CESSA Statewide Advisory Committee Meeting 11/10/2025 Approved Minutes
Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Virtual (via Zoom)
Call to Order (David Albert)
- Director David Albert called the meeting to order at 1:04pm and reviewed OMA procedures
Roll Call (Sarah Ferguson)
- SAC Members present: David Albert, Alicia Atkinson, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Jim Hennessy, Brent Reynolds, Pete Dyer, Rachael Ahart, Jim Kaitschuk, Emily Miller, Bobby Van Bebber, Blanca Campos (joined late)
- SAC Members absent: Curtis Harris, Justin Houcek, Drew Hansen
- Quorum is present
Approval of Minutes from SAC Meetings on October 6, 2025
- Brent Reynolds motioned to approve the minutes; Pete Dyer second the motion
- Members who voted to approve: David Albert, Alicia Atkinson, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Jim Hennessy, Brent Reynolds, Pete Dyer, Rachael Ahart, Jim Kaitschuk, Emily Miller, Bobby Van Bebber, Blanca Campos (voted retroactively)
- Minutes are approved
State Updates (Allie Lichterman)
- Operational Planning update
- NOFOs currently in progress; updates forthcoming in the new year
- Ongoing collaboration between HFS, DBHR, mental health and substance use subject matter experts, and providers
- 988 updates
- Continuing to pursue procurement of LGBTQ+ training
- Expanding CESSA implementation sites that go through 988 or Centerstone
- Changes to DHS website
- Mandatory Trainings for Boards and Commissions (Allie Lichterman)
- Members were reminded to complete the annual training requirements by end of calendar year
- Information about technical assistance for training was provided
Unified Crisis Continuum Updates & Conversation (Allie Lichterman)
- Unified Crisis Continuum (UCC) goals
- Work with HFS to bring crisis continuum together into one unified network, with unified dispatch and unified billing
- Will improve services and reduce administrative burden
- Monthly Meetings with HFS
- Continuing monthly, in-person leadership meetings
- Recent meeting topics
- Next steps and stakeholder engagement
- Questions:
- Where do you see duplication and/or inefficiency in the Crisis Continuum?
- What technical support would be helpful to UCC providers to improve Medicaid billing skills and capacity?
- Discussion
- Beginning the discussion with question about duplication and/or inefficiency
- Emily Miller: Historically, there's always been concerns or issues, which might not be the right terminology of what I am trying to convey. Because there's so much overlap and confusion in functions between HFS and DBHR. HFS is obviously the Medicaid authority. DBHR is the mental health authority. There are overlapping issues and entities; rules come from one side and billing comes from another side. Some crisis response is Medicaid, and some is granted-funded. It can lead to more burden on service providers. Where do we ask questions and who can give us answers? Providers still have a lot of hurdles to get started or if they have issues with billing. Trying to more consistently offer unified place for folks to go to for crisis services. One stop shop for when issues arise.
- Allie Lichterman: That's really helpful and also starts touching on the second question. Acknowledge that it is hard to know where to start and identify the duplication when they are so interwoven and there is confusion. It's potentially too big of a question. Even just some mapping so people understand how things go together is helpful.
- Emily Miller: It's even so much as a unified single contact. Not a single person, but a single point of entry to ensure that whatever the question, it can be directed properly.
- Allie Lichterman: That speaks to how we have been working collaboratively with HFS on this. Because these structures were created separately, co-governance system doesn't exist yet. It's something we need to figure out and be clear with providers about who you go to when and have processes to redirect people internally.
- Director David Albert: Thank you, Emily. That's important, and it's something we are talking about a lot of the time. We are already thinking through the puzzle; we have to use certain pieces. For example, we know mobile crisis response is extremely costly, so Medicaid billing has to be a part of it. Like you said, HFS is the Medicaid authority and DBHR is the mental health authority. Need to figure out how pieces fit together. And we also need to focus on the pieces we can create, to help our partners and the public navigate and understand the systems-including how we answer questions and who provides answers. Thank you, Emily, for reminding me of the importance of these conversations about an imperfect setup of a costly statewide system.
- Emily Miller: I would be remiss if I didn't say something about bringing in the Division of Developmental Disabilities, and understanding that people with IDD may have co-occurring mental health disorders or experience crisis.
