103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB1364
 
Introduced , by Rep. Will Guzzardi
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:



New Act

 Creates the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force Act. Provides that the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force shall be composed of 12 appointed members and the State's Chief Behavioral Health Officer, or the Officer's representative. Provides that the 2 Task Force co-chairs shall appoint experts to contribute and participate in the Task Force as nonvoting members. Provides for meetings of the Task Force and responsibilities relating to examination of the first year of implementation and use of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Illinois. Requires the development of an action plan with specified recommendations to be filed with the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2023. Includes legislative findings. Repeals the Act on January 1, 2025. Effective immediately.



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A BILL FOR
 


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1 AN ACT concerning government.


2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3represented in the General Assembly:



4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 9-8-8 
5Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force Act.

6 Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
7 (1) In the summer of 2022, 31% of Illinois adults 
8experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression more than half 
9of the days of each week, which is an increase of 20% since 
102019.
11 (2) Suicide is the third leading cause of death in 
12Illinois for young adults who are 15 to 34 years of age, and it 
13is the 11th leading cause of death for all Illinoisans. In 
142021, 1,488 Illinois lives were lost to suicide, and an 
15estimated 376,000 adults had thoughts of suicide.
16 (3) Historically, people in Illinois and nationwide have 
17had few and fragmented options to call upon during a mental 
18health crisis and have relied upon 9-1-1 and various privately 
19funded crisis lines for help.
20 (4) In July 2022, Illinois joined the nation in launching 
21the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a universal three-digit 
22dialing code for a national suicide prevention and mental 
23health hotline, meant to offer 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week 
 
 
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1access to trained counselors who can help people experiencing 
2mental-health-related distress.
3 (5) Congress delegated to the states significant 
4decision-making responsibility for structuring and funding the 
5states' 9-8-8 call-center networks.
6 (6) States had limited data on which to base their initial 
7decisions because the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
8Services Administration's projections of future increases in 
9call volumes varied widely, and there was no national 
10best-practice model for the number and organization of 9-8-8 
11call centers.
12 (7) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
13Administration described the 2022 launch of 9-8-8 as being 
14just the first step toward reimagining our country's mental 
15health crisis system and stipulated that long-term 
16transformation will rely on the willingness of states and 
17territories to build and invest strategically in every level 
18of the continuum of mental health crisis care over the next 
19several years.
20 (8) In 2023, the General Assembly and other state leaders 
21can assess the first year of operations of the 9-8-8 
22call-center system, identify legislative solutions to any 
23funding and programmatic gaps that are emerging, and set the 
24course for Illinois to eventually lead the country in 
25providing quality and accessible 9-8-8 care and in connecting 
26individuals with the mental health resources necessary to 
 
 
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1sustain long-term recovery.
2 (9) The launch of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 
3has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve 
4mental health crisis care in Illinois.
5 (10) Illinois' success or failure in building a 
6high-quality call-center network in the initial years will be 
7an important factor in determining whether 9-8-8 is perceived 
8as a trusted resource in the State.
9 (11) Illinois' success or failure in building a 
10high-quality 9-8-8 call-center network will disproportionately 
11affect Black, Brown, and other marginalized residents who are 
12most likely to rely on crisis services to access mental health 
13care and are most likely to be criminalized or harmed by the 
14existing crisis response system.

15 Section 10. Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force.
16 (a) The 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Task Force is 
17created. The Task Force shall be composed of the following 
18voting members:
19  (1) 4 members of the House of Representatives, 2 
20 appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
21 and 2 appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of 
22 Representatives;
23  (2) 4 members of the Senate, 2 appointed by the 
24 President of the Senate and 2 appointed by the Minority 
25 Leader of the Senate;
 
 
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1  (3) a representative from the Department of Human 
2 Services, Division of Mental Health, appointed by the 
3 Governor;
4  (4) a representative from the Department of Public 
5 Health, appointed by the Governor;
6  (5) a representative from the Department of Healthcare 
7 and Family Services, appointed by the Governor;
8  (6) a representative from the Department of Insurance, 
9 appointed by the Governor; and
10  (7) the State's Chief Behavioral Health Officer, or 
11 the Officer's representative.
12 (b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 
13President of the Senate shall appoint one co-chair from each 
14chamber of the General Assembly, selecting from the 8 members 
15appointed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
16 (c) The 2 co-chairs shall select expert participants, who 
17will be nonvoting members, to contribute to and participate in 
18this Task Force. Expert participants shall include, at a 
19minimum:
20  (1) service providers from regional and statewide 
21 9-8-8 call centers;
22  (2) providers, or representatives of providers, of 
23 community-based mobile crisis response services, including 
24 representation from both urban and nonurban settings;
25  (3) a representative of an organization that advocates 
26 for people with mental health conditions or substance use 
 
