Illinois Opioid Remediation Advisory Board (IORAB)
Access & Equity Working Group Meeting
July 1, 2025
Virtual Meeting Held Via Zoom
MEETING MINUTES
Access & Equity Working Group Members
Joel K. Johnson, TASC, Inc. (Chair)
Jonnell Benson-Cobbs, DPN, Serenity Treatment and Counseling Center
Diana Bottari, MD, Advocate Aurora Health
Tim Devitt, PsyD, Private Practice
James L. Grafton, Administrator, Rock Island County
Christopher Hoff, Lake County Health Department
Debbie Holsapple, Jefferson County Comprehensive Services
Gail Richardson, West Side Opioid Task Force
Will Sandusky, Southern Illinois Drug Task Force
Charles Stratton, Department of Human Resources, Sangamon County
Mike Tyson, Southern Illinois Resource and Advocacy Center
Michael Wahl, MD, Illinois Poison Center, Illinois Health and Hospital Association
John Werning, Chicago Recovery Alliance
Miao Jenny Hua, MD, Chicago Department of Public Health
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. Jonnell Benson-Cobbs, James Grafton, Debbie Holsapple, Will Sandusky, Michael Wahl, and Miao Jenny Hua were absent. All the other members were present. Quorum was established.
Review and Approval of April 8, 2025 Meeting Minutes
Mr. Johnson asked for a motion to approve the April 8, 2025 Working Group meeting minutes. Christopher Hoff made a motion. Gail Richardson seconded the motion. All members present voted in favor. The motion carried.
Recommendation Submission and Review Process
Mr. Johnson introduced Verella Olguin, State Opioid Settlement Administrator (SOSA), IDHS/DBHR. Ms. Olguin stated that the next IORAB meeting will be on July 24. Ms. Olguin reviewed the recommendation submission and review process. Anyone can submit a recommendation for the use of settlement funds through the website (Illinois Remediation Funds Core Abatement Strategy Proposed Recommendation Form). The SOSA's office reviews all incoming recommendations to determine if they meet the basic criteria for funding. These criteria include that the request: 1) is general and not for a specific organization, 2) does not supplant existing funding, and 3) aligns with an abatement strategy, approved use, and a State Opioid Action Plan (SOAP) priority. Recommendations that meet these criteria may then be reviewed by the IORAB Working Group Chairs to determine if they should go directly to IORAB or be reviewed by one or more of the Working Groups. Currently, the SOSA receives and reviews recommendations up until the day of the IORAB meeting. Therefore, recommendations that meet the basic eligibility criteria may be presented at IORAB meetings even if there is no time for the Working Group Chairs to review them. To ensure that Working Group Chairs review all recommendations prior to presentation at an IORAB meeting, IDHS/DBHR is establishing a new rule that recommendations must be submitted at least 3 days prior to the Working Group Chairs meeting. This requirement will be implemented for the October IORAB meeting.
Discussion:
- A Working Group member stated that receiving descriptions of the proposed recommendations prior to IORAB meetings is beneficial because it allows them to review recommendations more thoroughly prior to voting.
- Mr. Johnson discussed the need to have established dates for the Working Group Chairs meetings to allow identification of a deadline for the submission of recommendations 3 days prior. Dr. Pickett stated these meetings will be scheduled in the next few weeks.
Priority Recommendations for the IORAB
At their June 16th meeting, the Chairs recommended that this Working Group review a recommendation to use settlement funds for a Public Education and Awareness Campaign. The recommendation seeks $15 Million (M) to implement a comprehensive public education and awareness campaign to decrease stigma, encourage recovery, and increase engagement with local harm reduction and treatment resources. The target population for the recommendation is non-Hispanic Black Illinois residents. Ms. Olguin stated that she will meet with the recommendation submitter next week and asked the group to share any questions that she should ask during that meeting.
