Illinois CESSA Statewide Advisory Committee
Quarterly Updates on the Crisis Continuum
Fiscal Year 2025 Quarter 2 October 1, 2024- December 31, 2024
Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA)
The primary activity for CESSA in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) is testing, piloting, and learning from protocol implementation at Public Service Answering Points (PSAPs) across Illinois. In the second quarter of the fiscal year, three "pre-tests" were completed at PSAPs that use Total Response (formerly PowerPhone) as their vender. The pre-tests help to understand how new protocols for non-lethal/non-criminal mental health crisis calls would be handled at PSAPs more experienced in dispatching traditional first responders (law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services). During October, November, and December, the data and results from the three pre-tests were evaluated and the resulting findings were integrated into recommendations for "pilot" implementations of real-world mental health crisis response decisions. An Ad Hoc Workgroup reviewed and discussed each of the nine Total Response protocols under consideration and approved six to move forward to the Protocols and Standards subcommittee for inclusion in the dispatch decisions so the calls would be eligible for behavioral health dispatch if possible/available. The Total Response pilots are on track to begin at the end of January 2025.
The Statewide and Regional Advisory Committees continued their monthly meetings this quarter, supporting CESSA implementation, and especially those efforts in support of the upcoming pilots. In addition to the protocol development discussed above, the CESSA Technical Subcommittees also met to support the implementation efforts, for training and data collection and management. The Training and Education Subcommittee finalized requirements for training for the pilot sites this quarter, and pilot sites began training with a target completion date of January 31, 2025. The Technology, Systems Integration & Data Management finalized data collection requirements for the pilots and also continued to inform the development of the upcoming Provider Data Reporting System that is planned to launch later in FY2025 or early FY2026.
Regional Advisory Committees (RACs) continued to hold meetings at the cadence agreed upon by their members. These meetings have focused on understanding the subregional committees' expectations, orchestration, and desired work products. The Crisis Hub provided RACs with an informational toolkit that will assist in the creation of subregional committees (SRCs) in upcoming months.
988
During the final quarter of 2024, Illinois' 988 system continued to demonstrate strong performance and sustained improvements in call handling efficiency. The implementation of geo-routing during the previous quarter has proven to be a critical enhancement to the system, ensuring calls are directed to the most appropriate local centers based on the caller's geographic location.
Key Metrics
For the months of October, November, and December 2024, the call answer rates were as follows:
- October 2024: 91.3%
- November 2024: 92.3%
- December 2024: 92.5%
These rates reflect a steady upward trend, underscoring the system's growing efficiency and the successful coordination among local call centers.
Geo-Routing and Localized Support
Since its introduction on September 17, 2024, geo-routing has been instrumental in enhancing call-routing accuracy by leveraging callers' geographic locations rather than relying on phone number area codes. Specifically, geo-routing has been particularly impactful in Cook County, where NAMI Chicago and Community Counseling Centers of Chicago handle the majority of calls during their operating hours. These centers' familiarity with regional needs and local resources ensures that callers receive tailored support, contributing to the overall success of the 988 system.
