CHICAGO ~ Chicago Mayor Announces Citywide Expansion of CARE Program for Mental Health Crises

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) have announced the expansion of the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program to every community in Chicago. This program aims to provide compassionate and non-police crisis response services for residents experiencing mental health crises and socio-emotional distress.

Mayor Johnson stated, "Every Chicagoan deserves to be met with dignity, compassion, and care during moments of crisis." He emphasized the city's commitment to a public health and safety approach that prioritizes connecting residents to support, reducing harm, and ensuring that individuals experiencing behavioral health challenges receive help from trained professionals when law enforcement intervention is not necessary.

The CARE program deploys trained behavioral health professionals and EMTs to respond to individuals in crisis with compassionate care, crisis intervention, and basic medical support. This expansion marks a major milestone for the program, which previously operated in six police districts but will now serve residents citywide.

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Deputy Mayor Arturo Carrillo stated that this expansion is the result of years of collaboration to build a response system that prioritizes behavioral health expertise and coordinated care. He believes that by expanding eligibility and geographic coverage, access to timely intervention will increase, strengthening connections between residents and long-term support services throughout Chicago.

Dr. Miao Hua, CDPH's Medical Director and Deputy Commissioner of Behavioral Health, highlighted how this expansion aligns with the department's core mission: "to work with communities and partners to create an equitable, safe, resilient, and Healthy Chicago."

The CARE teams will now serve a broader range of residents, including youth as young as six years old and adults over the age of 65 experiencing mental illness or socio-emotional distress. However, responses are limited to non-violent situations where there is no active threat to the individual or others.

Alderman Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, Chairwoman for the Committee on Health and Human Relations, expressed her excitement about this expansion, stating that it is an ambitious step forward to bring Chicago's emergency mental and behavioral health services in line with similar programs across the country. She also acknowledged the decades of hard work and advocacy by communities across Chicago that led to this progress.

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CARE clinicians are trained to conduct on-site mental health assessments, provide crisis de-escalation and brief counseling, and connect residents to ongoing mental health care and social services. They may also transport individuals to non-hospital behavioral health destinations when appropriate.

Gabrielle Mitchell, a CARE clinician, shared her experience of how meaningful it is when people experiencing behavioral health crises or socio-emotional distress are met by trained professionals focused on listening, de-escalation, and care. She believes that expanding CARE citywide will allow more Chicagoans to access this support when they need it most.

The CARE program's mission is to ensure that Chicagoans experiencing mental health crises or socio-emotional distress are assisted on-site by behavioral health professionals and connected to additional health and social services that address unmet needs. Residents who observe someone in crisis can call 911 and ask for the CARE team. Additionally, non-crisis clinician-only responses can be requested within 72 hours by emailing CAREprogram@CityofChicago.org.

This citywide expansion of the CARE program reflects the Johnson administration's commitment to expanding public mental and behavioral health resources throughout Chicago. It is a significant step towards creating a more equitable, safe, resilient, and healthy city for all residents.

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