Illinois’ Response to the Opioid Crisis: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going

Since the passage of the Heroin Crisis Act in 2015, Illinois has made reducing opioid-related deaths in the state one of its top priorities. A State of Illinois Opioid Action Plan (SOAP) was developed on the basis of recommendations made by the Illinois Opioid Crisis Response Advisory Council, made up of State agencies, members of the General Assembly, statewide physician organizations like ISMS, other professional/trade organizations, community-based providers, county health departments, county coroners, hospitals, and local coalitions. But where does Illinois stand now? What strategies to reduce opioid-related deaths have been implemented, and how have they worked?

Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR) Chief of Staff Danielle Kirby will discuss the SOAP, as well as the new challenges facing Illinois as it addresses the confluence of COVID pandemic and opioid pandemic, and how it plans to target resources in communities that need them most.

Who can attend

Registration is limited to ISMS members and their employed staff. All others must pay $150 to attend. To pay, please email hpresearch@isms.org for instructions.

Learning objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, learners will be able to:

1. Describe the state of the opioid epidemic in Illinois.
2. Describe how the state has addressed the opioid crisis through its State of Illinois Opioid Action Plan.
3. Discuss the effect of the COVID pandemic on the opioid epidemic in Illinois.
4. List resources available to physicians working with patients with opioid use disorder.

About the presenter

Danielle Kirby is Chief of Staff for the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR). Dani has focused on Illinois’ response to the opioid epidemic, promoting a recovery-oriented system of care and innovating the state’s approach to increasing access to services. She is the winner of this year’s Ramstad/Kennedy Award for Leadership in Recovery.

Director Kirby has worked at IDHS/SUPR for over 18 years, previously serving as the division’s Director, and as a Deputy Director before that.  Her earlier responsibilities at SUPR included administering numerous federally-funded treatment and infrastructure improvement grants, as well as the Illinois Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.  Dani directed the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Project, driving expansion of SBIRT services within Illinois federally qualified health centers and other settings and serving as a catalyst to integrate substance use disorder services with primary care. 

She is a certified Project Management Professional who earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Carroll College, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and a Master of Education in Secondary Education from Northwestern University.

Accreditation

The Illinois State Medical Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit designation

The Illinois State Medical Society designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Disclosure

There are no relevant financial relationships with ACCME-defined commercial interests for anyone who was in control of the content of this activity.