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Mental Health Justice and Equity Campaign

Ensuring children and families of color have good mental, physical, and social supports

4 Black women and three Latina women pose for a group picture with "Shining a Light" booklets

The goal of the Mental Health Justice and Equity Campaign is to eliminate health disparities for children and families of color in Illinois.

As parents worked to eliminate punitive school discipline practices in Chicago public elementary students through the Elementary Justice Campaign, they began to see that children denied recess or other breaks for physical activity during the day were more likely to act out in class, detracting from their learning. Upon more research, they discovered that, in 2005, 82% of Chicago elementary schools didn’t have recess at all. Furthermore, the schools without recess were primarily located in challenged communities where mostly families of color lived and where childhood obesity was also an issue.

Parents prioritized bringing recess to elementary schools and launched their campaign as Recess for All! After years of organizing and advocacy, they won the return of recess for all 266,000 Chicago public elementary students in 2012! Later, parents expanded the victory to the whole state of Illinois in 2021!

Parent leaders have gone on to work on a range of other health-related concerns, including food quality issues in schools, and food insecurity, environmental issues in the schools and the effects of trauma on children and families’ mental health. Recess for All! evolved into the Health, Food and Recess Campaign, and most recently changed to the Mental Health Justice and Equity Campaign to reflect parents growing interest in changing and improving the mental health system. (See Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign for our work around addressing food insecurity and food deserts.)

POWER-PAC IL is The COFI Way in action.

2024: POWER-PAC IL leaders release “Shining a Light: How Parent-Led Solutions Can Heal Our Communities and Address Trauma,” a report and parent-led campaign to change and improve the mental health system. Parents launch “Community Healer” demonstrations in Chicago and Aurora/Kane County to show policymakers that free, peer-based, parent-to-parent mental health programming and similar programs can support parent and family well-being.

2023: Senate Bill 646 is signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker, establishing the Healing Centered Task Force to be led by Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton. Lt. Governor Stratton later appointed POWER-PAC IL Leaders Mamie Cosey from East St. Louis and Rosalia Salgado from Chicago to the task force.

2022: Parents engage in participatory research on maternal and children’s mental health and trauma, holding over 1,000 conversations with families about their mental health challenges, how they are dealing with them, and what changes they recommend.

2021: Parents celebrate the signing of legislation that mandates 30 minutes of recess for all Illinois elementary school children and prohibits withholding of recess as punishment.

2015: Thanks to parents’ advocacy, legislation is signed that expands SNAP benefits (food stamps) to 40,000 Illinois families.

2013: Parents combine forces with Greater Chicago Food Depository and Illinois No Kid Hungry Campaign to end food insecurity for low-income families, going door-to-door to inform communities of free summer meal sites.

2012: Chicago Public Schools reinstates recess for all 266,000+ elementary school students!

2011: A POWER-PAC parent is appointed by the governor to the newly created Statewide Recess Task Force, which recommends reinstating recess throughout Illinois.

2005-2007: POWER-PAC kick off the Recess for All! campaign with a street theater press conference in 2005. By 2007, parents identify legislative allies and introduce a bill to mandate recess statewide. POWER-PAC bring 100 parents and children to Springfield to lobby their legislators and testify in legislative hearings.

A Latina woman holds a sign that reads Healthcare for all

Recommendations

  • “Shining a Light” recommendations:
    • Peer support and parent-to-parent must be part of the mental health infrastructure.
    • Sensible reforms of Medicaid to make mental healthcare more accessible and 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
  • Reinstate recess and breaks, including more physical education in school days.
  • Build allies in the children’s health community, especially among those working to address childhood obesity.
  • Actively ensure implementation of recess.
  • Engage in other health justice issues including access to healthy foods, improved school environments, ending food insecurity, universal breakfast, and community walkability.
  • Action Plan to Address Childhood Adversity in Illinois (POWER-PAC IL informed recommendations as part of the Illinois Adverse Children Experiences (ACES) Collaborative

 

Publications and recent news

    Our communities need services and resources, but most of all, we need policymakers to develop a healing-centered approach, listen to our stories, and team up with parents to implement these [Shining a Light] recommendations.”

    Photo of Katrina Falkner

    Katrina Falkner

    POWER-PAC IL Mental Health Justice and Equity Co-Chair

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