Lang
The Collaborative for Community Wellness (CCW) demands that the city of Chicago fund a public mental health crisis response and care system. This is the campaign for #TreatmentNotTrauma and it includes:
Join us in advocating for mental health resources and support in our community. Together, we can make a difference and create a brighter future for Brighton Park.
For more information about Treatment Not Trauma, contact Any Huamani at ahuamani@bpncchicago.org.
BPNC works with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to advocate for immigrant rights and challenge anti-immigrant policies.
ICIRR proposes to focus our state legislative advocacy on our ongoing commitments and some other short-term priorities, but also to use the session to cultivate support for possible longer-term campaigns.
The Immigrant Service Line item provides funding for direct cash assistance to immigrants, citizenship application assistance, English classes, DACA and citizenship application fee waivers, and resource navigation for immigrants throughout Illinois. As our program partners continue to serve immigrant families harmed by the COVID pandemic as well as refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Venezuela, and other countries, ICIRR will continue to advocate that the Illinois General Assembly provide full funding of $58 million for the Immigrant Services Line Item so that immigrant serving organizations can meet the needs of their communities.
Undocumented immigrants in Illinois are able to get temporary visitor’s driver’s licenses that enable them to drive legally but might suggest that they are undocumented. We will push to enable undocumented motorists to get regular licenses and IDs that do not flag their immigration status. (Under the federal REAL ID Act, such licenses and IDs could not be used to board airplanes or for other federal identification purposes.) We will also work to limit how the Secretary of State can share driver information so that ICE cannot gain access.
Thousands of uninsured Illinoisans, including many immigrants and African Americans, are burdened by debts they incur from medical services, or refrain from seeking medical help for fear of running up debts. This debt burden continues to grow despite all of our victories to expand healthcare coverage due in part to disconnects between coverage programs and the people they are intended to serve. To address these gaps and the resulting debt, we will push to require all hospitals to screen each uninsured patient for eligibility for public health insurance programs and discounted care programs prior to beginning the bill process, and to provide information and assistance for patients to apply should they qualify.
Illinois has passed a series of laws that provide medical coverage for low-income immigrants age 42 or older and children age 18 and younger regardless of their immigration status. We will push to further expand coverage to include all other income-eligible adult immigrants, and to cover home- and community-based care services and longer-term care.
We and our allies in the Economic Security Illinois Coalition will build on our 2022 victory expanding the state Earned Income Credit to immigrant households who file tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) and other excluded families. The next phase would create a permanent state child tax credit for every low-income household, including ITIN filers.
Child care in Illinois is under-resourced and inaccessible for many working families. SEIU HCII has launched a campaign to increase child care capacity, ensure that child care workers are paid for the value of their work, and expand child care access to all families earning up to $100,000 a year.
Non-citizens should have a voice in local government matters. Their lack of representation became an issue during last year’s debates over the elected Chicago school board and the Chicago police accountability structure. Allowing non-citizens to vote in elections for school board and other local elections will provide essential representation. We will continue to develop state legislation that provides voting rights while still protecting non-citizens and guarding against mistaken votes that could lead to deportation.
For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact Esmeralda Alarcon at ealarcon@bpncchicago.org.
SoundThinking, Inc. ShotSpotter is an audio surveillance system used by the Chicago Police Department that is meant to detect the sound and location of gunshots. It is a network of audio sensors placed in secret locations throughout neighborhoods, and primarily deployed in the 12 police districts with the largest Black and Latinx populations. Its surveillance footprint covers 80% of the city’s Black residents and 63% of the city’s Latine residents. Chicago has paid approximately $10 million per year for Shotspotter over the past three years, yet research shows that this technology does not keep us and our communities safer. ShotSpotter has never been independently validated/tested for its ability to accurately distinguish among various loud noises. Without scientific testing, we don’t know how many impulsive sounds are incorrectly classified as gunfire.
How does it work?
BPNC is an active and endorsing organization for the campaign because we know policing and surveillance do not address underlying issues or root causes of gun violence (poverty, no access to stable and safe houses, no access to healthcare or jobs, etc.) Spending money on policing diverts funds away from violence prevention programs that are community orientated and actually work.
The CRO is a combination of the ordinance to erase the gang database and invest in the Peacebook. The campaign is focusing on community building and structure. We had hit a standstill on when the ordinance will be introduced.
Chief Sponsors: Ald. Matt Martin & Ald. Jeanette Taylor.