The Massey Commission is asking Springfield residents to attend its monthly meeting on Monday, Sept. 15, and participate in an open forum where community members can provide input on the commission’s recommendations before its final report is submitted. “This is not a meeting to watch from the sidelines,” Adam White, the commission’s public engagement coordinator, […]
Dilpreet Raju
Dilpreet Raju is a staff writer for Illinois Times and a Report for America corps member. He has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from American University, a master's degree from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and was previously a reporting fellow at Capitol News Illinois.
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Addressing children’s mental health
Anxiety, depression and other mood disorders in children have become more prevalent due to influence from a rapidly increasing number of technology and social media offerings in the past two decades. “I feel like we have an anxious generation,” social worker Melissa Warwick told Illinois Times in her Auburn Community School District office. Students try […]
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New law increases mental health access for college students
As part of efforts to increase mental health care across the state, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law last month requiring public colleges and universities to have a certain number of mental health professionals available to students. University of Illinois Springfield, one of the state’s smaller public universities, is in line with the new mandated […]
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Planned Parenthood to offer free walk-in STI testing
As part of a statewide initiative, Planned Parenthood’s Springfield clinic will begin offering free walk-in testing for sexually transmitted infections on the second Wednesday of the month beginning on Sept. 10. “Planned Parenthood of Illinois believes this ongoing effort is important because the most common symptom of an STI is no symptom at all, which […]
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A compassionate kind of care
For the second year in a row, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine resident physicians and medical students spent a few hours experiencing some of the nonclinical challenges associated with being a patient in poverty. Roughly 14,000 people live below the federal poverty line in Springfield, according to the most recent census data. Almost 60 […]
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AARP Illinois celebrates 90 years of Social Security
Dozens of AARP members piled into the main hall of Erin’s Pavilion on Aug. 20 to hear what local politicians had to say about problems facing retired communities inSpringfield. The event also served as a 90th anniversary celebration for the Social Security Act signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. AARP Illinois senior director […]
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Securing mental health funding
Social workers and mental health providers informed the county’s Mental Health Commission earlier this month about the possible ways they could benefit from dedicated funding and planning from a community mental health board. The vast majority of counties in Illinois have these boards, which approve funding for local social service organizations through some form of […]
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Massey Commission strives for long-term change
While Illinois law enforcement agencies will soon be required to ask for, and provide, entire employment records for any applicants seeking to become a police officer, the Massey Commission is seeking to continue its work in order to actualize its upcoming recommendations. The law was a response to the killing of Sonya Massey, who called […]
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Lead lines in legal limbo
Springfield, like so many other metropolitan areas, has thousands of service lines connected to the city’s water mains that are made of lead. While those lines have a protective coating lining the interior of the pipes and are chemically tested twice a year, environmental organizations and the Environmental Protection Agency argued all lead pipes need […]
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Massey Commission nears end, prepares recommendations
The Massey Commission’s law enforcement work group met Aug. 4 and tried to finalize recommendations to offer up to the full commission, largely focusing on how to strengthen the SAFE-T Act’s transparency provisions. Work groups are submitting their final recommendations to the full commission by Oct. 1, with a full report from the commission to follow. Earlier […]
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Governor signs health laws
Governor JB Pritzker signed more than 100 bills into law last week, with a handful centered on mandating specific health insurance policies, along with enhancing patient safety and disease prevention. From barring anesthesia time limits to a new infectious disease commission, here are some of the latest changes to Illinois state law. Insurance coverage Late […]
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Two health insurers leave Illinois market
Only two health insurance companies are slated to offer marketplace health plans in central Illinois next year, halving the amount of insurance issuers the region currently has as Aetna and Health Alliance announced they will be exiting the insurance marketplace in 2026. However, Aetna will still offer Medicare plans next year. In addition, health policy […]
