Will County Board Members Spar Over Wheatland Township Mental Health Grant

Will County Board Executive Committee Meeting | June 11, 2026

Article Summary: A $155,000 mental health grant to Wheatland Township drew sharp questioning at the Will County Board Executive Committee on Thursday, June 11, 2026, with two board members arguing the township is overstepping into school-district matters and others defending the program.

Wheatland Township Grant Key Points:

• The Community Mental Health Board awarded Wheatland Township $155,000 for “Project Pulse,” a youth mental-health and substance-use prevention program.
• Grant documents say it would serve 45 students ages 13–21 — 15 at each of three District 202 alternative high schools.
• Members Mark Revis and Julie Berkowicz questioned whether a township should run school-based programming; Members Jacqueline Traynere and Kelly Hickey defended it.
• Director Teena Mackey said no contract had been executed and the reimbursement structure is a safeguard.

WILL COUNTY — A $155,000 mental health grant awarded to Wheatland Township became a flashpoint at the Will County Board Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, June 11, 2026, as board members debated whether a township should be funding programming inside school districts.

The grant, awarded through the Will County Community Mental Health Board’s 2026 cycle, funds a program described in grant documents as “Project Pulse,” a one-year, trauma-informed mental-health and substance-use prevention initiative. According to the application, it would serve 45 students ages 13 to 21 — 15 students at each of three Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 alternative high schools — along with their families, addressing classroom disruptions, anxiety, depression and rising marijuana use, with case management, family engagement, Naloxone education and transportation supports.

Member Mark Revis told 708 Board Executive Director Teena Mackey he was receiving “dozens of calls” about the award, saying the controversy centered on a township unit of government involving itself in District 202 schools and curriculum. “It’s Wheatland Township, not Plainfield School District,” Revis said, arguing that if such a program were funded, it should go directly to the school district. Member Julie Berkowicz raised similar concerns, questioning why a township with no prior mental-health experience would enter the field, and saying she had been unable to find a township mental-health division or related minutes on the township’s website. Berkowicz also said the schools fall outside Wheatland Township’s boundaries and that two of the new division’s members reside in Joliet rather than the township.

Other members defended the program. Member Jacqueline Traynere, a former township administrator, said she had overseen a similar university-run behavioral program for middle and high school students and “commend[ed] Wheatland Township for doing this,” suggesting any controversy was political. Member Kelly Hickey, who described herself as a parent of special-needs children, said families in crisis “wouldn’t have cared where the help was coming from.”

Mackey said the board’s role was to evaluate the grant application and the applicant’s ability to deliver it, noting the township had described a partnership with school mental-health staff. She told members no contract had yet been executed and that the reimbursement-based structure is a safeguard: if the program is not implemented properly or in partnership with the schools, the township would not be eligible for reimbursement. Revis noted a Wheatland Township public meeting was scheduled that evening, where he expected a large turnout, and Mackey said she would welcome being brought into any conversation about adjusting the program’s scope.