Illinois Opioid Remediation Advisory Board (IORAB)
Workforce Development & Infrastructure Working Group Meeting
April 7, 2025
Virtual Meeting Held Via Zoom
MEETING MINUTES
Workforce Development & Infrastructure Working Group Members
Blanca Campos, Community Behavioral Healthcare Association (Chair)
Chelsea Laliberte Barnes, Wolf Pack; Live4Lali
Angie Hampton, Egyptian Health Department Kristin Hamblock, Rosecrance
Dr. Trenton Fedrick, Resource eMpowrment Technical Assistance Center for Behavioral Health
Teressa Perdieu, CEAD Council (DBA Hour House)
Mila Tsagalis, DuPage County Health Department
Lora Passetti, Chestnut Health Systems
Chris Schaffner, JOLT Harm Reduction
Angel Cruz, Peoria County Sheriff's Office
Jen Nagel-Fischer, The Porchlight Collective, SAP
Welcome and Roll Call
Blanca Campos welcomed the group. Sue Pickett, PhD of Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. (AHP), facilitator, took roll call. All members were present except for Angel Cruz, Trenton Fedrick, Angie Hampton, and Chris Shaffner. Quorum was established.
Review and Approval of Working Group Meeting Minutes from January 13, 2025
Ms. Campos called for a motion to approve the January 13th meeting minutes. Mila Tsagalis made a motion to approve the minutes. Teressa Perdieu seconded the motion. All members present voted in favor of approving the minutes. The motion passed.
Working Group Appointments
Barbara Hobrock, the Director of External Engagement at IDHS, said all Working Group members should have received an email that included a nomination form. Working Group members should complete nomination forms as soon as possible and return them to Ms. Hobrock. After submission to Ms. Hobrock, nomination forms will move forward to the next step in the Working Group appointment process.
Priority Recommendations for IORAB
Ms. Campos stated that the Working Group had drafted a recommendation to use remediation funds to help smaller organizations apply for and manage grant funding.
- Ms. Campos asked if the services included in this recommendation overlapped with services provided by the Opioid Training and Technical Assistance Center (OTTAC).
- Ms. Verella Olguin, State Opioid Settlement Administrator (SOSA) at Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Substance Use Prevention & Recovery (IDHS/SUPR), said that overlap between the draft recommendation and OTTAC will depend on how the draft recommendation defines administrative support and which groups it aims to serve.
- Dr. Randi Moberly and Ms. Tina Willson of the Regional Care Coordination Agency (RCCA) shared the sub-award announcement for OTTAC. Ms. Willson stated that OTTAC will provide statewide training and technical assistance related to opioid remediation. This assistance will include behavioral health workforce development opportunities such as clinical supervision, fellowships, and other paid training. OTTAC will help organizations apply for grant funding. Dr. Moberly advised the Working Group to compare their recommendation with the OTTAC scope of services to find overlap.
- A Working Group member said that the drafted recommendation aims to help smaller organizations, like harm reduction agencies, who may have difficulty applying for and managing funds awarded through the RCCA. They noted that it may be difficult to determine which organizations would qualify for this support.
- A Working Group member stated that due to recent cuts to Medicaid and block grants, priorities for the use of remediation funds may have shifted. The Working Group may want to table the draft recommendation and create a recommendation to use remediation funds to support services impacted by funding cuts. Ms. Campos agreed with the concern that essential services will not be funded and the idea of using remediation funds to address this gap. She stated that $28 million has been cut from the behavioral health budget for the fiscal year 2025.
- Ms. Campos discussed the need for recommendations to align with the Allocation Agreement. She asked if using remediation funds to support services falls within the parameters set by the Allocation Agreement.
- A Working Group member mentioned creating a recommendation to use remediation funds to support retention in the behavioral health workforce. She noted that many people within the behavioral health workforce are concerned about the loss of funding.
- Dr. Pickett reviewed the two recommendations in Section K of the Allocation Agreement. These recommendations are to support training for staff to abate the opioid crisis and to support infrastructure and staffing for collaborative cross-system coordination to abate the opioid crisis.
- A Working Group member asked how many recommendations related to workforce development have been presented to the IORAB. Ms. Olguin stated that this Working Group had created a recommendation to support paid training experiences/field training, scholarships, and the expansion of dedicated supervision including but not limited to entry-level and early career clinicians, peer support specialists, harm reduction providers and individuals working toward licensure or certification. This recommendation was approved by the IORAB in April 2024 and incorporated into OTTAC. Ms. Olguin stated that, in addition, all notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs) include funding for training and supervision.
- Ms. Campos asked the Working Group for recommendations to support behavioral health workforce retention. She discussed that the Working Group should first focus on the content of the recommendation and then consider the amount of funding needed.
- A Working Group member asked if there were limits to the use of remediation funds that could guide the conversation about this recommendation. Dr. Pickett stated that remediation funds could not be used to pay salaries or wages. The Working Group discussed recommending that funds be used to support behavioral health workforce retention in the following ways: costs for training or wellness days, supervision costs, licensure and certification costs, continuing education costs, transportation costs, and costs for computers and information technology (IT) support. The Working Group discussed the importance of ensuring the new recommendation does not duplicate services provided through OTTAC or the training resources included in NOFOs.
- A Working Group member recommended including tuition reimbursement to the recommendation. The Working Group discussed including funds to cover work-related expenses such as transportation and childcare.
- Ms. Olguin recommended that the Working Group review what supports the OTTAC will provide to the behavioral health workforce, identify any needed supports that OTTAC does not provide, and then compile these supports to create a new recommendation.
- Dr. Moberly stated that the contract for OTTAC was awarded to Prevention First. She outlined the scope of services in the NOFO for OTTAC. These services include providing training and technical assistance to provider organizations and conducting professional workforce development opportunities. OTTAC will establish partnerships with provider organizations and facilitate and monitor clinical supervision for peer recovery specialists, counselors, and social workers seeking licensure or certification.
- A Working Group member asked how OTTAC differs from the contractual agreement Prevention First has with SUPR. Ms. Olguin said she will research this question and bring information back to the group.
- Ms. Olguin said that she will compile a description of the behavioral health workforce supports included across IORAB recommendations and share this information with the Working Group to help them create a recommendation to fill gaps.
- Ms. Campos stated that she will research how other states are adapting workforce development and infrastructure to meet needs related to funding cuts.
- A Working Group member stated that there is a need for a better collective understanding of the mechanisms, guidelines, and guardrails in place for these funds, as well as an urgent need for greater transparency within NOFO writing and monitoring. Ms. Campos agreed with this statement.
Public Participation
No members of the public made any comment.
Adjourn
Ms. Campos thanked the participants. Mila Tsagalis made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Blanca Campos seconded. The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting of the Workforce Development & Infrastructure Working Group will be on June 30, 2025, from 11 AM - 12 PM.
