Gov. Pritzker announces new behavioral health workforce education center

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KFVS) - Governor JB Pritzker and state officials celebrated the launch of a new Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center.

During a news conference on Wednesday, March 8, the governor said the center will “increase Illinois’ capacity to recruit, educate and retain behavioral health professionals.”

It will be housed at Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine and was created in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work, the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

“From care portals and universal screenings to improved coordination of service delivery and increased statewide capacity, we are laying out a plan to build the best behavioral health system in the nation,” Governor Pritzker said. “We’re launching the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center, a partnership between the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine, and the University of Illinois Chicago’s Jane Addams College of Social Work. It will begin with a $5 million annual investment from the Department of Human Services to help both rural and urban areas of our state address the behavioral healthcare crisis to increase access to effective services for all Illinoisans.”

SIU’s School of Medicine will serve as the primary administrative hub in Springfield. The UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work will be the secondary hub and public. Independent universities, as well as community colleges in 10 regions, will be invited to participate as partners to increase the statewide impact.

Earlier on Wednesday, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Human Services announced the state will be reshaping the care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois.

In a released statement, the governor’s office said over the next three years portions of the Choate campus will be repurposed to meet patient capacity and other state needs. The governor’s office also said the state will help residents gradually transition to a new facility.

According to the governor’s office, the creation of the center is a milestone in a long-term plan to address the behavioral health workforce emergency. State lawmakers sounded an alarm about the staffing shortages in a unanimous 2018 resolution.

In 2019, a Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center Task Force issued a final report recommending the creation of a hub-and-spoke center to address unmet mental and behavioral health needs.

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