KANKAKEE – On Thursday, House Assistant Minority Leader Jackie Haas (R-Kankakee) sent a letter to Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) Secretary Mario Treto urging IDFPR to address issues with application delays and communication with applicants for behavioral health licenses.
“We are in the midst of a mental health and substance use crisis that are heightened with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the rise of fentanyl in our communities,” said Leader Haas. “This is a time when we need to increase capable staff in the field of behavioral health and substance use recovery. However, IDFPR is creating unnecessary and unacceptable delays that have real consequences. Qualified people are losing employment opportunities, and people in need of care aren’t getting the help they need. I urge IDFPR to address these critical communication and logistical problems immediately. Our constituents are counting on us.”
Leader Haas referenced cases that providers brought to her office of applicants facing challenges with their applications. This included lengthy delays, a lack of response and communication, loss of an application, and one applicant being told to stop calling when reaching out to check in on her application that appeared to be lost. The letter inquired to the core issues at IDFPR that caused these delays and specifically asked why applications are getting lost, why the process takes long to respond to applicants, and why there is a lack of communication between the department and applicants regarding these problems.
Leader Haas is the Republican Spokesperson for the Healthcare Availability & Access and Mental Health & Addiction Committees and has served her community as a social worker for over thirty years.
The full letter to Secretary Treto can be read below:
