Welcome to the June edition of Mental Health Matters. We are so fortunate to have an engaged community of professionals willing to contribute articles to this publication in addition to advocating and educating our community on mental health policy issues. And of course, special thanks to Sandra Blake for her continuing efforts as editor.

As the Illinois legislative session moves forward, the Section Council continues to review, discuss and endorse various pieces of proposed legislation relating to mental health. Further, we have had the opportunity to hear presentations by passionate and knowledgeable guest speakers including Alan Mills, Executive Director of Uptown People’s Law Center, a not-for-profit community legal clinic. Mr. Mills, along with a number of other attorneys and organizations represented the plaintiffs in the landmark class action case Rasho v. Baldwin, which challenged the inadequate mental health services provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Additionally, the Section Council has hosted Peter O’Brien, Sr., President and CEO of MADO Management, LP, which owns and operates a number of mental health rehabilitation facilities, as well as Kelly O’Brien, the Executive Director of the Kennedy Forum-Illinois. The Kennedy Forum is in the vanguard of efforts to address parity issues with mental health treatment.

Depending on space availability, ISBA members were invited to attend these monthly meetings in person. There was also a call-in option for those interested in attending and hearing these exceptional speakers.

Finally, our half-day CLE program on May 17 at the ISBA Chicago Regional Office featured a panel of attorneys discussing their years of experiences with outpatient commitment.

Thank you.
Joseph T. Monahan 

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Joseph T. Monahan, MSW, JD, ACSW is the founding partner of Monahan Law Group, LLC, in Chicago, which focuses its practice in mental health, confidentiality, guardianship, probate, and health care law. His clients include hospitals, outpatient mental health clinics, and mental health professionals. He may be contacted at jmonahan@monahanlawllc.com.