Community Mental Health Crisis on the North Shore

NORTHFIELD, ILLINOIS – Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week, yet northern Illinois is in the midst of a mental health crisis as community mental health clinics close their doors and hospital networks limit the number Medicaid patients they will accept. “State grants have gone unpaid since July 1st, Medicaid continues to slash its reimbursement rates, and under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), burgeoning numbers of people are seeking mental health services for the first time after decades of going without treatment,” explains Susan Resko, the new President of The Josselyn Center, a community mental health provider in Northern Illinois. There is a perfect storm brewing in community mental health, and creating new ways for The Josselyn Center to continue to provide quality mental health services to all community members is Resko’s primary focus in her first month at The Josselyn Center.

Since 2009, state funding in Illinois has been reduced by $113.7 million, resulting in the closing of at least two inpatient facilities, six mental health clinics and several community mental health agencies in Illinois. The Maine Center in Park Ridge closed their doors this past spring without any warning to their clients. As a result, The Josselyn Center increased its staff to absorb this influx of patients, many of whom had no place else to go for care. The Josselyn Center schedules over 20,000 mental health appointments each year and many would be surprised to learn that over 75% of its services are provided to Medicaid recipients. Without mental health support, many individuals are not able to work, suffer failed relationships, resort to expensive hospital emergency rooms for treatment or wind up in jail. The Cook County jail is America’s largest mental health facility where one third of the inmates suffer from a mental illness.

Medicaid reimbursements do not cover the actual expense of a psychiatric visit, forcing mental healthcare providers to turn away Medicaid patients or close their doors. While Medicare reimburses providers $100 for a psychiatrist visit, Medicaid only reimburses $35.39 for that same 25 minute psychiatric appointment. The Josselyn Center looses $45 for each psychiatric Medicaid visit, resulting in over a $150,000 loss last year.

According to statistics released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2.1 million adults live with mental illness in Illinois and close to 500,000 adults in Illinois are living with a serious mental illness. Mental illness does not discriminate-- it occurs within all socioeconomic groups, races, religions, communities and professions. Individuals with mental illness are your family members, your neighbors, your co-workers and your friends.

“Quality, affordable mental health services are as important to the well-being of our community as good schools, safe roads, and well-trained police and fire officials. I know our lean-in community members understand this, and I’m seeking their support to insure we have the resources to continue. We can no longer depend upon the State of Illinois to fund mental health services—we are duty-bound as responsible citizens,” states Resko. When citizens are healthy and safe, communities thrive. Community mental health provides medical care for our most vulnerable citizens and empowers them to become healthy, contributing members of society.

Community mental health centers like The Josselyn Center provide a beacon of hope at desperate times. During the first week in October, let’s stand together to support mental health. When you support community mental health centers, you support individuals, families and the community.

About Susan Resko, MBA

Susan Resko, MBA is the President of The Josselyn Center and has over 25 years of experience in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. After a decade in the institutional trust business, Ms. Resko refocused her career towards the non-profit mental health field when she joined The Balanced Mind Foundation (then Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation), a national parent network for children with mental health conditions. Susan led the organization through a rebranding and re-organization that expanded its focus, and initiated and led two organizational mergers to drive efficiency and extend reach. Susan also served the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) as Vice President of Institutional Advancement, and Executive Director at LIFT-Chicago, a social service agency in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Susan and her husband have lived on the North Shore for over two decades where they are raising their three children.

About The Josselyn Center

The Josselyn Center fosters healthier individuals, stronger families and more robust communities through clinical services, wellness support programs, education and advocacy. Since 1951, The Josselyn Center has been a pioneer in providing high‐quality, affordable and comprehensive outpatient mental health services and programs for children, teens and adults living in over 60 communities in Northern Illinois. Serving more than 100,000 clients since its founding, The Josselyn Center is one of the only mental health resources in northern Illinois that offers all clinical services, including psychiatric care and medication monitoring on a sliding fee scale for eligible individuals and families.