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The mayor said his administration will reopen the Roseland
Mental Health Clinic before the end of the year. The facility is
one of 14 such clinics the city has closed since 1989.
“We are standing here on the far South Side to make it clear
that we are prioritizing those that have been left behind and
discarded by previous administrations,” Johnson said.
Johnson also announced the expansion of mental health facilities
in Pilsen and West Garfield Park. He said he couldn’t help but
think of his late brother, Leon.
“He was a loving husband and father, a brilliant musician, but
he struggled with mental illness throughout his entire life,”
Johnson said.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Simbo Ige
said that one in four Chicagoans has a mental-health issue.
“At this moment, there are over 300,000 Chicagoans waiting for
mental health services,” Ige said.
Johnson said police and fire departments should not be the ones
responding to mental health crises.
“We rely too much on policing. It’s just that simple. What we
are building is a system of care. The full force of government
is on display today,” Johnson said.
Government and union officials joined the mayor as he announced
the reopening of the Roseland facility. When asked how much the
projects would cost, the mayor did not offer an estimate.
The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance last October to
establish a working group for mental health system expansion.
Chicago 33rd Ward Alderman and Democratic Socialist Caucus
member Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez co-sponsored the ordinance. She
said the Treatment Not Trauma campaign is about creating
sustainable, public infrastructures of care.
“The campaign leads with a vision for an integrated prevention
and treatment-focused ecosystem of city-run mental health
centers across Chicago’s neighborhoods that includes a
non-police and peer-supported mental and behavioral health
first-responders system,” Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
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