10/16/2026
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OUR COMMUNITIES DESERVE TRANSPARENCY. HELP SPSA KEEP 988.
Imagine being told a decision has been made that affects your future, but not being told why, and then being told you cannot appeal it.
That is where Su***de Prevention Services of America (SPSA) finds itself today.
For more than 20 years, SPSA has served Kane and other counties as a crisis call center, including for the National Su***de Prevention Lifeline and now 988. Our staff and volunteers live and work in these communities. We have built lasting relationships and provided crisis support to people who need it most.
Now, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) has denied funding for SPSA’s 988 call center. Unless state funding is reinstated, callers in our service area will no longer reach SPSA through 988. Calls will still be answered by another center, but our communities risk losing access to a local provider with longstanding ties to the people we serve.
Additionally, SPSA has offered to explore keeping the center operating with outside donations, grants, and fundraising. We want to continue serving our counties locally. We have sought clarification from IDHS about whether this would be possible, but we have not received clear answers.
We have repeatedly contacted IDHS by phone and email seeking an explanation for the funding denial. We still have not received one. Although we have the grant evaluation rubric, we have not been provided our application scores or meaningful feedback about how our application was evaluated.
We believe SPSA should have an opportunity to appeal this decision. However, we were told that we could not.
How can an organization understand a funding decision, learn from its evaluation, or challenge the outcome when it has not received an explanation or its scores, and has been told it cannot appeal?
We are not claiming to know why this decision was made. We are asking for transparency, accountability, and a fair process for organizations applying for public funding.
We recognize and deeply respect the important work of every 988 center. This is not about comparing providers. It is about understanding how public funding decisions are made and ensuring that organizations affected by those decisions receive clear explanations and meaningful, timely, feedback.
HELP US MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD
Now we are asking our community to help us seek transparency and accountability.
Please contact your Illinois state representative and state senator and ask them to:
-Urge IDHS to provide SPSA with its application scores and evaluation feedback, and to issue a written explanation of the funding denial.
-Urge IDHS to explain why SPSA was told it could not appeal this decision, and to support a review of it.
-Urge IDHS to reconsider its decision and reinstate SPSA’s state funding so we can continue serving our communities through 988.
-Urge IDHS to clarify whether SPSA can continue serving our communities through an alternative funding arrangement if state funding is not reinstated.
Please share this post and contact your elected representatives. You can find your representatives here:
https://www.elections.il.gov/ElectionOperations/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
#988 ***deprevention
