CESSA Statewide Advisory Committee Meeting 10/06/2025 Approved Minutes

Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Virtual (via Zoom)

Call to Order (Allie Lichterman)

Allie Lichterman called the meeting to order at 1:04pm and reviewed OMA procedures

Roll Call (Sarah Ferguson)

SAC Members present: Allie Lichterman (designee for David Albert), Rachael Ahart, Alicia Atkinson, Blanca Campos, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Drew Hansen, Pete Dyer, Jim Hennessy, Justin Houcek, Emily Miller, Brent Reynolds, Bobby Van Bebber
SAC Members absent: Curtis Harris, Jim Kaitschuk
Quorum is present

Approval of Minutes from SAC Meetings on September 8, 2025

Jim Hennessy motioned to approve the minutes; Jessica Gimeno second the motion
Members who voted to approve: Allie Lichterman (designee for David Albert), Rachael Ahart, Alicia Atkinson, Blanca Campos, Pete Dyer, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Drew Hansen, Jim Hennessy, Justin Houcek, Brent Reynolds, Bobby Van Bebber
Members who voted to Abstain: Emily Miller
Minutes are approved

State Updates (Allie Lichterman)

Operational Planning Update
- We are talking internally about programs related to crisis program and doing operational planning
- We have summaries of these and we are thinking about what we can use to provide feedback for providers this year vs. what needs to happen in future years
- We are prioritizing getting feedback before NOFOs are released so we don't preclude anyone from applying
HFS meetings
- DBHR and HFS continue to meet productively in person; met last week in Champaign
- Originally, only scheduled to meet 4 times, but we've decided to continue to meet monthly for the rest of the year and may continue meeting after that
- Discussions during these meetings include dispatch and the best way to get provider feedback that does not preclude anyone for applying and discussing at what point to get feedback
- Trying to get on the same page before bringing in additional voices
- Acknowledge that we need to engage both providers and first responders
988
- LGBTQ competency training is continuing forward, working on a contract and hoping to get this finalized very soon
- We are making sure to coordinate any new trainings with Dr. Jones, Dr. Smith, and Dr. Solomon with any trainings that already exist to make sure everything is working together.
Mandatory Trainings for Boards and Commissions (Sarah Ferguson)
- Anyone who is selected by the Secretary to sit on the advisory board is required by law to do a series of annual trainings
- Deadline to complete is December 30, 2025, but the sooner the better
- We have shared the link for where to access training
- Sarah Ferguson is available to answer questions about accessing and completing the trainings
- Training is for the calendar year
- Emily Miller: If I just completed them last week, am I good for the entire year?
Sarah Ferguson: Yes, you're good until the end of next year. It resets in January.

BHCH Updates (Dr. Mary Smith)

Addressed questions from last meeting:

Question: In the pilot, how many calls transferred from 911 to 988 were transferred back to 911?
- Answer: 5 out of 150 (because of safety issues)
Question (not specific to the pilot): How many calls are being initiated to 988? How many calls are being transferred to 911 that did not initiate from 911?
- Background:
  - This data is collected by Dr. Amy Watson as part of the evaluation of 988 in IL
  - Nearly all of these calls were initiated directly to 988
  - A very small portion-about 0.3% to 0.5% monthly-were transferred to 911 when emergency dispatch was required.
  - Roughly 0.6% to 1.2% monthly were transferred to MCRT for a mobile crisis response.
- Answer:
  - Total number of calls to 988, Jan 2025 - June 2025: 83, 713
  - Total number of calls from 988 to 911, Jan 2025 - June 2025: 311
Allie Lichterman: This shows us that the transfers are working; there are transfers going back and forth and there are protocols for everyone's safety which is a good thing

Technical Subcommittees

Training and Education Subcommittee (Terry Solomon)

Updates from Dr. Solomon:
- We are working to update the CLAS course - it was operated by HHS and they have since discontinued this on the federal site
- With the new legislation, we are working to develop the Neurodivergent and developmentally disability diagnoses
  - We have asked the subcommittee members to submit recommendations and have received a few.
- The involuntary commitment process course requirement was also added to CESSA legislation, and we are working with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to conduct this training
- The Learning Management System will be launched in October 2025. We are finalizing the trainings and testing the site.

