Jeanne Ives | Provided
Jeanne Ives | Provided
Jeanne Ives, a former Illinois State Representative and founder of Breakthrough Ideas, criticized Governor JB Pritzker's administration for its approach to family matters. She referred to the recent mental health screenings bill as "scary" and accused school administrators of wanting to assume parental roles.
"No other administration has intruded more into family matters than Pritzker's administration," said Jeanne M Ives. "They think they can parent your child better than you can, and this latest move for universal mental health screenings may be the scariest. Not only will it lead to over diagnosis, but the questions themselves can be suggestive to minors, leading them to believe they have a mental health issue when they do not. This is a dangerous and expensive policy. Parents should storm their school board and demand they refuse to follow the law and work to repeal it."
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1560 on July 31, which aims to provide free mental health screening tools to public schools and expand parent resources through the BEACON portal. The signing event was hosted by Evanston School District 65, an early adopter of social-emotional learning screeners. The new law mandates annual screenings for students in grades 3–12 starting in 2027 and directs the Illinois State Board of Education to provide schools with model policies, guidance, and no-cost screening technology by September 2026. "Thanks to the bill sponsors and partners joining me today, annual mental health screenings will be available for all Illinois students in grades three through twelve by the 2027 school year," Pritzker said.
Carolyn Gorman, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, expressed concerns about Illinois' new universal school mental-health screening law. She cited research indicating over "50 percent false positives" on assessments and potential harm to students. According to Gorman's article in City Journal, decades of research show that universal mental-health assessments—even when conducted by trained physicians—do not prevent mental-health issues or improve access to care. Experts caution that these assessments often lack a solid evidence base, particularly in non-clinical settings like schools.
State Representative Neimberg voiced his opposition in comments made to the Prairie State Wire: "This legislation is so much more than just a government overreach. It is a deliberate effort to undermine parental rights." He added concerns about children being misdiagnosed and potentially prescribed unnecessary medication: "There are legitimate fears that many kids will be forced to take dangerous drugs they do not need."
Research from the Tinbergen Institute indicates that many common youth mental-health interventions have limited long-term benefits and that symptoms such as depression and anxiety often resolve without formal treatment.
Breakthrough Ideas, founded by Ives, is described on its official website as a conservative advocacy organization aiming to build grassroots support for free-market reforms, limited government, and taxpayer accountability in Illinois.