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Speakers urge council support for April referendum to create community mental health board
Summary
Representatives from NAMI, local schools and recovery services told the council during public comment that a binding April referendum to create a community mental health board would address gaps in local mental-health and substance-use services.
Several community speakers used the council's public-comment period to explain a binding April referendum to create a community mental health board and to ask village leaders to support the measure.
Hugh Bridal, a board member of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), said the referendum — if approved by voters — would create a seven-member volunteer board, with one member also serving as a liaison to the township board. "The first job of the new mental health board will be to conduct a needs assessment" across mental‑health services, developmental‑disability services and substance‑use treatment, Bridal said. The board would not deliver services directly but would award grants to existing providers. Bridal noted the referendum asks for a levy of 0.04% of equalized assessed value (EAV) as described in the presentation to the council.
Kelly Sworzick, an area administrator responsible for school social workers, told the council student mental-health needs are rising and that service access is constrained by the recent closure of an inpatient unit at Northwest Community Healthcare. She said families often must travel to Streamwood for hospitalization or partial-hospitalization services and that transportation is a major barrier.
Chelsea Laliberte Barnes, a licensed clinical social worker and co-founder of Live for Lolly (a local recovery-support organization), cited local health‑system data and youth indicators. She said the hospital system's 2024 community-health needs assessment identified mental health and access to substance‑use treatment as top issues, and she cited school and county survey data showing substantial rates of depression and suicidal ideation among students.
Speakers said the township would administer the funds and that the referendum is binding; they noted the group sponsoring the measure secured signatures to place it on the ballot. Residents in the audience spoke in favor of the referendum and described the levy as a modest cost for the average homeowner.
No formal council action occurred during the public-comment period; the speakers asked the council to support outreach and to consider the local service gaps identified by the proposed mental health board.
