The Chicago Progressive Caucus at Monday’s budget hearing called for the Lightfoot administration to amend the Chicago Department of Public Health investments. Last week, Mayor Lightfoot received a letter signed by 39 alderman calling the administration to allocate more funds towards the public mental health clinics and staff. The CPRC specifically called for additional funds to be allocated to increase staff for extended evening and weekend hours; field-based therapists’ positions in City-owned, community spaces; and funding a feasibility study to explore the options for opening new CDPH clinics, including better data tracking. The CPRC specifically called for: 

• Expanding hours of existing Chicago Department of Public Health clinics to include evening and weekend service and add clinical staff as needed. 

• Create Field-Based Therapist positions attached to each existing clinic. Such staff would use existing clinic support services, such as billing and appointment setting, but hold office hours in accessible community settings across the city, such as schools, community centers or public libraries. Field-based CDPH therapists could also run individual and group therapy programs within private FQHC clinics to provide stable, long-term, trauma focused care to supplement the more short-term medically focused treatment that FQHCs provide. 

• Fund a feasibility study to calculate the costs of opening new sites in underserved areas for CDPH clinical mental health services. Examine all the options including reestablishing services in the seven shuttered mental health clinics, embedding clinical space within other city facilities and leasing or purchasing new property.