Behavioral Health Coordinating Council

The newly formed Mental Health and Public Safety Fund Advisory Council — named after the fund Bloomington and Normal shared sales tax dollars create — had its first meeting on Monday, when members approved $1.5 million for new behavioral health initiatives in 2025.

The mayor of Bloomington said the loss of 100 jobs in downtown Bloomington will not be a long-term setback to revitalizing the area.

The Behavioral Health Coordinating Council narrowed its scope for 2024-2025, identifying five key areas of improvement. In short, they are to educate on area resources, advance services and access for vulnerable populations, increase safe, temporary shelter, expand the behavioral health workforce and explore opportunities to share health data across service providers.

Restructuring of McLean County’s Behavioral Health Coordinating Council is complete, and as McLean County Board Chair Catherine Metsker promised when she suspended meetings in March, the group now has a defined — and codified — structure, with clear objectives.

Previously, the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council [BHCC] — an ad hoc committee composed largely of mental health experts in the area — made spending proposals. The McLean County Board's Executive Committee approved an ordinance Monday to make the group an independent body, stripping members of that authority.

June's meeting of the McLean County Board's Behavioral Health Coordinating Council ad hoc committee will not happen. County board Chair Catherine Metsker said delays in group restructuring are the cause.

McLean County voters could be asked this fall if they want to eliminate the elected auditor's office that oversees the county's bookkeeping. The County Board's executive committee on Monday will consider placing the request on the November ballot.

County Board Chair Catherine Metsker said she thinks the county's behavioral health advisory group lacks structure, and she’s tackling the issue head-on. Her self-identified “ambitious goal” is to formalize policies and procedures for the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council — for the first time in its history — and she wants to get it done in under six months.

Mayor Chis Koos said the $5.4 million settlement to end Alan Beaman's civil lawsuit against the town and its police over a wrongful murder conviction is solely related to risk.

McLean County’s Director of Behavioral Health Coordination Kevin McCall announced his resignation Tuesday in an email to colleagues and WGLT. His last day is April 19, and the county is releasing an application for the position soon.