Illinois Opioid Remediation Advisory Board
Access & Equity Working Group Meeting
September 10, 2024
Virtual Meeting Held Via Zoom
Meeting Minutes
Access & Equity Working Group Members
Joel K. Johnson, TASC, Inc. (Chair)
David Gomel, PhD, Rosecrance
Mike Tyson, Take Action Today
Shane Pettigrew, Illinois State Police
Jonnell Benson-Cobbs, DPN, Serenity Treatment and Counseling Center
Tim Devitt, PsyD, Private Practice
Gail Richardson, West Side Opioid Task Force
Debbie Holsapple, Jefferson County Comprehensive Services
Charles Stratton, Department of Human Resources, Sangamon County
James L. Grafton, Administrator, Rock Island County
Diana Bottari, MD, Advocate Aurora Health
Blanca Campos, Community Behavioral Healthcare Association
John Werning, Chicago Recovery Alliance
Christopher Hoff, DuPage County Health Department
Michael Wahl, MD, Illinois Poison Center, Illinois Health and Hospital Association
Welcome and Roll Call
Joel Johnson welcomed the group and called the meeting to order. Sue Pickett, PhD of Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. (AHP), facilitator, took roll call. David Gomel, Shane Pettigrew, and Charles Stratton were absent. All the other members were present. Quorum was established.
Review and Approval of Working Group Meeting Minutes from July 9, 2024
Mr. Johnson asked for a motion to approve the July 9 working group meeting minutes. Michael Wahl made a motion. Mike Tyson seconded the motion. All members voted in favor. The motion carried.
2025 Meeting Schedule
- Mr. Jim Wilkerson, interim Statewide Opioid Settlement Administrator (SOSA) at Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR), shared that in-person meeting spaces in Springfield and Chicago will be available for all IORAB meetings and working group meetings. Meetings will continue to be held virtually and no one is required to attend meetings in person. More information about meeting locations will be included on future meeting agendas and on the SUPR website.
- Mr. Wilkerson reviewed training requirements for working group members. More information about training requirements will be sent to members via email. All IORAB and IORAB working group members are required to complete trainings.
- Mr. Wilkerson reviewed the proposed 2025 dates for meetings for the Access & Equity Working Group. Meetings will move from bi-monthly to quarterly. The 2025 meetings will be held in January, April, June, and October 2-3 weeks prior to the IORAB meetings to allow the group time to develop recommendations. Working group members agreed to this new schedule (January 14, April 8, July 1 and October 7).
Priority Recommendations for the IORAB
Dr. Pickett and Mr. Wilkerson reviewed the four recommendations that will be discussed at the October IORAB meeting.
Tribal Recommendation
Mr. Wilkerson explained that this recommendation was developed by SUPR to fund treatment and recovery services for tribal communities. SUPR hopes to support these communities by developing services with input and leadership from community members. This recommendation is for $3 million over 3 years or $1 million per year. He noted that tribes and provider organizations can apply.
- A member stated the recommendation reads as though it is to fund a place or a facility and asked for clarification if it could go to multiple recipients. Mr. Wilkerson responded that the number of organizations to be funded was flexible to allow the tribe to determine how to use funds. The member suggested that the language in the recommendation be clarified to indicate that the recommendation could fund multiple organizations.
- A member asked why only the SOAP priority of treatment and recovery was selected on the recommendation form. Mr. Wilkerson explained that only the primary priority is selected, but funding can be used for other types of services such as prevention.
- Mr. Johnson asked for a motion to support the recommendation. Christopher Hoff made a motion. Michael Wahl seconded the motion. All members voted to approve to support the recommendation. The motion carried.
Youth & Family Recommendation
Dr. Pickett reviewed the Youth & Family recommendation which was developed by the Medical & Research Working Group. Mr. Wilkerson noted that the Workforce Development & Infrastructure Working Group suggested adding language about harm reduction. This recommended change will be reviewed by the Medical & Research Working Group. This recommendation is for $3 million over 3 years or $1 million per year.
- A member asked if all proposed recommendations must be reviewed by all working groups prior to being voted on by the IORAB. Mr. Wilkerson stated that any working group could move a proposal to the IORAB without review; however, to promote transparency recommendations that are ready to be presented to the IORAB are shared with working groups. All recent recommendations have been reviewed by all working groups prior to going to the IORAB.
- A member asked if having separate funding streams for services for different age groups made it more difficult for agencies that served all ages to get funding. Mr. Johnson responded that having large awards might limit the opportunity for smaller organizations to obtain grant funding.
- A member asked if there was a way to ensure that a treatment license would not be a condition of funding, as this would limit eligibility for harm reduction agencies. Mr. Wilkerson responded that the organization applying would only need to have the licensure required to provide the services they described in the proposal.
- A member stated that recommendations should allow smaller community-based organizations to be competitive applicants for funding. Mr. Johnson will take this feedback to the IORAB and reminded the group that representatives from these organizations are welcome to attend IORAB and working group meetings as public participants.
- A member said that it would be helpful for the group to receive an update about the organizations that applied for funding after the first round of the process is completed.
- Mr. Johnson asked for a motion to support this recommendation. Christopher Hoff made a motion to support the recommendation. The motion was not seconded. The motion failed to pass. Dr. Pickett noted that the recommendation will move forward to the IORAB regardless of the group's vote to support (or not to support) it.
Local Health Department Infrastructure Recommendation
Mr. Wilkerson explained that this recommendation is for funding for local health departments to employ epidemiologists or similar staff to do data collection and research at a local level. This research will provide an understanding of the impact of opioid services to allow rapid response and quality improvement. He noted that money will not go to IDPH, they will be the pass-through agent for the local health departments. The request is for $6 million per year for 3 years for a total of $18 million. SUPR plans to discuss the amount of this request with IDPH.
- Mr. Johnson asked if IDPH would take administrative fees. Mr. Wilkerson said that they will not, all money will go to the local health departments.
- Members stated that the funding amount seemed excessive for the work and expressed concern that there was not enough capacity for this amount of money to be used.
- A member said that money that goes to local health departments is not always used as intended. They stated that harm reduction or treatment services should be funded.
- A member noted that precautions to guard confidentiality are important when working with data about drug use and can be harmful to people who use drugs and/or their communities if law enforcement has access to it.
Mr. Johnson noted that they needed to move to the public comment portion of the meeting. Dr. Pickett noted that members could review the recommendations that they had not had time to discuss and email feedback to her or Mr. Wilkerson. Dr. Pickett noted that the Contingency Management recommendation had already been approved by the IORAB and that the vote at the October IORAB meeting is to determine the amount of funding.
Public Participation
A member of the public said that $6 million for epidemiologists seemed like more funding than was needed for this work. He described the importance of ensuring that people doing harm reduction work in communities have access to this funding. Another member of the public suggested that the Youth & Family Recommendation include the term "drug education" to align with Louie's Law.
Adjourn
Mr. Johnson thanked the participants and asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Michael Wahl made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Diana Bottari seconded the motion. Mr. Johnson adjourned the meeting. The next meeting of the IORAB Access & Equity Working Group will be on November 12, 2024 from 11 AM - 12 PM.
