Is there a mental health service or resource you wish there was more of in Forest Park? Put in your two cents by taking the Forest Park Board of Health’s community survey on mental health.
The questionnaire, launched earlier this month, is one of the board’s first official efforts since it was restructured in 2023.
“You have to have a goal and a task for people to know what you’re doing,” said Karen Considine, the Board of Health’s secretary. “That’s what we’re hoping to achieve with the survey, and hopefully we can come up with some good recommendations that are realistic for the village to pursue.”
The Forest Park Board of Health was founded in 2002, but became inactive before village staff decided to resurrect it over a decade later. In 2023, the mayor appointed, and the village board confirmed, new members: Chair Mishawn Purnell-O’Neal, Leah Shapiro, Susan Buss, Karen Considine and Lindsey Baish-Flynn.
But the new group was given little to go off. Considine said there were no records or details about what the previous board had completed.
“We started off with very little official directive,” Considine said, outside of the village ordinance that says the board should “make recommendations to the village council on matters pertaining to the public health of the village, including but not limited to mental and physical health.”
Through the 15 monthly meetings since it was relaunched, the board has discussed its mission and how to spend its time.
“You can’t just do. You have to assess the need and get data, so we decided to focus on: What does the community want? What is the community need? What does the community see as the issues?” Considine said.
The board organized two focus groups last February and March to start getting answers to these questions. Though they have more planned, the new board’s foray into community engagement gave them a good amount of insight to start with.
The focus groups were made up of representatives from the Forest Park police and fire departments, library, community center, District 91 and Ascension ProCare – a Proviso Township mental health provider.
“The theme we found from all the different stakeholders is that services can be fragmented, that people don’t always know where to go or who to call, that sometimes there are barriers to services, like how to pay for it or a waiting list,” Considine said.
Considine also mentioned that the first focus groups said there’s a gap in follow-up care. Even though people can get help in emergencies – like those experiencing mental health issues and substance use – they often have similar recurring issues they need help with down the line.
Focus group participants also said there’s no one-stop shop for mental health resources.
“Pretty much every single person in the focus groups said it would be great to have one place where all of the available resources are listed with current information and details about what they provide and how to pay for it,” Considine said. They added that it would also be helpful to have one physical space to access all these resources.
Now, the Board of Health is onto engaging residents in what resources – from crisis intervention to health maintenance – they want and where they see gaps in Forest Park’s offerings.
“We have a lot of ideas based on all of our professions and years of experience. But it doesn’t mean that’s what’s happening for everyone in Forest Park,” Considine said. “You don’t know what actions to take or recommendations to make to the village council if you don’t know what the community needs.”
The Board of Health’s mental health survey will be open until the end of March. Then, the board will analyze its collected data, hopefully by the summer.
“The results of the survey are only going to be as good as the amount of data that we get,” Considine said, urging everyone to fill it out.
Take the survey here, or by scanning the QR code in the image.