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Kane County Health Department outlines 2025 priorities: home visiting, behavioral health, and workforce
Summary
Health Department Director Michael Isaacson introduced senior staff, outlined programs including Cancares home visiting and behavioral-health expansion, summarized funding sources, and warned of long-term staffing shortfalls despite recent grant gains.
Michael Isaacson, director of the Kane County Health Department, opened a department orientation for the committee Jan. 22, introducing senior staff and laying out the department's mission, programs and funding picture for 2025.
Isaacson introduced Liz Aleman (planning and information management), Uche Anwuda (health protection), Kim Peterson (community health) and Laura Barrett (public health nursing), and described program areas including environmental health, communicable-disease control, tobacco and vaping work, child immunizations, lead-poisoning prevention, tuberculosis control, and the Cancares home-visiting program.
"Every resident has the knowledge and access to opportunities to live their healthiest life possible," Isaacson said, quoting the department's vision as he described efforts to reach underserved pockets of the county. He emphasized partnership with schools, hospitals, clinics, law enforcement and community organizations to direct services where need is highest.
Isaacson outlined the department's funding mix: an opioid settlement fund (roughly $1.3 million received to date and managed by an ad hoc panel), a county health fund and a standalone Cancares fund. The department reported approximately $9.5 million in county health fund revenue for 2025 and a Cancares fund balance of $685,000; the health department also relies on ARPA funds for time-limited behavioral-health work through 2026 and on grants and fee revenue for much of its operations. Isaacson noted the department receives just under $2 million from a dedicated local tax levy, representing roughly 20% of its ongoing budget, and said that local levy amounts have not increased in about 15 years.
Isaacson and staff stressed workforce concerns: the department said it has about 30 fewer employees than in 2009 and that public-health staffing nationally declined over the past decade. "We're losing a lot of skill and experience," Isaacson said, adding that building sustainable funding streams for behavioral health and home visiting is a priority.
Kim Peterson described the county's children's mental-health initiative and a new $150,000 award from the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation that will help incubate a parent-run organization. "They will be working to establish their own organization and will receive training on invoicing, forming LLCs and possibly Medicaid billing," Peterson said. Committee members asked whether county personnel will remain involved after the grant period; staff said the intent is to transition the organization to independent operation at the end of the funded period.
The department asked committee members if they wanted program-level briefings in future months and offered to meet with new committee members for orientation. Staff also invited members to request naloxone kits and training; they noted naloxone is supplied via the state's settlement-funded purchase program and is distributed free to counties.
Isaacson closed by offering to return with the community health assessment and more program-specific details at subsequent meetings.
