A recent Birth to Five Illinois report shows that schools across Region 17 — which covers McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties — need more mental and behavioral health resources. Birth to Five Illinois launched two years ago to bring solutions to the problems plaguing the state’s education system. Its needs assessment for Region 17 came out last year. Between February and May, Birth to Five Illinois interviewed Region 17 Action Council and Family Council members about where schools could improve behavioral health support for youth.
Key takeaways from the report highlighted a deficit of resources in rural resources, a need for more diverse therapists, and additional providers that accept Medicaid.
Leveraging resources in cities like Bloomington-Normal will likely be part of the solution for getting needed mental and behavioral health support to rural communities, Allen added.
Meanwhile, the report details 16 recommendations for how to get children across the four counties the support they need. Some suggestions were minor, such as building a database of resources, and others were more large-scale, like increasing the number of service providers across the region and getting more infant and early childhood mental health (I/ECMH) consultants.
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