Discussion:
- A Working Group member said that it would be helpful to receive copies of the proposed recommendations before meetings. Ms. Olguin said she was unsure if the proposed recommendations could be shared due to regulations specified in the Open Meetings Act (OMA). Dr. Pickett explained that only the IORAB votes to approve recommendations; since Working Groups do not vote to approve recommendations, there is no official process for sharing them with Working Group members. Mr. Johnson stated that he supported the request for Working Group members to receive descriptions of recommendations prior to meetings so members can provide informed feedback.
- A Working Group member asked who submitted this recommendation. Ms. Olguin responded that they do not generally disclose the identity of the person or organization that submits a recommendation. Mr. Johnson added that if the recommendation is approved it will lead to the creation of a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) and anyone can apply to receive this funding.
- A Working Group member asked how this recommendation might duplicate existing media campaigns. Ms. Olguin responded that the campaign described in the recommendation would not supplant existing funds as a similar state-funded stigma-reduction campaign Rethink Recovery ended last year or the current A Dose of Truth campaign.
- A Working Group member discussed the importance of talking to people in the target population in person via efforts such as door knocking and connecting with faith-based community organizations in addition to communicating via social media as many people may not be reached through social media.
- A Working Group member asked if any organization in the state could apply for funding to conduct the campaign if the recommendation was approved. Ms. Olguin responded that if the recommendation was approved, a NOFO would be created based on the recommendation and that any organization or individual in Illinois could apply for the funding. These applications would go through a merit-based review process and the winner(s) would be awarded the funding. The Working Group member stated that it was important to ensure that as much money as possible was used for creating and purchasing media as opposed to being used by the awarded agency acting as a pass-through. He noted that it might be beneficial for IDHS to buy the advertisements directly.
- A Working Group member said that if people in recovery shared their stories as part of the media campaign they should be paid for this effort.
- A Working Group member asked how long the funding period would be if the recommendation was approved and funding awarded. Ms. Olguin responded that there was no length of time specified in the recommendation but that most awards were for 3 years.
- A Working Group member said the funding amount of $15M, or $5M per year for 3 years, was too high. Ms. Olguin noted that the other Working Groups had said that the amount was more than should be spent but had not provided an alternate amount.
- A Working Group member said that a statewide campaign for three years could cost a lot of money. A Working Group member said that $15M was a greater amount than had been allocated to other proposed recommendations including those for housing, harm reduction, and treatment. He asked for feedback from IDHS or others that have funded statewide campaigns about what an appropriate dollar amount for this work might be. Ms. Olguin said that she believed that the Rethink Recovery and A Dose of Truth campaigns cost approximately $6-8M, but that she would need to confirm this amount
- Mr. Johnson said there was not currently a motion to support or amend this recommendation. Dr. Pickett said that the goal of the current discussion was to get feedback from the Working Group to inform discussion with the submitter and potentially reshape the recommendation. The Working Group does not need to determine if they support the recommendation.
- Mr. Johnson discussed how the number of media placements that could be purchased would vary depending on the market and asked if there was a way that the state could consolidate the purchase to ensure maximum value for the money spent. Ms. Olguin responded that the total award amount could be divided among multiple grantees if there were enough applications that warranted funding; they will not be able to determine the number of awardees until a NOFO is created and they receive and review applications.
Public Participation
- A member of the public said he appreciated the work being done to put more structure around the recommendation submission process. He said that knowing the dates of upcoming Working Group Chairs meetings would be beneficial to determine a cut-off point for submission of a proposed recommendation prior to an IORAB meeting. He stated that he appreciates the focus on creating clarity in this process and that there is a public participation portion of this meeting.
Adjourn
Mr. Johnson thanked the participants and asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Charles Stratton made a motion. Christopher Hoff seconded. All members voted in favor of adjourning the meeting. Mr. Johnson adjourned the meeting. The next meeting of the IORAB Access & Equity Working Group will be on October 7, 2025, from 10:30 - 11:30 AM.
