Roseland mental health clinic reopening, CARE program expanding, Chicago mayor says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There was a ribbon cutting Wednesday morning to celebrate the reopening of the former Roseland Mental Health Clinic.

What had been a shuttered mental health clinic is reopening to provide no-cost mental health resources to the people of Roseland.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson joined Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo "Simbo" Ige, elected officials and community leaders for the ribbon cutting for the facility that has been renamed the Roseland Health Hub.

Previous administrations shuttered several mental health Clinics in Chicago. The reopening also signals an expansion of the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement program, or CARE. Mental health services and support out of police four districts around the city that now will be available at six districts.

"When you are a low income person of color you do not have options we want people to have options," Dr. Ige said. "This is not a competition with police, we just want people to have options more than just police."

The CDPH-operated clinic at 200 E. 115th St. will offer no-cost mental health and sexual health services to Chicago residents regardless of insurance or immigration status, a news release from the mayor's office said.

"The cost for someone for not responding where someone is constantly in need of the emergency room and not getting the wrap," Johnson said.

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"Today's reopening of the Roseland Clinic and expansion of the CARE program marks a turning point for mental health care in Chicago," Johnson said. "The dismantling of our city's mental health infrastructure forced emergency rooms and jails to become de facto treatment centers, failing both patients and communities. My administration is taking decisive action through our investments to ensure every Chicagoan has access to the critical care they need regardless of their neighborhood or ability to pay. Together, we will continue to choose treatment over trauma and rebuild a healthcare system that truly serves all our residents."

City leaders also announced the expansion of the CARE program, which provides emergency response via 911 dispatch to people experiencing a mental health crisis.

With this expansion, CARE is also launching a Citywide Special Cases team with the ability to support individuals experiencing a mental health emergency in all Chicago communities, the release said.

"This program is critical to providing appropriate professional care to people when they are experiencing a mental health emergency," Ige said. "Along with expanding mental health services, crisis response from trained clinicians will ensure that residents experiencing a mental health challenge can receive the immediate care they need from mental health professionals as well as connection to resources to address their unmet health and social needs."

The CARE program includes stocked vans that go to where people are struggling so they can get clothing, food and support for underlying issues from people like clinician Anye Whyte and EMT Dino Hickman.

"They are not intimidated they are easy to talk with us they see we don't have a gun and a badge we are just two normal individuals walking around the street just trying to help," Hickman said.

The CARE teams monitor 911 calls to see where they might be able to de-escalate a situation and get help for someone in crisis. They respond with no lights and no sirens and offer what they can and allow the individual to make a choice for themselves.

"Being able to be a clinician on the street meeting them where they are at in their own home in their own crisis is really powerful and necessary to help them on the path to recovery," Whyte said.