The Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health (DMH) is pleased to announce the creation of the new Bureau of Community Programs. This new bureau will result in a higher quality of service delivery and a better standard of care for customers receiving mental health services in the community. Rather than organizing and monitoring programs and grants based on geographic regions, DMH will administer community programs based on broad service categories.
Deputy Director of Community Programs, Felix Rodriguez, will lead and oversee this new DMH bureau. Each of the five service categories will be led by an administrator and served by a team of statewide program management, provider relations, and fiscal support staff. While DMH will still utilize the IDHS geographic regions for some administrative purposes, programs and grants will be assigned to one of the five Bureau of Community Programs teams. This change will ensure that programs are offered equitably across the state and administered with the same expectations and high-quality standards no matter where in the state they are operating. The change will not impact contractual deliverables or reporting requirements.
The Bureau of Community Programs service category teams are:
- Crisis - Programming and contracts related to mental health crisis services, including, but not limited to, the crisis care system, suicide prevention, Living Rooms, and crisis residential. Roberta Allen is the Administrator of Crisis Community Programs.
- Forensics - Programming and contracts related to forensic services and justice involvement, including, but not limited to, outpatient fitness restoration and forensic community reintegration. Jason Stamps is the Administrator of Forensic Community Programs.
- Housing & Residential - Programming and contracts related to housing and residential services, including, but not limited to, mental health CILAs, supported residential, and supervised residential programs. Ashley Bae is the Administrator of Housing & Residential Community Programs.
- Children & Youth - Programming and contracts related to children and adolescents, including, but not limited to, stepped care. DMH is in the process of interviewing and hiring an Administrator of Children & Youth Community Programs and expects to fill this position soon.
- General - All other programming and contracts not included in one of the above categories, except for Colbert & Williams consent decree-specific activities. Darius McKinney is the Administrator of General Community Programs.
DMH is still hiring new staff to support these teams and finalizing the realignment of programs and contacts. Program staff will send specific communications to grantees and contractors as these updates happen. Monthly invoices and quarterly reports should still be submitted using the existing processes. Please direct any questions about this new bureau and its impact on providers, customers, or other stakeholders to Felix Rodriguez, Deputy Director of Community Programs, at Felix.Rodriguez@illinois.gov.
DMH looks forward to ensuring the delivery of high-quality and effective publicly-funded mental health services to children, adolescents, and adults throughout Illinois, and appreciates your continued partnership.
Sincerely,
Dr.David Albert
Director,
Division of Mental Health
Illinois Department of Human Services
Felix Rodriguez
Deputy Director of Community Program
Division of Mental Health
Illinois Department of Human Services
