Leadership

Laying the foundation for the next decade means Providing Leadership in Meeting the Behavioral and Mental Health Treatment Needs of the Community.

The 1999 Illinois Project for the Local Assessment of Needs (IPLAN), a community driven project, identified untreated mental illness and depression as the number one health priority in DuPage County. 

During 2000, the Health Department’s Behavioral & Mental Health Services Unit lead the way in three crucial areas: treating the dually-diagnosed client; screening for depression; and mobilizing the community for better delivery of services.

The Health Department finished its first full year as a founding member of the Mentally Ill Substance Abusers (MISA) Consortium, a partnership between Behavioral & Mental Health Services and seven substance abuse treatment facilities. Founded in late 1999, the MISA Consortium provides accessible, comprehensive services to individuals and families in DuPage County with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders. 

“Staff who had worked in two very separate cultures with different treatment philosophies are now often indistinguishable in their approach to the dually diagnosed clients they serve in common,” said William Coats, Associate Director for Behavioral & Mental Health Services and Chair of the Consortium in its first year. 

Also, Behavioral & Mental Health Services has implemented a plan to meet the treatment needs of more of our residents. 

“Mental illness is a disease like diabetes or arthritis,” said Carol Stolte, IPLAN Coordinator for Behavioral & Mental Health Services. “No one should be ashamed of this disease or shy away from getting the help they need. Too often people are reluctant to seek help. People often go to a physician because of ill health but the physician may not probe sufficiently to uncover the depressive component of the patient’s complaints. Helping patients and physicians communicate about mental health issues is another goal of the Health Department’s IPLAN initiative.”

David H. Baron, M.D., Interim Director of Behavioral & Mental Health Services, addresses over 200 participants of the Behavioral & Mental Health Services Leadership Forum on November 16.

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