VOLUME III, ISSUE XI SUPR May Newsletter

May 2022 Newsletter
IDHS/SUPR Trainings:

Statewide Gambling Needs Assessment Report Presentation:

Please join IDHS/SUPR and Human Resources in Action (HRiA) for this special presentation of the 1st Illinois Gambling Needs Assessment Report.

This meeting will be held via WebEx on Thursday, May 12, 2022, from 2:00-3:30pm. To join the meeting, please use the link below.

If you have questions pertaining to this meeting, please contact SUPRs Gambling Administrator, Jim Wilkerson at Jim.Wilkerson@illinois.gov.

Join here: Statewide Gambling Needs Assessment Report Presentation.

May 2022 Gambling Disorder Services Webinar Series:

Please register for any of the upcoming webinars below by clicking on the title of your preferred training. Details for logging in and participating in the webinar will be sent after you register.

May 4th, 10:00am: Disordered Gambling & Finances with Jody Bechtold

May 4th, 3:00pm: Disordered Gambling & Finances with Jody Bechtold 2

May 5th: Numbers Running or Hope Running?! Gambling in the African-Descent Community

May 26th: Disordered Gambling & Finances with Jody Bechtold 3

Reminder- FY22 Final Payment & Data Submission:

The Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (IDHS/SUPR) is issuing this gentle reminder that final FY2022 submissions for billing all non-Medicaid SUPR funded services are due by 5:00pm on August 1, 2022.

For additional information, please see the Smart Alert that was sent in January.

Questions concerning this requirement can be directed to the SUPR Help Desk at: DOIT.SUPRHELP@ILLINOIS.GOV.

Contractual Requirements:

IDHS/SUPR is issuing this gentle reminder that it is extremely important that all providers adhere to the contractual requirement in Section 4.8 of the Uniform Grant Agreement:

Timely Billing Required. Grantee must submit any payment request to Grantor within fifteen (15) days of the end of the month based on the previous month's expenditures using the approved form. Failure to submit such payment request timely will render the amounts billed an unallowable cost with Grantor cannot reimburse.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Grant Manager for assistance.

National Prevention Week & SAMHSA's Prevention Day 2022:

May 8-14, 2022, is National Prevention Week (NPW). Each year the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) identifies daily themes throughout prevention week that focus on substance use and mental health related topics.

As part of the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Substance Use Prevention & Recovery's (IDHS/SUPR) Substance Use Prevention Program, substance use organizations across the state find creative ways to raise community awareness regarding underage alcohol use, alcohol misuse, underage marijuana use, and prescription pain medications/opioid use while reinforcing the daily NPW themes.

All funded substance use prevention and other prevention organizations will partner with local coalitions, school districts, their youth advisory committees, law enforcement, and other community partners to assure their efforts are successful. Some of the events already planned for this year's NPW include youth game nights, pep rallies, fitness expos, radio Public Service Announcements, youth involvement in drug free chalk murals and messaging, opioid awareness, Facebook Live professional panel, "Be Your Best" pledges to be alcohol and drug free and so many more.

Illinois is proud to be part of National Prevention Week and to be part of a national focus that supports a unified message about substance use prevention and mental health promotion.

Alcohol Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic:

Every time we read an article highlighting the associated risks of alcohol use, misuse, and alcohol use disorder (AUD), it reminds us that alcohol morbidity and mortality is still a significant health and social issue.

Several articles have pointed to an increase in alcohol consumption overall and the increasing harms associated with that consumption during the pandemic. A study by White, Castle, Powell, et. Al. published in JAMA summarized "increases in drinking to cope with stress, transplants for alcohol-associated liver disease, and emergency department visits for alcohol withdrawal."

They found that "alcohol-related deaths increased approximately 25% between 2019 and 2020 during the first year of the pandemic while the number of opioid overdose deaths increased 38% in 2020, with a 55% increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and similar increases in the number of deaths in which alcohol contributed to overdoses of opioids (40.8%) and, specifically, synthetic opioids (59.2%)."

The study abstract can be found at Alcohol-Related Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

IDHS/SUPR encourages all SUD-AUD treatment providers to consider the information in this study when assessing and providing treatment to your patients/clients.

Increase in Xylazine-related Overdose Deaths in Illinois:

A veterinary non-opioid tranquilizer named Xylazine is increasingly involved in drug overdose deaths in Illinois.

Per the Illinois Poison Control Center, "The drug has a similar mechanism of action of other prescription medications such as Clonidine (used to treat hypertension), Guanfacine (used to treat ADHD) and Tizanidine (used as a muscle relaxant to treat pain). Overdose will cause coma, slow heart rate and at first hypertension followed by hypotension. It does NOT respond to naloxone. There is no bedside, real-time clinical test to see if this is an agent on board at the time of emergency/hospital stabilizations and care."

If a patient who uses drugs (particularly heroin/fentanyl) and presents with symptoms such as fatigue, sedation, sudden incontinence, extended immobility, slow heart rate and low blood pressure, a provider should be concerned that the patient has been exposed to xylazine.

Law enforcement reports drug adulteration with xylazine is often called "tranq" and sold mixed with cocaine or fentanyl. Xylazine is often used to "bulk" up quantities of these drugs and can be ingested by smoking, snorting, injecting, or swallowing.

ACTIONS:

Knowing that xylazine-involved overdoses and deaths are increasing in Illinois:

Healthcare providers should:

Consider xylazine in human poly drug use, especially when standard doses of naloxone are ineffective.
Be aware of evolving treatment recommendations.
Educate patients who use illicit drugs about the risks of xylazine exposure in fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and 'tranq' use.
Harm Reduction programs should:
Prepare for potentially larger naloxone distribution and use needs.
Deliver appropriate wound care as applicable as soft tissue infections at injection sites and loss of digits (fingers and toes) have been reported.
Educate patients who use illicit drugs about the risks of xylazine exposure in fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and 'tranq' use

References:

IDPH Office of Health Promotion, Division of Emerging Health Issues Overdose Spike Response Working Group

Kariisa M PP, Smith H, Bitting J. . Notes from the Field: Xylazine Detection and Involvement in Drug Overdose Deaths - United States, 2019 MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021(70):1300-1302

McAward A. Xylaine, an Emerging Adulterant. Tactical Emergency Medicine Newsroom. 2021

Mason, Maryann - Fact sheet: Xylazine involvement in fatal drug overdoses data from the Illinois Statewide Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS)

COVID-19 Exceptions:

A gentle reminder that COVID-19 exceptions are still in effect and have no expiration date currently. Services delivered through Telehealth are still acceptable.

Please review the Provider Notice from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) dated March 20, 2020,"Telehealth Services Expansion Prompted by COVID-19"

IDHS/SUPR has also sent several communications regarding the COVID-19 Exception that you can review.

Recovery Residences Registry

The IDHS/SUPR Recovery Residence Registry has been moved to the Illinois Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances to streamline searches, rather than looking in a separate place for recovery residence information. Information in the registry helps IDHS/SUPR better understand recovery residences' capacity and support for Medication Assisted Recovery. If you partner with a residence that is not listed, please invite them to register and/or contact Kimberly.Sriner@illinois.gov to list the organization. Search the Recovery Residences Registry at any time.

Overdose Response Funding Updates:

SUPR publishes a monthly report summarizing funded projects in response to the overdose crisis. We invite you to review the Overdose Response Funding Report at your convenience.