State cuts may force two agencies to merge
CHAMPAIGN – Two agencies that treat patients with mental illness and substance abuse in Champaign County are considering a merger.
Prairie Center Health Systems, a nonprofit agency targeted for major funding cuts in Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed state budget, is in talks with Community Elements mental health center about a possible consolidation, officials said Friday. A decision is expected by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
Prairie Center operates substance-abuse prevention and treatment programs in Champaign and Vermilion counties. Community Elements, formerly known as the Mental Health Center of Champaign County, has provided mental health services for more than 50 years.
Sheila Ferguson, executive director of Community Elements, said the two agencies have been exploring a possible affiliation since November. The goal is to preserve services in the community as state funding grows ever-more scarce, she said.
"It makes sense for us to work together," she said Friday.
Many of their clients have both mental health and substance abuse issues, she said, and the two agencies have worked together on grants and specialized court programs to treat patients with drug problems or mental illness, she said.
"There's a lot of research and a lot of work being done to treat co-occurring illnesses jointly," she said.
Community Elements is the larger of the two agencies, with a $9.4 million annual budget. Prairie Center has a $4.8 million budget.
Morethey are both crooks anyway. I know someone who gets about 500 a month from ssi, and the mental health center gives him about 200 of it. where is the rest?
then prairie center, i was sent there a few years ago, they said that even though i do not drink, i need alcohol treatment, for about 175 a month, because my dead father used to drink. how, because my dad drank, do they figure i need treatment? because they want the money!
government supported crooks!
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