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Will County executive committee hears mental‑health grant report; board told 60 applicants sought $9 million for $4 million available
Summary
Tina Mackey, director of the Will County Community Mental Health Board, told the Executive Committee that 60 providers applied requesting over $9 million for the 2026 competitive grant cycle while roughly $4 million is budgeted; she described 2025 performance, payment deadlines and plans to expand countywide counseling services.
Tina Mackey, director of the Will County Community Mental Health Board, presented the board’s quarterly report to the Will County Executive Committee and outlined the 2026 grant‑making priorities. "My name is Tina Mackey. I'm the director of the Will County Community Mental Health Board," she said, and introduced a short testimonial video produced by Paradise Productions.
Mackey said the Mental Health Board’s 2025 grant program is winding down and shared a performance snapshot showing year‑to‑date reimbursements and program activity. "Year‑to‑date expenditures were about, give or take, just over 51% of the awards have been reimbursed," she said, and added that consultant monitoring shows grantees are spending in line with forecasts. She said programs and outreach have served more than 12,000 residents to date and noted hires and staffing supported by the awards.
On the 2026 competitive grant cycle, Mackey told the committee that 60 providers applied requesting "over $9 million" while the board currently has about $4 million budgeted. "The bad news is that we have about $4 million budgeted for the competitive grant cycle," she said, adding that 38 applicants are repeat applicants from 2025. The board’s proposed strategic priorities for 2026 include crisis supports and service gaps, intellectual/developmental disability programming, suicide prevention, workforce development and new awareness campaigns.
Mackey described a planned countywide counseling expansion, citing a successful pilot with the Joliet Fire Department and saying the board is "very committed to expanding" that model. During the discussion she summarized budget allocation intentions, saying approximately $1 million is committed to countywide counseling expansion and that a small percentage of the budget is reserved for emergency funding and operating costs.
Committee members asked for additional detail. One member asked how many grant cycles are run annually; Mackey said the board runs one grant cycle per year and has shifted timing to reduce service gaps between cycles. Members pressed about specific grantees: Mackey said Kids Matter (a teen mental‑health program) has not yet submitted reimbursement requests but is expected to do so and is an applicant again this year.
Members also requested the scoring rubric used for grant review; Mackey said the rubric is available and agreed to share it. A member asked whether the "residents served" figure reflected direct services or households; Mackey replied it referred to direct service recipients.
Mackey closed by noting payment‑request deadlines (payment requests due May 1) and the grant application window for 2026, and the committee praised the presentation and video. The committee took no formal vote on the report; it advanced separate ordinance and intergovernmental items later in the meeting.
Mackey’s presentation is expected to inform final award notifications to grantees in the upcoming days and the board’s work to stand up an expanded countywide counseling program.
