to individuals who have received treatment in 2018; and

WHEREAS, Cook County Health's Department of Psychiatry provided care for more than 8,700 patients in need of behavioral health services in 2019 and has cared for 8,695 patients during the first two quarters of 2021 ; and

WHEREAS, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office there has been an average of 475 deaths per year by suicide since 2017. With roughly 329 deaths recorded for...