Political Quotes

“earlier this month, I had the pleasure of meeting with leaders from Joliet, IL--including Mayor Terry D'Arcy, city manager Beth Beatty, fire chief Jeff Carey, deputy chief of health services Aaron Kozlowski, emergency management coordinator Dr. John Lukancic, and Sister Mary Francis Seely. I take dozens of meetings every week in my office here in Washington, but I was struck by the remarkable work underway in Joliet. Joliet is the third-largest city in Illinois, and like all communities, it faces its share of challenges. But over the past few years, Joliet has launched an incredible program to address mental health and addiction among its residents. Starting in 2020, Joliet noticed that mental and behavioral health calls accounted for a growing percentage of the 9-1-1 calls. The fire department was spending less time putting out fires--and more time responding to people in mental health crisis. Some residents were dialing 9-1-1 regularly--several times a week--because they were facing underlying mental health needs. This cost the city money. It strained resources. But most of all, it meant residents of Joliet were suffering. So they decided to do something about it. Joliet began by training 200 firefighters and paramedics in ``crisis first aid,'' to be able to respond appropriately to callers in mental health distress. You see, after experiencing trauma--like witnessing a shooting or seeing their home destroyed by a fire--people can suffer.…”