- Allie Lichterman: 100%. To bring this back to CESSA, there is communicating that needs to happen with PSAPs and other crisis providers about where the Unified Crisis Continuum is heading. It is helpful for them to know all that could happen and what can be provided after transferring a call to 988.
- Blanca Campos: My apologies for being late. What timeframe are we looking at for stakeholder engagement next steps?
- Allie Lichterman: This year. Stakeholder engagement is the #1 topic, and what we met with Director Whitehorn of HFS and Secretary Quintero of DHS about last week. When I was at Northwest Dispatch last week, talking about what MCRT does and what the rest of the crisis system does was something that came up. We talked about making introductions [between stakeholders]. I am wondering if that feels relevant for PSAPs and law enforcement.
- Alicia Atkinson: I think for the PSAPs, definitely. Especially when it comes to 988 transfers. The more we understand what happens when we transfer and the response options that are available, the more trusting they will be to that part of the response.
- Allie Lichterman: 100%. That definitely sounds reasonable.
- Jim Hennessy: Expressed agreement with Alicia Atkinson's statement.
- Jessica Gimeno: Along the lines of what Alicia said, I was speaking at an in-person event for RAC 1. A provider told me it would help them understand CESSA in concrete terms if they could hear a hypothetical call, a reenactment, from the beginning of the call to 911 though the end. A simulation that could be followed.
- Allie Lichterman: Yes. Now reengaging our 988 comms firm, which is limited because it's 988-related. Currently seeing what we can do that would be closer to that.
BHCH Updates (Dr. Lorrie Jones)
- Due to contracting issues, unable to proceed with Compass communications pro bono support
- Continuing to explore other options for communications support
Technical Subcommittees
Training and Education Subcommittee (TETSC) (Terry Solomon)
- TETSC approved revised training plan compliant with CESSA amendment so two courses added:
- Neurodivergent
- Involuntary commitment
- As of October 27, 2025, 2047 people have completed the CESSA courses from the pilot and post-pilot implementation
- 352 988 Crisis Counselors (17%), 692 PSAP telecommunicators (34%) and 1002 MCRT staff (49%)
- Behavioral Health Crisis Hub Learning Management System = Reach 360
- Launched October 22, 2025, for Cohort 1
- As of Nov. 5, there are 363 users are registered; of that number, 111 have a course in progress or completed
- As of Nov. 5, 218 courses are in progress and 259 have been completed.
- Unless PSAPs, MCRTs, or 988 LCCs are in Cohort 1, they have not been added to the system yet
- All sites in Cohort 1 are required to register in the system
- Once all staff are registered, we will have a denominator to know how many staff are expected to take the courses.
- Brief demonstration of the Reach 360 learning management system
- Demonstration of "The Power and Importance of Language" training course
- Learners must complete the entire module before moving to the next content area
- Pre-test and post-test for each course; must be passed with a score of 80% to move forward and gain credit
- Blanca Campos: I see this is all on-demand. How many modules are they required to take?
- Terry Solomon: MCRT has about 6 or 7 courses. 911 telecommunicators have about 4.
- Sarah Ferguson: These are the same courses that Training Subcommittee approved last year, with the addition of two based on updated statue. What changed, besides the new statute, is that we now have a more engaging platform to host the trainings with better reporting.
Technology, Systems Integration & Data Management Subcommittee (Jodie Bargeron)
- Implementation data collection from former pilot sites (ongoing)
- Preparing cohort 1 sites for data reporting
- Crisis Data Reporting System: Alpha testing to begin in December
Protocols and Standards Subcommittee: Implementation Updates (Dr. Mary Smith)
- Total Response update
- Dataset includes data received by 11/3/2025
- 319 completed transfers to Centerstone
- 293 resolved by Centerstone
- 5 transferred to MCRT
- 3 transferred back to 911
- 28 incomplete transfers to Centerstone
- 1 = call escalated during transfer
- 14 = call dropped during transfer
- 2 = caller hung up during transfer
- 11 = technical issues w phone system
- Director Albert: For the 14 calls dropped during transfer, I assume it's the common use of the phrase "dropped call." What is the process for these and do we know how many are reconnected?
- Mary Smith: I don't know how many were reconnected at this point, and a call can be dropped for many reasons. But the process we have depends on when the call is dropped. If the call is dropped before transfer is complete, 911 telecommunicators get back in touch with the caller. If the call is dropped after transfer to Centerstone, Centerstone tries to get back in touch. If they can't, they let 911 know. There may be some times when an individual indicates willingness to transfer to 988 and then hangs up, so that's a different process.
