In the spring of 2017, The Kennedy Forum Illinois, NAMI-Chicago, and other public/private partners launched the Westside Community Outreach Pilot Project with the goal of engaging the community in efforts to improve crisis response for people with mental health challenges. Police are often the first line of response to individuals who are experiencing a mental … Continued

By Jessica Grillo, J.D., Legal Advisor for The Kennedy Forum In early 2014, Kevin Munnelly’s 17-year-old son, C.M., received mental health care at Telos Residential Retreat and Logan Rover Academy, two residential treatment facilities. Health insurance claims for C.M.’s treatments were submitted to Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc. (“Empire”), the claims administrator for the group health … Continued

On a strong bipartisan vote of 106-9, the Illinois House of Representatives just passed Senate Bill 1707 – the strongest mental health parity law in the nation. The bill now moves on to the Senate. SB1707 is the result of a multi-year Kennedy Forum Illinois campaign to improve parity law enforcement so that people with … Continued

The Kennedy Forum Policy Team has been very busy recently at both the state and the federal levels. Our state work focuses on improving adherence to the Federal Parity Law, which requires insurers to treat illnesses of the brain, such as depression and addiction, the same way they treat illnesses of the body, such as … Continued

As the opioid epidemic continues to take the lives of 115 Americans each day, The Kennedy Forum is working diligently to support individuals and families affected by substance use disorders (SUDs) and to promote legislative and regulatory changes that will improve SUD treatment and prevention. As part of this effort, we have been active in … Continued

By Julie and Victor Hudy It has been one year since our son, Joey, was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. A little background on Joey. As a young maker and inventor, his teenage years were far from typical. In  2012, at the age of 14, Joey was invited to the White House Science Fair, where President Obama shot Joey’s bright … Continued

Due to concurrent, escalating opioid overdose and suicide crises, tax cut legislation that will impact Medicaid and Medicare, and alarming reports that showcased the sad state of mental health parity nationwide, 2017 was a particularly challenging year in the advocacy community. But, as always, many important seeds were planted, many powerful connections were made, and … Continued

By Rocky Schwartz, Guest Blogger As a woman in long-term recovery from alcoholism and addiction for 35 years, I have been quietly involved in the recovery community for several decades. I naively believed that I would be able to prevent my children from suffering from addiction. But sadly, that hasn’t been the case. Both of … Continued

On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy testified in front of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, where he spoke to members of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies (Labor H Subcommittee) about the opioid crisis at the invitation of Subcommittee Chairman, Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO). This … Continued

In his role as Chairman of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, Governor Chris Christie appointed fellow Commissioner, former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, as the Commission’s liaison to the Department of Labor (DOL) during the fourth meeting of the Commission on Oct. 20, 2017. DOL is responsible for regulating the … Continued