The Illinois Department of Human Services departments tasked with mental health and substance use would be combined under an executive order from Gov. JB Pritzker, his office announced Friday.
The change is aimed at easing administrative burdens and improving accessibility to services for people who need help with both substance use and mental health, according to Pritzker’s office and advocates.
Under Pritzker’s order, the consolidation would take effect in July unless state legislators vote against it.
Luke Tomsha, executive director and founder of the rural harm-reduction organization Perfectly Flawed, said he thought the new office — expected to be called the Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery — would break down silos between the two divisions, which sometimes serve some of the same people.
“I think it is a good thing. How it gets rolled out, that’s a whole other animal,” Tomsha said.
Many service providers interact with both the Division of Mental Health and the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, and 17 have grants with both divisions, according to the order. More than 60 community mental health centers are also licensed to provide services for substance use disorders, it said.
The two divisions should not operate independently for both “human reasons” and “logistical and administrative” reasons, said State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, a Chicago Democrat and chair of the House Mental Health & Addiction Committee.
The merger creates a real opportunity to reduce the red tape that providers and people in need face when they need state money and help, potentially improving the state’s response for behavioral health issues, LaPointe said.
The state reached out to community organizations in recent months as it planned the consolidation. Jud DeLoss, CEO of the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, said he expressed some concerns early on 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.
The proposed consolidation comes a few months after another administrative overhaul in state government — the creation of a new Department of Early Childhood. Pritzker led that effort, which the General Assembly passed last year.
Tomsha said he’s seen some improvement in how the state deals with substance use under Pritzker and that he is all for “more efficient systems, because I’ve seen a lot of red tape.”