- Director Albert: Thank you, that's helpful. At another time, maybe, I am curious to learn more about how and when callers provide a callback number, and how we make sure that follow-up is completed.
- Mary Smith: We have detailed guidance about those processes.
- Priority Dispatch Pilot Updates
- Dataset includes data received by 11/3/2025
- 38 completed transfers to Centerstone
- 20 resolved by Centerstone
- 5 transferred to MCRT
- 4 transferred back to 911
- 13 incomplete transfers to Centerstone
- 1 = caller hung up before transfer completed
- 12 = call disconnected during transfer from 911
- Director Albert: It looks like there's a much higher percentage of incomplete transfers to Centerstone. I wondered what might explain that.
- Brent Reynolds: Of the 13 incomplete transfers, was there any callback information for the caller? Or were these lost?
- Mary Smith: In terms of disconnects, per the process previously described to Dr. Albert, it depends on when the call was disconnected. In future meetings, I can do some more digging to see what happened to all these calls. But I want to assure folks that there are processes in place.
- Lorrie Jones: That would be a good idea-in our next presentation, show what happens to those disconnected calls.
- David Albert: How should we understand the higher percentage of incomplete transfers?
- Mary Smith: That's a good question. I am not sure, but I would have to go look back at when those occurred. This is cumulative data, so some incomplete transfers could have happened at the beginning of pilot process, when incompletes were more likely. I can check the dates to confirm my hypothesis.
- Lorrie Jones: Thanks, Mary, that would be a useful graph.
- Director Albert: It would be helpful to learn and hear more next time we meet.
- Allie Lichterman: A couple things can happen with Centerstone transfers that potentially cause problems. We're still getting people used to not hanging up before the transfer. And if someone calls 911, they likely want an in-person response. Even if 988 could be appropriate, the culture shift will take time. Also, during the pilot, all staff were cross trained to do 988 calls and 988 calls with dispatch if needed. As their call volume is going up, the same Centerstone staff have to handle it. We talked to them a couple weeks ago about scalability and supporting them as we add new PSAPs. We can keep sharing about that. And, as Dr. Smith said, incompletes could have happened at the beginning of the pilot. Dr. Smith, can you clarify between these two definitions? Does "call disconnected during transfer from 911" mean a technical issue for Centerstone?
- Mary Smith: It could be a variety of things. One thing I remember is that, for one of the vendors, there was initially a problem with how telecommunicators were connecting to 988 using a conference line. So, it could be the conference line issue, or a technical issue, or a variety of things. Many probably track back to earlier times.
- Lorrie Jones: That's why it will be helpful to make a timeline of the data and make sure that's the case.
- CESSA Implementation Planning
- Cohort 1 PSAPs Selected
- 20 PSAPs for December implementation
- All Regions with exception of 9 and 11
- Mix of Priority Dispatch and Rapid SOS/Total Response Users
- Informational Meeting
- October 15th: (PSAP Administrators, Centerstone, MCRT Program Directors)
- Follow-up Meetings: Q and As - October 17 and October 23
- Meetings
- Cohort 1: Priority Dispatch Meeting: November 12
- Cohort 1: Total Response Meeting: November 13
- Cohort 1: Mobile Crisis Response Teams: TBA
- Preparation for Cohort 1 Implementation
- Refining Guidance and Other Documents
- Scheduling meetings to discuss policy/procedures
- CESSA Required Training
- EMD Approval
- Protocol Updates
- Discussion with Vendor
Questions/Discussion from the members
- Jim Hennessy: Are the Regional Advisory Committees (RACs) or subregional committees part of the cohort meetings?
- Mary Smith: These discussions should happen at subregional committee (SRC) meetings and include the folks who are actually implementing at PSAPs, and RACs should be apprised. The cohort meetings are focused on operationalizing.
- Lorrie Rickman Jones: The subregional work occurs through a PSAP and is situated within a RAC. We tried to select implementation sites that were part of SRCs and we also wanted to have some representation across the state, so you'll see some subregions that were not in the first cohort. They should be sharing their experience at the RAC.
- Jim Hennessy: My understanding of the legislation is that the RACs are supposed to be negotiating the specific dispatch protocols with the PSAPs in the subregions to say how it will work between the PSAP, fire, EMS, and the 590 providers.
