A new report by COFI and its statewide parent-led membership organization, POWER-PAC IL (Parents Organized to Win, Educate and Renew), launches a parent-led campaign to tackle five solutions that COFI parents identified and prioritized through their grassroots efforts:
- Peer support and parent-to-parent programs that fill gaps in underserved communities
- Sensible reforms of Medicaid, which many families don’t qualify for due to their immigration status, could make mental healthcare more affordable
- Expanding community sports and arts programming to keep kids and parents healthy
- Supporting and investing in community mental health services, especially on the West and South Sides of Chicago and East St. Louis
- Making sure everyone involved in education, government and healthcare systems has a healing-centered framework, not just formally trained professionals