A consolidated Illinois Department of Human Services division overseeing mental health and substance abuse will be led by a licensed psychologist who now runs one of the units, a department spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
David Albert, head of DHS’ Division of Mental Health, will lead the new Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery. Rafael Rivera, interim head of the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, will be assistant director of the combined department, the IDHS spokesperson said.
Gov. JB Pritzker last week announced he planned to consolidate the two divisions with the goal of easing administrative burdens and improving accessibility to services for people who need help in both areas. Under Pritzker’s executive order, the consolidation would take effect in July unless state legislators vote against it.
Albert has been director of the mental health division since 2020 and also is secretary of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Mental Health Program Directors, according to DHS.
Rivera is a community psychologist by training and has worked in the substance use disorder field since 1996. He has worked in the IDHS substance use division since 2017, the department said.
All employees of DMH and SUPR will be part of the new division, according to IDHS.
The state has cited the high proportion of individuals who need help with both mental health and substance use as a key reason for consolidating the divisions. Nearly a third of people receiving inpatient psychiatric care also have a substance use disorder, IDHS said based on data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“This integration will improve outcomes for residents of Illinois, especially those with complex needs,” IDHS Secretary Dulce Quintero said in a statement. “It will improve access to treatment and provide improved quality of care.”
The executive order last week was also met with optimism from some advocates.
Jud DeLoss, CEO of the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, at the time said he had previously expressed some concerns to the state that substance abuse disorders may not get “as much of a focus or attention or staffing as the mental health side, and they’re very unique.”
But the state has kept up a “good dialogue” on the issue and been adamant that the move is not a cost-cutting measure, he said.