2024 CDPH Data Report

CDPH has released its 2024 Data Report, highlighting significant strides in public health across Chicago. Key achievements include administering over 20,000 doses of updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines, mediating over five thousand violent incidents through street outreach, and distributing nearly 24,000 units of Narcan® to combat opioid overdoses. The report also shows efforts in sexual health, tobacco cessation, breast health, emergency preparedness, infectious disease response, food protection, air quality, mental health, and support for new families. CDPH's initiatives reflect a commitment to creating an equitable, safe, resilient, and healthy Chicago, leveraging community partnerships to address public health challenges and improve outcomes for all Chicagoans. Read the 2024 Data Report and read CDPH's Healthy Chicago 2025 Strategic Plan which outlines our continuing efforts to close the life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans.

Healing Arts Returns in 2025

Healing Arts free arts sessions at the City of Chicago's Mental Health Clinics are back for 2025! In collaboration with DCASE, the program aims to support the mental wellness of all Chicagoans through a wide range of creative classes and workshops which include movement, yoga, meditation, music, painting, writing, and storytelling, among others. Sessions are available every day of the week in different locations around the city.

In addition to offering free arts programming, Healing Arts Chicago explores career pathways for artists centered in creative therapy and trauma-informed care. Programming in 2025 will continue to offer clinic-based arts programming in the community as well as engage in community outreach efforts with individuals at risk of opioid-related harms and those with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions. As Community Health Workers, the artists actively engage in direct community outreach and cultivate new collaborations to deliver support services, strengthening trauma-informed, culturally responsive health services in the city.

Register for a session on the Healing Arts website.

March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month

Mayor Johnson recently proclaimed March as Problem Gambling Awareness Month in the City of Chicago. Mayor Johnson and CDPH encourage all residents, businesses, and community organizations to help increase awareness and support prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts for problem gambling. See the full proclamation, and visit the Illinois Department of Human Services website for more resources.

CDPH Celebrates Women's History Month

This Women's History Month we celebrate Dr. Jenny Hua, MD, PhD, Medical Director and Interim Deputy Commissioner of Behavioral Health at CDPH. Dr. Hua leads programs around behavioral health, substance use disorder, and violence prevention. Under Dr. Hua's leadership, CDPH launched three new mental health clinics over the past year, effectively reduced EMS responses from Opioid overdoses in the summer of 2024, expanded access to harm reduction supplies and resources throughout the city, and most recently, joined Shine Hope's league of Hopeful Cities to provide resources in support of mental health and suicide prevention for free to all Chicagoans. You can watch Dr. Hua on the Healthy Chicago Podcast.

Healthy Chicago Podcast

In a new episode, we dive into the work of the Metropolitan Peace Initiative, where street outreach and community engagement are at the heart of violence intervention. Steve Perkins (Director of Field Instruction) and Elvis Ortega (Street Outreach Lead at the Community Safety Coordination Center and the Mayor's Office of Community Safety), share their insights on how Metropolitan Family Services is shaping public safety and community resilience.

From conflict de-escalation to long-term empowerment, Perkins and Ortega explore the impact of street outreach, the importance of trust-building, and their personal journeys in creating safer neighborhoods.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation about community-driven solutions to violence prevention and how Metropolitan Family Services is fostering stability, education, and emotional wellness across Chicago. Learn more about Metropolitan Family Services at metrofamily.org.

Listen or watch the newest episodes on YouTube, Spotify, Apple and the CDPH website.

###