Council Looks Forward to the Next 10 Years

It is only fitting that we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Kane County Mental Health Council during May, Mental Health Month. We can look back over the past decade and reflect on our accomplishments, especially the most recent. Just this year we combined the Mental Health Council with the Community Health Improvement Plan’s (CHIP) Behavioral Health Action Team to improve services and be more inclusive of the agencies in our county. From now on we will be known as the Kane County Behavioral Health Council. 



Since its beginning in 2007, the Council has grown to 23 agencies. Over those 10 years, we can point to some of our many accomplishments, including:

• Regularly scheduled newsletter, our “Message of the Month,” which highlights a different behavioral health topic each month.
• A dedicated website.
• The development a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.
• The “Layperson’s Guide to Mental Illness,” a Power Point presentation given to groups throughout the county.
• A marketing campaign “We Support Mental Health,” which saw groups and agencies across the county adopt the badge to show their support.

Now that Behavioral Health has been selected as one of the top three health priorities in Kane County, the CHIP Behavioral Health Action Team has identified Outcome Objectives and Impact Objectives, with overall mission of improving the mental health of Kane County residents by 2030. Although proud of our past accomplishments, we can see many challenges ahead as we look forward to the next 10 years. We have built the foundation. Now we’re ready to face the future.

Tom Schlueter, Communications Coordinator, Kane County Health Department