- Allie Lichterman: We are meeting with PSAPs in smaller meetings to encourage them to build a network and work on the culture shift needed for this change. Then, there is the bigger picture coordination between PSAPs, EMS, law enforcement that RACs are a part of.
- Lorrie Rickman Jones: The RACs cover very large territories while protocols are implemented at a very local level because they're designed to be implemented with input on what resources are available in that specific locale. Response types are going to differ. PSAPs should keep the RACs informed and have a lot of discussion with them about their experiences, and make sure that law enforcement, and fire and other stakeholders are involved in the process. Regions are too large and too diverse which is why we designed the SRCs.
- Jim Hennessy: Yes, we want to get an SRC together for my PSAP. It's just the law says that the RAC will negotiate the protocols with each specific PSAP before the law is considered implemented.
- Lorrie Rickman Jones: We can go back and check the language.
- Mary Smith: Any PSAP participating in implementation has to do is they have to go and talk to their partners because we're talking about changing the response type as part of CESSA implementation.
- Alicia Atkinson: PSAP, law enforcement, fire and EMS and EMS medical directors have strong relationships. As part of implementation we invited the MCRT agency leadership and the ETSB leadership to the meeting because that meeting is really in the weeds about what needs to change for implementation. Going forward, we could invite the RAC leadership if that's beneficial.
- Jim Hennessy: When I read the law, it makes it seem like the regions are the ones who are supposed to be driving that conversation about what your resources are, how it's going to integrate into your system, and then you're supposed to be going to the RAC to get that approved. It looks like the RAC responsibilities also include setting response times.
- Lorrie Rickman Jones: We will go back and look at the statute to make sure RACs are involved in all ways they should. For example, we did a landscape survey which had to be done by each PSAP and forwarded to the RAC, so we have processes in place to cover the requirements of the statute.
- Director Albert: We will have an update at our next meeting.
Regional and Subregional Updates (Brenda Hampton)
- Subregional Committees (SRCs) Growth Chart
- Last month, it was reported that we had 20 sub-regional committees. Franklin County had not been approved yet, so we removed it and the number is corrected to 19 as of 11-05-2025.
- Other RAC and SRC updates
- RAC #2 SRC: concerns expressed by 911 about transferring to 988 without seeing the 988 protocols
- RAC #5: continues to struggle with maintaining active membership for a working quorum.
- RAC #7: Meeting scheduled and held with Governor's State University relative to including student internships; how the university can partner with RAC #7 with CESSA implementation.
- RAC #9: convened discussion with Kendall County Police Chiefs, local Sheriff and PSAPs on 0ctober 23, 2025. Interest in developing a SRC in Kendall County
- RAC #11: held Summit on October 20, 2025
Next Meeting Dates (Allie Lichterman)
- Next Meeting Dates (1:00 -3:00 pm)
- December 8, 2025 (virtual)
- January 12, 2026 (virtual)
- Discussion on when to have the next in-person meeting and future meeting topics:
- Several members offered to host: Brent Reynolds in Glenview), Jim Hennessy in Joliet, and Jessica Gimeno in Chicago
- Due to concerns about winter weather in December, January, and February, the members agreed on March for the next in-person meeting
- Members and staff were invited to give ideas for meeting topics or presentations they would like to hear more about
- Lorrie Rickman Jones: We will invite Virginia to give an update on progress in their state. They recently put out a report on the Marcus Alert.
- David Albert: Text meeting will focus on the role of the RAC, what is statutorily required, and how the roles may change as we move from policy to implementation, as well as an overall CESSA timeline, what we have done and what is left to do.
Public Comment (David Albert)
- Alyssa Marrero [in the chat]: I think the providers doing mobile crisis work would be able to share a lot of insight on this question!
Adjournment (David Albert)
- Jessica Gimeno motioned to adjourn, and Jim Hennessy seconded the motion.
- Voted to adjourn: David Albert, Alicia Atkinson, Jessica Gimeno (designee for Candace Coleman), Jim Hennessy, Brent Reynolds, Rachael Ahart, Pete Dyer, Bobby Van Bebber, Emily Miller, Blanca Campos
- Members absent during vote: Jim Kaitschuk (left early)
- Motion passed; David Albert adjourned the meeting at 2:36pm.
