Legislation being crafted in Springfield this spring has the attention of a central Illinois mental health professional.

Tony Kirkman is the Executive Director of the Piatt County Mental Health Center and indicates budget time in Springfield have their ears perked up. He indicates they hearing more funding could be headed the way of agencies like his.

According to Kirkman, more funding would mean better streamlining of services and more access to care.

Kirkman is also keeping an eye out for a piece of legislation that aims to change how mental health inpatient systems operate and create more availabilities for in-patient treatments. He notes this is a big challenge in the mental health field. 

A substance abuse initiative being enacted by Governor JB Pritzker will address social equity frameworks for a multiagency collaborative model to how Illinois deals with opioid overdose numbers. Kirkman is following this because it will address a dramatic increase in overdose deaths in the state.

Finally, Kirkman points out there will be a new chief behavioral health officer. He is interested in this because this could bring lots of providers and services into the same room to collaborate and deliver services as efficiently as possible.

Kirkman says on paper, these things all look good but says he's hopeful this work but obviously, they will need to see results.