Chicago’s 2027 Plan Adds Stable Funding for Mental Health Teams

Chicago’s 2027 budget puts local money behind two mental health priorities. Mayor Brandon Johnson expects to present the proposal Wednesday. It includes $5 million to turn CARE into a permanent city program. CARE sends mental health teams to selected 911 calls and other requests identified by dispatchers. The mayor also wants city funding to reopen a community clinic, though its location, cost, and opening details remain unsettled.

The clinic proposal addresses a long-running gap in local care. Chicago shut down 14 community mental health clinics between 1989 and 2012. Only five remained by 2016, according to a 2025 audit of the city’s mental health equity initiative. Johnson describes the reopening as part of his effort to reverse those earlier closures. His administration has already restored city-run clinics in Pilsen and Roseland. About $12.2 million went toward mental health clinics in the 2025 budget.

Finding dependable revenue is the harder challenge. Johnson wants to rely partly on the city’s social media tax, which collects 50 cents per Chicago user after the first 100,000 users. Revenue has exceeded expectations, and the city expects to collect $49.2 million by year’s end. However, those funds remain in escrow while the tax faces a court challenge. Johnson believes the city has a strong legal position and notes that the state later adopted a similar tax. That matters because permanent care needs a revenue source that can outlast a single budget cycle.

Local funding could replace expiring federal support. The 2025 audit found that recent mental health programming relied heavily on American Rescue Plan money. About $5.2 million from that federal source was assigned to CARE, but the grant ends this year. Those funds helped staff citywide operations, while CARE’s service window now stretches from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Johnson says wider access has brought more requests and greater confidence in the service. The practical test is whether permanent city backing can maintain that access once the federal money disappears.