McLean County Behavioral Health Action Plan
2026 - 2028
The Behavioral Health Action Plan, historically referred to as the Mental Health Action Plan, is a three-year action plan that provides strategic, coordinated leadership in addressing our community’s behavioral health needs. The first BHAP was published in 2016, with updates completed in 2022 and 2025. The current version is for 2026-2028.
BHCC uses this document to guide their work throughout the year and member organizations use it as a roadmap to support ongoing efforts within their own organizations.
The McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council also contributes directly to this document.
Table of Contents
Recommended Actions by Focus Area
The Behavioral Health Coordinating Council (BHCC) has developed a three-year action plan to provide strategic, coordinated leadership in addressing our community’s behavioral health needs. In support of and at the request of the BHCC, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) has contributed complementary actions. This revised plan is intended to supplement, not replace, projects and initiatives that were initiated under previous editions of the action plan.
A Message to Our Readers and Community
Structure Of This Action Plan
The Behavioral Health Action Plan is organized as follows:
Welcome and overview information
Guiding Principles
Recommended Actions by focus area
Measures/Anticipated Impact(s)
Recommended Resources
Suggested Use Of This Action Plan
1. BHCC and CJCC
Designated McLean County staff, in collaboration with the Mental Health and Public Safety Funding Advisory Council, will use this action plan to budget a portion of the Mental Health and Public Safety Fund to generate community project grants and proposals.
Members will use this action plan to guide work group assignments as a roadmap to support ongoing efforts, as well as help assess progress toward completing recommended actions and measuring their impact(s).
2. Community Members
We invite all community members to explore this action plan to better understand our shared behavioral health priorities across McLean County.
We encourage community support of efforts that resonate with individuals, whether by sharing information, attending public meetings, collaborating or volunteering with local organizations, or simply staying informed.
Measuring Impact And Sharing Updates
For each action area, different measures are provided to guide reflection and reinforce accountability, not prescribe what independent agencies or organizations do or how they McLean County Behavioral Health Action Plan 2026-2028 p. 4 report. Agencies and work groups are encouraged to identify the measures that best represent their progress and impact. Seek to answer not just “what” was done but also “how.”
Work groups and organizations that receive community project grants generated from this plan should set a regular cadence for updates to stakeholders and, as appropriate, the County Board. At a minimum, updates shall occur annually.
For sharing updates on progress toward or completion of actions, use a simple dashboard, one-page summary, or slide deck showing:
Completed actions
In-progress actions
Milestones
Barriers
Impact(s)
Acknowledgements
This action plan reflects the insights, commitment, and collaboration of many individuals and organizations across our county. We are grateful to the members of both Coordinating Councils, as well as our community partners, for their time, expertise, and dedication to improving behavioral health for all. Their contributions shaped the priorities and actions outlined in this plan
Guiding Principles Informing Our Recommendations
Grounded In Local Realities And Equity
1. Acknowledge McLean County includes both urban and rural communities, each with unique needs.
2. Prioritize equity, inclusion, and recovery-oriented care. This includes meeting people where they are—in their communities, journeys, and identities.
Connected To Bigger Picture Of Health And Well-Being
3. Recognize that behavioral health is part of a larger system of care.
4. Understand things like housing, employment, education, culture, food access, and transportation all affect behavioral health outcomes.
5. Account for the fact that some factors affecting our community’s well-being—such as economic trends or state and federal policies—are outside local control but still require local response.
6. Support efforts that address these broader social and structural influences on health.
Committed To Collaborative Problem-Solving And Data-Informed Innovation
7. Work together across sectors to support behavioral health in our community.
8. Ensure our planning and actions reflect the diversity of McLean County and reduce gaps in access, representation, and support across geographic and population lines.
9. Use data to understand challenges and guide solutions.
10. Build on what is working and innovate where needed, whether through new approaches or by improving existing practices.
Focused On Building Capacity And Support Systems
11. Expand access to behavioral health services and options for care.
12. Recognize this work includes, but is not limited to, the members of either Coordinating Councils—solutions can come from anywhere in the community.
13. Nurture, develop, and maintain cultures that are recovery-centered and trauma-informed for both those receiving care and those providing it.
14. Support the behavioral health workforce through training, retention efforts, and strategies that help people stay and thrive in McLean County.
Recommended Actions by Focus Area
Service Access and Delivery
Support community members’ behavioral health by ensuring that everyone in our community can connect to services and affordable, accessible care that accommodates people’s needs.
Unknown
Planning
Happening
Completed
Evaluate current access to basic services, such as psychiatric care and counseling, to determine whether levels of care are being maintained adequately.
Improve communication and coordination among providers so there’s a shared understanding of what services are available and how to access them.
Increase service availability and positive outcomes for vulnerable members of our community.
Increase coordination and integration of services for individuals with complex needs.
Advance solutions to providing permanent supportive housing to qualifying individuals.
SERVICE EXPANSION
Increase in type of services needed and offered, respectively
Increase in the number of people able to access those services
TIMELINES AND ACCESS
Reduced wait times or faster follow-up while waiting for care access
Evidence of fewer barriers for becoming eligible for services or in accessing services
ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
Operational improvements that lead to broader or more equitable access
Enhanced integration or coordination among agencies and/or stakeholders
POSITIVE OUTCOMES
Percentage of people reporting positive results after receiving care (organizations can define what “positive outcomes” and “percentage” mean in their context)
Type/number of populations served and/or services offered
Prevention & Recidivism Reduction
Over the next three years, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) will advance coordinated, data-informed programs that prevent initial justice system involvement, address behavioral health needs linked to offending, and reduce the likelihood of reoffending. Efforts will focus on sustainable, evidence-based strategies that support diversion, treatment, mentorship, and reentry, tailored to the distinct needs of youth, emerging adults, and adults in McLean County.
