Preparing For a Meeting With an Elected Official

Follow the steps below when preparing for a meeting with an elected official

Legislative Factsheet

Use the following diagram to create a legislative factsheet

Beacon

BEACON gives you information about behavioral health services focused on your child’s needs. Learn which community-based resources are available near you and state-funded programs your child may be eligible for. Listed services include community mental health centers and other programs. To find individual mental health therapists and counselors, please contact your insurance provider or managed care organization to find providers in your insurance network.

https://beacon.illinois.gov/

Mental Health

Illinois legislation passed in 2024, calls for creating a mechanism for determining the capacity and readiness of schools to implement universal mental health screening. A 2022 survey of Illinois children ages 3-17 years old documents the strong need for assistance overall with parents and guardians indicating 21% of the children had a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral problem. View Fact Sheet SB726 and download below.

Resources

Resources for Child Advocacy in Illinois

Act Now Illinois
actnowillinois.org

BEACON (Behavioral Health Care and Ongoing Navigation) care portal
https://beacon.illinois.gov/

Catalyst Chicago
http://catalyst-chicago.org/

Child Care Association of Illinois
http://www.cca-il.org/

Children’s Advocate for Change
https://childrensadvocates.org/

Community Renewal Society
communityrenewalsociety.org

Illinois Action for Children
actforchildren.org

Illinois CASA
illinoiscasa.org

Northern Illinois Annual Conference
umcnic.org

Ounce of Prevention Fund
theounce.org

Protect Our Kids (Kids Above All)
https://www.kidsaboveall.org/landing/protect-our-kids/

National Resources for Child Advocacy

Bureau for At-Risk Youth
http://www.at-risk.com/

Child Trends
http://www.childtrends.org/

Child Welfare League of America
http://www.cwla.org/

Children’s Defense Fund
childrensdefense.org

Children’s Sabbath
childrensdefense.org/programs/faithbased/faith-based-action-programs-pages/childrens-sabbaths/National-Observance-of-Children-s-Sabbaths.html

Children’s Sunday & Children’s Sabbath from UM Discipleship Ministries
umcdiscipleship.org/resources/childrens-sunday-and-childrens-sabbath

The Future of Children
http://www.futureofchildren.org/

National Association for the Education of Young Children
https://www.naeyc.org/

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
https://www.ojjdp.gov/

Teaching for Change
http://www.teachingforchange.org/