By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The Winnebago County Mental Health Board has selected 21 new programs to receive a combined $6.6 million in funding from the county’s half-cent mental health sales tax.

The funding for new programs, combined with the previously announced funding extended for 10 programs, brings the total to $14.6 million allocated for the 2022-23 program year.

It’s the first time the board has funded programs that provide housing for the severely mentally ill, and it represents the first funding for outreach to identify people in need of help who may never have connected with a support system.

The programs selected are intended to help adults with serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbances, to address infant and early childhood mental health, and to provide support for people of all ages with substance use disorders.

“We set out to renew successful programs and award new programs that filled in the gaps from last year and address the new additional priority areas of client identification and outreach and housing,” Mental Health Board President Mary Ann Abate said in a news release. “We feel confident that the programs that are being funded are those that best fit the priority areas and target populations outlined in our three-year strategic plan based on research and community input.”

Related: ‘A new avenue to help’: Indoor equestrian center aims to help Rockford area youth handle mental health issues

The largest chunk of the funding goes to the city of Rockford’s mobile integrated health unit, which will receive more than $2 million. That money will help expand a partnership between the Rockford Fire Department and UW Health SwedishAmerican Hospital that aims to reduce emergency room visits by helping people get support before an emergency call is needed.

“This is building on that to have a more targeted strategy toward those frequent fliers or super utilizers who are utilizing emergency services for mental health issues or substance use issues,” said Jason Holcomb, director of the Mental Health Board. “It also allows for a direct-crisis response that includes mental health services – much like the co-responder program – but with the addition now of EMS.”

The board also decided to award $500,000 toward the Rockford Park District for its plans to build an indoor equestrian center at Lockwood Park that promises to help young people emotionally heal from trauma, abuse or other mental health issues.

The district, however, had requested $1.5 million. The lesser amount was awarded to maintain consistency with other requests that were primarily related to capital expenses, Holcomb said.

The board “is also trying to understand what the actual proportion of mental health programming at that center will be and what will be an appropriate amount of funding to support that portion of the service delivery,” Holcomb said. “That’s one that there will be follow-up conversations on.”

The board wants to follow-up to make sure it understands the long-term commitment to mental health services at that facility, he said.

Related: ‘We really wanted people to have a voice’: Exhibit showcases artists with mental health issues

The board is still in the process of finalizing funding agreements and work plans for the organizations awarded money. That work will occur now through June 1, and additional information will be released when those plans have been finalized.

“We’re really happy with the expansion of the number of organizations that are going to be participating in this communitywide effort to create this coordinated system of care,” Holcomb said.

Programs funded

• Boys & Girls Club of Rockford Youth Self-Regulation Program | $136,300.00
• Children’s Home & Aid Winnebago County TRIO Program | $412,081.00
• Circle of Change First Responder and Youth Classes | $40,800.96
• City of Rockford Mobile Integrated Health – Mental Health Program | $2,005,136.28
• Crusader Community Health Crusader Behavioral Health services expansion | $149,820.00
• Family Counseling Service of Northern Illinois service expansion 2.0 | $232,969.00
• Lifescape Community Services, Inc. senior mental health program | $150,000.00
• NAMI Northern Illinois support, education and mental health advocacy | $222,839
• OSF Healthcare Saint Anthony Medical Center STRIVE Trauma Recovery Center | $300,000
• Regional Access & Mobilization Project mental health services and training | $293,593.00
• Remedies Renewing Lives behavioral health clinician project | $339,792.50
• Lockwood Indoor Equine Center | $500,000
• Rockford Sexual Assault Counseling outreach therapists | $75,262.00
• Shelter Care Ministries Jubilee Community Outreach and Housing Stability Program | $84,300.00
• Stepping Stones of Rockford expansion of supervised housing for adults with severe mental illness | $500,000
• Winnebago County Juvenile Detention Center – expanded behavioral health | $394,230.00
• Winnebago County Juvenile Resource Intervention Center behavioral health | $187,961.00
• Winnebago County Resource Intervention Center behavioral health expansion | $184,130.00
• Winnebago County Health Department Trauma Informed Community Care Coordination | $160,569.43
• YMCA of Rock River Valley Protecting Youth Mental Wellness | $161,634.00
• YWCA Northwestern Illinois Mental Health Crisis Case Manager | $126,940.00