Develop a process to reduce the time between arrest and entry into medication-assisted programming for eligible participants, with consideration for age-specific legal requirements.
Identify and sustain the funding of programs that are responsive to the distinct needs of the following age groups: 0–17, 18–25, and 26+.
Analyze Safe Passage programs in Illinois to assess their impact and determine whether a similar program meets McLean County’s needs.
Use data to assess outcomes in problem-solving courts, probation, and other alternative-toincarceration programs, including impacts on recidivism.
Complete the development and integration of the case management systems across the justice system, including the Records Management System (RMS), Jail Management System (JMS), and Court Case Management System (CMS).
Transition the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program to a diversion program for misdemeanor defendants with psychiatric needs.
Develop or maintain outpatient fitness restoration programs for criminal misdemeanor and low-level felony cases.
Implement standard evaluation tools and programming adjustments for juveniles in juvenile delinquent court.
Expand reentry supports, including housing, employment, education, and behavioral health services, for individuals returning from incarceration.
Develop evaluation of the victim/witness experience, regardless of disposition. Publish evaluation of victim/witness programming to CJCC.
Develop and implement an emerging adult court program for individuals aged 18-25.
Expand mentorship programs for youth, emerging adults, and veterans.
Explore prevention-focused outreach and education initiatives to address gang and gun violence.
Advance implementation of the expanded Integrated Justice Information System to incorporate community behavioral health engagement data, strengthening cross-sector collaboration, reducing duplication of services, and increasing the reliability and consistency of shared data.
SHORT-TERM INITIATIVES FOR INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION
Establish communication processes between CJCC members and its Executive Committee members to generate new pathways for articulating support needs.
Secure Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) certification for McLean County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC).
Expand staffing at JDC through teaching and social worker hires to improve services to detainees and their guardians/parents.
Complete rejuvenation and “go live” for the Integrated Justice Information System, advancing functionality and providing criminal justice partners with countywide data.
Barriers
In-progress
Completed
PREVENTION AND DIVERSION
Increase in the number and variety of diversion and early-intervention programs available to youth, emerging adults, and adults.
Measurable reductions in first-time justice system involvement for targeted populations.
PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Improved outcomes for participants in problem-solving courts, mentorship programs, and treatment initiatives, as demonstrated through follow-up data.
Sustainable funding and staffing models established for prevention and reentry programs.
REENTRY AND RECIDIVISM REDUCTION
Reduced rates of recidivism among participants in reentry and treatment programs.
Increased access to housing, employment, education, and behavioral health supports for people returning from incarceration.
Community Engagement and Outreach
Promote public engagement through awareness building education and meaningful outreach. Successful outreach will lead to active participation, stronger connections, and community collaboration.
Inform the public and key stakeholders about local needs, available services, and ways to contribute to behavioral health efforts.
Lower barriers to service care access through messaging and educational programs that are accessible in a variety of platforms, including print, visually, orally, and online.
Explore barriers to engagement within rural communities and include representatives of these communities in identifying solutions to lower or remove those barriers.
Build partnerships to educate and support vulnerable populations on prevention, early intervention, and care access.Increase coordination and integration of services for individuals with complex needs.
Assess and analyze the use of telehealth to better understand access to care and extent to whether stigma around seeking behavioral health support is declining.
Design interventions that include coordination with community spaces to promote connection and resilience.
Examine transportation’s effects on access to care throughout the county to better understand unmet needs and inform potential solutions.
Research and implement programs that offer educational and career exploration opportunities to youth within the criminal justice system, such as ride-alongs; talks with judges; community-law-school; and/or mock trials.
Engage in community outreach that allows for resident and stakeholder input for idea sharing to spark more dialogue and shared ownership of preventing crime, violence, and recidivism.
Barriers
In-progress
Completed
EDUCATION AND AWARENESS
Volume of people reached
Impact on knowledge, behavior, or access to care
TRUST AND RELATIONSHIPS
Evidence of trust-building and relationship-building
HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIOR
Number of people who reach out to a service
SERVICE UTILIZATION
Number of people accessing services
Workforce Support
Advance innovative efforts to recruit and develop a high-quality workforce that cross the behavioral health and criminal justice systems, including strategies to retain professionals and reduce personal and professional barriers, such as affordable housing, childcare access, and financial assistance.
Gather and analyze baseline data for the behavioral health workforce needs of our community to determine how to support and advance the field.
Survey our behavioral health community and identify needs related to recruitment and retention.
Investigate cross-agency workforce sharing and partnerships that lead to sharing expertise and innovations in who we reach.
Explore collaborations for providing training and employment solutions.
Offer Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) or CIT-like training to first responders and frontline professionals in behavioral health and criminal justice, with the goal of differentiating newhire from refresher training and making training both time- and cost-effective for participants.
Develop and implement de-escalation training tailored to the emerging adult population.
Broaden both training offerings and access to continue helping professionals manage people in crisis.
Improve practices for adding services, managing workload, and maintaining resilience.
Explore new and/or improved practices for running effective internships within criminal justice that contribute to recruitment and retention.
Gather and analyze the relationship between staffing practices and effective management of space in McLean County Jail.
Review other communication models for expanding the workforce pipeline into behavioral health.
Barriers
In-progress
Completed
TRAINING AND CREDENTIALING
Number of trainings or certifications completed
WORKFORCE STABILITY
Turnover rates (noting limitations as a system-wide measure, due to intra-sector movement)
Number of permanent employees recruited following an internship
State-level dashboard data