Technology, Systems Integration & Data Management Subcommittee (Jodie Bargeron)

Project updates
- Baseline assessment: Data from 2024 that will serve as a baseline for future studies - data from 988, MCRTs and PSAPs
  - Completed 988 data collection
  - Finalizing PSAP data collection process
- Continuing to gather implementation data from former pilot sites
- CDRS:
  - This is the crisis database that the BHCH is building that will be a new way to gather data on program 590 and 988 calls
  - Pre-alpha testing completed this summer
  - The software developer is currently implementing the feedback that was received and we are beginning to plan for the alpha testing phase
- Question from Allie Lichterman: Alpha is feedback from staff, and beta testing is from users?
  - Jodie: Beta testing will include some providers from 590 and 988. Alpha testing is a smaller group that is helping to look for bugs before we open it up to the larger group.
- Alli Lichterman: The Hub team is continuing to work on full evaluation of the pilots and we're going through that draft to finalize it before we share. Also, we are talking about them as implementation sites now not pilot sites.

Implementation Updates (Dr. Mary Smith)

IRLM Preamble
- Update from Protocols and Standards Technical Subcommittee Meeting
  - During the last meeting we talked about how the IRLM was approved at the September 4 meeting
  - We also had a preamble that describes the IRLM and how it's being used
  - We've had several conversations with the subcommittee about the preamble, and we look forward to sharing this soon
  - Overview by Vendor
- Total Response and Priority Dispatch
  - Weekly and bi-weekly meetings continue (weekly for Priority Dispatch, bi-weekly for Total Response)
  - Purpose is to continue conversation about implementation, troubleshoot and share information
  - We are also meeting with the MCRT sites that relate to the pilot sites bi-weekly
  - We meet with Centerstone 988 bi-weekly
- APCO
  - Continued planning for first phase of implementation
  - About 15 sites using APCO statewide and we're working with 2 sites
  - Aiming to launch in mid-October
  - Protocols have been submitted to vendor (APCO) to update
- Law Enforcement-only
  - Small number of these throughout the state
  - Have been working with Alicia Atkinson and Cindy Barbera-Brelle to create guidelines to pilot with these sites and work continues on this
- Total Response Pilot Update
- Dataset includes data received by 10/1/2025
- Total Dataset for Total Response and Priority Dispatch: 331 completed transfers to Centerstone
  - Dr. Mary Smith and Sarah Ferguson clarified the report from earlier in the meeting to answer how many calls in the dataset were transferred back to 911
  - For the pilot period (through 6/30/2025): 5 out of 150 transferred back to 911
  - Total (through 10/01/2025): 6 out of 331 transferred back to 911
- 294 completed transfers to Centerstone for Total Response only
  - 232 resolved by Centerstone
  - 5 transferred to MCRT
  - 3 transferred back to 911
- 33 incomplete transfers to Centerstone
- We were focusing on low acuity calls more easily resolved by Centerstone. As we start to look at calls with a higher level of acuity, we anticipate more transfers to MCRT.
- Jim Hennessy: Do the 33 incomplete transfers hit 988 at all? How is the incomplete transfer being tracked?
  - Dr. Jodie Bargeron: The main way is tracking the calls that arrive in to Centerstone and are picked up, and then something disconnects before 911 exits the call. For example, if the caller hangs up or the call itself disconnects between the parties. For a smaller number of calls, if the PSAP indicates they tried to transfer and had a problem doing so, then we also count that as an incomplete transfer. There are a variety of reasons.
  - Allie Lichterman asked for further breakdown next time
Priority Dispatch Pilot Update
- Dataset includes data received by 10/2/2025
- 37 completed transfers to Centerstone for Priority Dispatch only
  - 20 resolved by Centerstone
  - 5 transferred to MCRT
  - 3 transferred back to 911
- 7 incomplete transfers to Centerstone
CESSA Implementation Milestones
- October 2025
  - Select 22 Sites for FY25 Q2 (Cohort 1)
  - Update protocols*
  - Revise policies and guidance docs
- November - December 2025
  - Approval of updated protocols
  - TR updates protocols & PD updates response types
  - PSAPs update CADs, Landscape Survey
  - PSAPs and MCRTs complete CESSA training and new guidance
  - Cohort 1 PSAPs go live with updated protocols
- Jan 2026 - June 2027
  - Implement with average of 22 PSAPs every quarter

