Advocates Press Candidates on Mental Health Clinics

      *****     Advocates Press City Candidates on Public Mental Health Clinics, Release Candidate Survey Results     *****

                         Forum Will Be Followed by Candlelight March to ABC7 Studios on Debate Night

    Who: The Mental Health Movement
    What: A forum on mental health care in Chicago, followed by a candlelight march to ABC7 studios
    When: Thursday, February 5; forum at 6 pm, march at 7 pm
    Where: Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington, Chicago

    RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1766213706936586/

The Mental Health Movement (MHM), an organization of mental health care consumers, providers, and advocates, will hold a forum on Mental Health and the 2015 Elections on Thursday, February 5, 6 pm, at the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington Street. Immediately following the forum the group and supporters will light candles and march peacefully to ABC7 studios, 190 N. State Street.

The station is sponsoring a mayoral debate that will be broadcast later that evening. All aldermanic and mayoral candidates have been invited and results of a survey of all candidates will be released at the event:
http://www.stopchicago.org/2015/02/responses-to-2015-chicago-elections.html

The forum will include testimony from people directly impacted by the Emanuel administration's mental health clinic closures and is intended to inform mayoral and aldermanic candidates, as well as voters, about mental health issues in the run-up to the February 24 citywide elections. It will examine the impact of the closing of six of the city’s 12 mental health clinics, conditions at the remaining clinics, the impact on the city, a vision of improved mental health care and related city services, and how that vision can be achieved. The march to the ABC7 studios will help bring these issues to broader public attention and encourage the candidates to address them in their platforms.

“A lot of people aren’t aware of the human and financial burden placed on the public when the clinics closed,” says MHM organizer N’Dana Carter. “There’s a huge cost in public hospitals and emergency rooms, police, courts, and County jail, as well as patients and families. We’ll present a plan for reopening the six clinics over three years, at a cost of just $2.7 million a year. It’s a plan that’s fair, humane, and cost-effective.”

The Mental Health Movement, a grassroots organization led by mental health consumers, took shape when Chicago first threatened to close city-sponsored mental health clinics in 2009. The group has drawn nationwide attention with its mass protests, broad outreach, and community education about the need for access to appropriate and consistent mental health services in the city’s neighborhoods.

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