 
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1 disorders, or both health conditions and substance use 
2 disorders;
3  (4) a representative of an organization that operates 
4 an Illinois social services helpline or crisis line other 
5 than 9-8-8;
6  (5) more than one individual with personal or 
7 family-lived experience of a mental health condition or 
8 substance use disorder;
9  (6) a representative of the University of Illinois at 
10 Chicago involved in providing research and analytical 
11 support to the State's 9-8-8 operations; and
12  (7) a representative with expertise in 9-1-1 
13 call-center protocols and operations.
14 (d) Members and expert participants shall serve without 
15compensation and are responsible for the cost of all 
16reasonable and necessary travel expenses connected to Task 
17Force business.
18 Task Force members shall be appointed by June 1, 2023. The 
19Task Force must convene its first meeting by July 1, 2023 and 
20may meet at other times at the call of a co-chair appointed 
21under subsection (b). Expert participants shall be selected by 
22the Task Force co-chairs before the first meeting. The Task 
23Force may establish committees that address specific issues or 
24populations and may select expert participants to serve on 
25committees as needed. The Department of Human Services will 
26provide administrative and other support to the Task Force.
 
 
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1  (e) If a vacancy occurs in the Task Force membership or 
2the expert participant membership, the vacancy shall be filled 
3in the same manner as the original appointment for the 
4remainder of the term of the Task Force.


5 Section 15. Responsibilities; action plan. 
6 (a) The Task Force has the following responsibilities:
7  (1) to review existing information about the first 
8 year of 9-8-8 call-center operations in Illinois, 
9 including, but not limited to, state-level and 
10 county-level use data, progress around the federal 
11 measures of success determined by the Substance Abuse and 
12 Mental Health Services Administration, and research 
13 conducted by any State-contracted partners around cost 
14 projections, best-practice standards, and geographic 
15 needs;
16  (2) to review the recommendations and decisions of 
17 previous State-led workgroups on transforming the mental 
18 health crisis response system, including, but not limited 
19 to, the 9-8-8 Stakeholder Coalition and Subcommittees 
20 convened in 2021 and the Statewide Advisory Committee and 
21 Regional Advisory Committees established under the 
22 Community Emergency Services and Support Act;
23  (3) to review other states' models and emerging best 
24 practices around structuring 9-8-8 call-center networks, 
25 with an emphasis on promoting high-quality phone 
 
 
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1 interventions, coordination with other crisis lines and 
2 crisis services, and connection to community-based support 
3 for those in need;
4  (4) to review governmental infrastructures created in 
5 other states to promote sustainability and quality in 
6 9-8-8 call centers and crisis system operations;
7  (5) to review changes and new initiatives that have 
8 been advanced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
9 Services Administration and Vibrant Emotional Health since 
10 Illinois launched 9-8-8 in July 2022, such as new training 
11 curricula for call takers and new technology platforms;
12  (6) to consider testimony from call-center personnel, 
13 providers, and advocates about strengths, weaknesses, and 
14 service gaps in Illinois; and
15  (7) to develop an action plan with recommendations to 
16 the Governor and General Assembly that include the 
17 following:
18   (A) a future structure for a network of 9-8-8 call 
19 centers in Illinois that will best promote equity, 
20 quality, and connection to care;
21   (B) metrics that Illinois should use to measure 
22 the success of our statewide system in promoting 
23 equity, quality, and connection to care and a system 
24 to measure those metrics, considering the metrics 
25 imposed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
26 Services Administration as only a starting point for 
 
 
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1 measurement of success in Illinois;
2   (C) a plan to sustainably fund a statewide 9-8-8 
3 call-center network under subparagraphs (A) and (B) in 
4 fiscal year 2025 and beyond, which shall identify 
5 potential funding sources, future funding amounts, and 
6 a mechanism by which funding needs can be calculated;
7   (D) recommendations to further fund and strengthen 
8 the rest of Illinois' behavioral health services and 
9 crisis assistance programs based on lessons learned 
10 from 9-8-8 use; and
11   (E) recommendations on a long-term governmental 
12 infrastructure to provide advice and recommendations 
13 necessary to sustainably implement and monitor the 
14 progress of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in 
15 Illinois and to make recommendations for the statewide 
16 improvement of behavioral health crisis response and 
17 suicide prevention services in the State.
18  The action plan shall be approved by a majority of 
19 Task Force members who are voting members.
20 (b) The Task Force shall complete and file the action plan 
21with the Governor and General Assembly by no later than 
22December 31, 2023.
23 (c) Nothing in the action plan filed under this Section 
24shall be construed to supersede the recommendations of the 
25Statewide Advisory Committee or Regional Advisory Committees 
26created by the Community Emergency Services and Support Act.

 
 
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1 Section 20. Repeal. This Act is repealed on January 1, 
22025.

3 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
4becoming law.