Pupil participationCHICAGO — State Senator Mike Simmons joined Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Human Services, Google Public Sector, and a host of elected officials Monday to announce a new state-of-the-art online portal, BEACON, to provide a user-friendly experience for Illinois families and residents to access behavioral and mental health care resources for children.

“Access and equity in all forms of healthcare is a top priority,” said Simmons (D-Chicago), who serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Behavioral and Mental Health Committee. “I am happy to see our state taking intentional steps in partnership with a wide range of partners in simplifying the process for finding mental and behavioral health care in Illinois for children.”

The centralized point of access will improve the experience of families seeing behavioral and mental health resources, and aims to eliminate further frustration for families and caretakers.

“Our young people and their families deserve to have the support they need,” said Simmons. “The Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative is a major step forward that will make it easier to identify appropriate mental health care options without having to get lost in endless online paperwork and unresponsive bureaucracy."