Illinois Office of the Governor

Program Description

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) awarded the Illinois Office of the Governor $3.5 million per year for 5 years to provide services in hospitals, emergency rooms, and clinics operated by the Cook County Bureau of Health Services (CCBHS) and select substance abuse treatment programs.

Program Model

Screening

SBIRT health counselors support generalist health care staff to screen adult patients using a single question about alcohol use, recommended by the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a single question about illicit drug use, and a single question about tobacco use. A health counselor asks patients who screen positive to any of these questions further assessment questions.

Brief Intervention

SBIRT counselors conduct one to six 15-30 minute sessions of brief intervention in hospital settings and in community health centers for patients with at-risk substance use, substance use with consequences, and dependent use not yet in treatment.

Brief interventions are conducted using a non-confrontational, patient centered approach incorporating the Feedback, Responsibility, Advice, Menu, Empathy, and Self-Efficacy (FRAMES) model.

Brief Treatment

SBIRT health counselors assess patients within the medical setting (hospital or health center) and recommend appropriate substance use treatment services, consistent with the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria, for patients with consequences of their substance use, including substance dependence disorder.

Brief treatment counseling is conducted using motivational enhancement therapy strategies (BT-MET) at participating Illinois-licensed treatment providers. Patients referred for brief treatment include those for whom the modality is the best level of care, those who are appropriate for a higher level of care but will not accept it, and those who are on a waiting list for another level of care.

Referral

SBIRT health counselors working within medical settings use a central SBIRT treatment referral coordinator to locate a treatment program within Cook County that fits the patient's needs. Patients are given the soonest available substance abuse treatment intake appointment, with an appropriate treatment provider, nearest to where they live.

Service Features

Community Peer Mentors—volunteers who have successfully recovered from substance dependence and are recruited, trained, and supervised by professional staff—provide education about the effects of alcohol and other drugs and use active listening to help individuals in treatment set positive goals. SBIRT peer mentors work with the health counselors and generalist health care staff to support patients with active substance use problems, in treatment and in recovery.

Illinois SBIRT Initiative Sites

Stroger Hospital
Provident Hospital
Oak Forest Hospital
Health centers in the west and south side neighborhoods of Chicago and in south suburban Cook County

ISI Specialized Treatment Agencies

Cornell Interventions
Gateway Foundations, Inc.
Healthcare Alternative Systems, Inc.
Human Resources Development Institute
McDermott Center
Pilsen-Little Village CMHC, Inc.
South East Alcohol & Drug Abuse Center
Southern Suburban Council on Alcoholism & Substance Abuse
The Women's Treatment Center
Caritas
Polish American Association

Program Effectiveness

As of July 3, 2008 a total of 82,124 patients have received services through this project. Of these, 16.2 percent (13,306) screened positive and received an intervention and/or additional services for substance use.

IL SBIRT services as of July 3, 2008:

Screened 62,453 patients
Provided brief intervention to 13,306 patients
Provided brief treatment to 2,522 patients
Referred 3,843 patients to treatment

Contact Information

Deborah Levi, Project Director
IL SBIRT Initiative
100 W. Randolph Street
Suite 5-600
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 814-6433
dhsasat@dhs.state.il.us