Regional and Subregional Updates (Brenda Hampton)

Subregional Committees Growth Chart - vetted by RAC vote (Updated as of 9-25-2025)
- Region 8: DuPage County voted and approved September 4, 2025
- Region 10: Lake County Crisis Coalition, start date September 18, 2025
New Co-Chair for RAC 11: Jennifer McGowan-Tomke will replace Eugene Humphrey
Upcoming in-person RAC 11 summit at Access Living: Monday, October 20, 2025, at 115 W. Chicago Avenue from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Jim Hennessy asked for a copy of the subregional growth chart

Champaign County (Allie Lichterman/Alicia Atkinson)

We are grateful to our first responders who put themselves in harm's way and go into crisis situations all the time, and our 911 telecommunicators who are often talking to people in some of the worst, most traumatic moments of their life.
Locations involved in the tragic incident were not part of CESSA pilot processes.
Locations involved were using existing procedures.
Underscores importance of communications across emergency responders; importance of improving existing crisis resources.
Creating a fourth option for 911 and incorporating behavioral health resources is not simple, but it is worthwhile.
MCRT and crisis counselors are being incorporated; collaboration between all disciplines will be the key for success.
Brent Reynolds: The concern we're hearing from PSAPs is that if this happened with firemen, paramedics, ambulance attendants, could this happen to the mental health providers? It will take time and some luck to avoid that.
Allie Lichterman: We need increased understanding of what 988 and our mobile crisis response teams do. If there's a transfer to 988, it should have gone through protocols to know it's less emergent. Our mobile crisis response teams know they enter situations that inherently involve risk. We need a messaging campaign and training because we know that change would be understandably scary for the telecommunicator.
Alicia Atkinson: We built trust over decades. We're building new relationships. From individual telecommunicators to PSAPs, it's about communication.
Mary Smith: Recent study by Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) noted that community responders respond to more than 2000,000 calls per year, with zero fatalities or serious injuries. There are a lot of evidence that these approaches work without community responders being seriously injured.
Allie Lichterman: CARES team in Chicago has got out since 2021 without any adverse incidents for their staff.
Jim Hennessy: This is why it's so important to note that the law states that if someone is a threat of injury to self or others, then law enforcement can respond. People have this feeling that law enforcement is being taken out, but there are two criteria where law enforcement can be sent. I think the preamble could help with that.
Allie Lichterman: CESSA is adding options and not taking away options and is about getting the right resource to the right situation.
Mary Smith: That's included in preamble. Also, in the IRLM, there's the notation that telecommunicators have discretion to change decision at any point if there is a safety issue.
Allie Lichterman: MCRTs shouldn't go to every type of call.
Brent Reynolds: Until we all hear the call itself, we can't speculate.
Allie Lichterman: We haven't heard the call. We do know that Champaign County isn't part of CESSA pilot, but it reminds us that the protocols and the training are important.

Next Meeting Dates (Allie Lichterman)

November 10, 2025 from 1:00-3:00 pm (virtual)
December 8, 2025 from 1:00-3:00 pm (virtual)

Public Comment (Allie Lichterman)

No hands raised.

Adjournment (Allie Lichterman)

Brent Reynolds motioned to adjourn, Alicia Atkinson seconded the motion.
- Voted to adjourn: Allie Lichterman (designee for David Albert), Rachael Ahart, Alicia Atkinson, Blanca Campos, Pete Dyer, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Drew Hansen, Jim Hennessy, Emily Miller, Brent Reynolds, Bobby Van Bebber
- Absent for vote: Justin Houcek
- Motion passed; Allie Lichterman adjourned the meeting at 2:05 pm.