Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his plan to reopen the shuttered Roseland mental health clinic on the Far South Side by the end of this year. The City will expand clinical services at an additional two City-run locations, including adding mental health services at a City-run clinic in the Lower West Side (Pilsen) neighborhood, and co-locating services in the Legler Regional Library in West Garfield Park. The Roseland mental health clinic is one of the 14 mental health clinics that have been shuttered since 1989. The reopened Roseland mental health clinic will be operated by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). The Roseland announcement comes as one of the major recommendations of the report issued by the Mental Health System Expansion (MSHE) Working Group. In September 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez co-sponsored an Ordinance to establish the Mental Health System Expansion (MHSE) Working Group which passed City Council by a vote of 49-1 in October 2023. The report puts forward a total of 40 recommendations that provide a framework and roadmap to expand mental health clinical services, reimagine an alternative response to mental health crises, and increase community awareness around available mental health resources. The MHSE Working Group’s recommendations are focused on the following outcomes:
1. Expand mental health clinical services;
2. Improve and expand non-police response for behavioral and mental health crises; and,
3. Increase community awareness of available mental health resources.