Candace Coleman
Community Strategy Specialist
What is CESSA?
CESSA is an Illinois law that requires 911 to coordinate with mobile mental health response services being developed by the Illinois Department of Mental Health.
What does CESSA do?
- …directs 911, 311 and other emergency response centers to transfer calls seeking mental and behavioral health support to the State’s 988 number, unless there is ongoing criminal activity or a threat of violence.
- …establishes a Statewide Committee and a Committee in each EMS Region to work out the on the ground logistics of how the services are provided based on local service availability.
- …establishes a set of statewide goals describing the way mobile mental and behavioral healthcare should be provided.
What sparked the efforts to pass CESSA into law?
Access Living’s community organizing group Advance Your Leadership Power (AYLP) was inspired by the tragedy of 15 year old Stephon Watts. In 2012, Watts was shot to death by a police officer who was called to his home to help take him to see his doctor. As the deaths of young Black and brown disabled people at the hands of police became a wider community conversation, AYLP began to look for alternative ways to handle mental and behavioral health emergencies in the community.
Why is CESSA combined with Executive Action (988)?
Early versions of CESSA asked the State of Illinois to create mobile response units to answer mental and behavioral health emergencies. In 2021, just before CESSA was passed into law, the Illinois Division of Mental Health committed to providing statewide mobile mental health response units and providing statewide 24-hour crisis care centers as part of a national effort to coordinate suicide prevention hotlines under the 988 number. CESSA builds on the work of 988 by requiring 911 call center operators to transfer relevant calls to 988 for services. CESSA also sets statewide standards for mobile response systems, and creates committees in charge of working out regional operations.
When is CESSA required to begin in Illinois?
CESSA requires each 911 call center to coordinate services with 988 once call center staff have the proper protocols and training, and once 988 is operational in that call center’s jurisdiction. Additionally, CESSA requires all Illinois 911 call centers to be ready by January 1, 2023.
When does 911 send a call to 988?
All calls requesting emergency mental or behavioral health care must be sent to 988. Exceptions to this requirement are as follows:
- There is a suspected violation of criminal law
- There is a threat of physical injury to the caller or someone in the community
- There is no indication of a criminal violation or violence
This reduces the number of situations in which police will respond to requests for mental or behavioral health care.
What qualifies as a mental or behavioral health emergency?
CESSA defines a mental or behavioral health emergency as any time a person “may require prompt care, support, or assessment at the individual’s location.” This expands the definition of emergency beyond situations where an individual expresses suicidal thought, in order to reach people earlier in a crisis than what is currently practiced.
Does CESSA allow co-responder models?
CESSA prohibits the use of co-responder models, which involve law enforcement. The exception to this rule is if a call center believes that there is a threat of violence or a violation of criminal law. Where there is violence or criminal activity, CESSA does not require any particular response. CESSA would not interfere with a program using co-responders in such situations.
Who is designing CESSA’s implementation?
The Illinois Department of Human Services – Division of Mental Health (DMH) is responsible for overseeing the implementation of CESSA.
As part of the implementation process, DMH established the CESSA Statewide Advisory Committee and several CESSA Regional Committees to consult and advise on how to implement CESSA.
- The CESSA Statewide Advisory Committee is responsible for helping advise on the 911 protocols and scripts that come from national providers, as well as data gathering to support ongoing system improvement.
- The CESSA Regional Committees are responsible for the design of local protocol to allow 911 and 988 coordination, monitoring and adjusting protocols as appropriate, negotiating amendments to area 911 dispatch protocols, setting maximum response times for services, and reporting collected operational data.