ICB NEWS Summer/Fall 2017

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From the Desk of ICB Executive Inside this issue: Director, Jessica Hayes

Welcome to the August 2017 edition of the From the Desk of the 1 ICB Newsletter. ICB Executive Director On a day-to-day basis ICB is committed to providing customer service to those in the application, ICRC Update 3 examination, certification and recertification process. What you may not know is what goes on behind the scenes, on your behalf, out- FEATURED ARTICLE 4 side of normal operations. I’ve highlighted just a few areas of growth in which A Founder’s ICB has been involved since our last newsletter publication in December of Letter 2016. By: John Reese, On May 1, 2017, the ICB rolled out the Certified Veterans Support Specialist CAADC (CVSS) credential. The Certified Veteran Support Specialist credential is IABH Update 6 designed to certify an individual’s competency in the field of Veteran recovery support primarily for Service members, Veterans and their Families (SMVF). Under this credential, a Veteran is defined as any person who is or was a Training of Leaders 7 servicemember of the Armed Forces of the United States both Active and Reserve components, regardless of combat experience or discharge status. As the field of authentic peer support and assistance continues to expand, we Newly Credentialed 8 believe in a fundamental need for CVSS professionals to assist consumers, agencies and professionals in making proper decisions concerning the correlat- Failed to Recertify 10 ing of CVSS professional competencies with existing consumer needs. The Model and Application for the CVSS credential may be found on our website at www.iaodapca.org. In Memorium 15 Answering a call to the need of a strong peer workforce in the State of Illinois, on October 1, 2017 ICB will commence a granting of equivalency period for the Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) credential. This credential is offered Register Today through the Illinois Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC) and will have reciprocity with other IC&RC member jurisdictions offering this 2017 ICB Fall peer-focused credential. The CPRS is geared toward those working with Conference substance use disorders. Granting of Equivalency requirements will be posted to October 16-20, 2017 the ICB website in the near future. MT. Vernon Hotel & Event Center Additionally, ICB has been involved in conversations at the State level with Man- Mt. Vernon, IL aged Care Organizations to educate their policy personnel on who the ICB Full brochure and credentialed professional is, what they do, and what is required to become an registration form at: ICB credentialed professional. ICB continues to be present at the tables of those Www.IAODAPCA.org who make policy decisions; representing you, the credentialed professional.

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As announced at the Spring Conference in March of 2017, ICB has negotiated an Individual Membership with the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health (IABH) in an effort to get advocacy information into the hands of all ICB professionals holding an active credential. This member benefit comes at no cost to the ICB professional. A letter was sent to each active ICB member outlining the benefits of the IABH individual membership in mid-July. As an individual member of IABH you will receive: Representation in State Government, Direct Email Communications, Education and Information Services, Career Center Posting, IABH conference discounts to name a few. Questions regarding your IABH Individual Membership can be answered by the IABH staff. All things related to credentialing are still processed through the ICB. I extend a heartfelt thank you to the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of the IABH for working with the ICB to keep our membership informed.

The ICB has been involved in two SAMHSA policy academies over the past five months. The first topic is Advancing Suicide Prevention Best Practices in SMVF Peer Support. The work being done by this group of subject matter experts focuses on suicide prevention best practices in peer support for Service Members, Veterans and their families. The second topic, BRSS TACS (Building a Strong Recovery-Oriented Workforce) focuses on building and strengthening a recovery-oriented behavioral health workforce. Both academies value the competency-based credentialing offered by the ICB; out of which stemmed the Certified Veterans Support Specialist (CVSS) and the Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS). The ICB continues to be acknowledged as leading the field in competency-based credentialing by those not only at the State level but at the Federal level as well.

The 2017 Fall Conference is fast approaching! With the closing of Rend Lake Conference Center, the event has been moved to the Mt. Vernon Hotel and Conference Center, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. (Formerly Holiday Inn, coming soon Doubletree). While we will all miss the resort-type atmosphere enjoyed at Rend Lake, we look forward to a quality education experience in this new facility. Topics include: Opioid Crisis, Family, Clinical Supervision, Effective Assessments, Social Media and many more topics. Be sure to watch your mailbox for the brochure or view the brochure on-line at www.iaodapca.org. Hope to see you there!

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IC&RC, the world leader in addiction-related credentialing, is making changes to the Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC) examination.

Since June of 2008, the AADC examination has included a written case presentation where candidates were provided with a case overview of a hypothetical client and asked 13 associated questions about the case. This long case study will be eliminated from the AADC examination effective September 1, 2017. The long case will be replaced with multiple small vignettes approximately 1-2 paragraphs in length with 3-5 associated examination question.

Candidates currently scheduled for the AADC examination on or after September 1, 2017 will be taking the examination with multiple small vignettes.

The change from long case studies to small vignettes will not affect the scoring of examination. There will continue to be 150 items on the AADC examination and the score range will be 200-800 with a 500 passing.

More information on IC&RC’s AADC credential and examination can be found at this link: AADC Candidate Guide. Any questions about these changes may be directed to Rachel Witmer, Assistant Director, at [email protected].

3 Summer/Fall 2017 Page 4 A Founder’s Thoughts By: John Reese, CAADC

Why is it important for someone who wants to work or is working with people, or their families experiencing a Substance Use Disorder, to become a CADC (Certified Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor)? Not that long ago, I was asked that question by a student in one of our accredited training programs. I thought about the question and answered it to the best of my ability at the moment, but left that conver- sation with an unsettled feeling I had not provided an answer I was satisfied with. I have been thinking about the question and decided it is a truly important one that I want to answer. What follows is my answer, the history is certainly incomplete, and it lacks citation because it comes from memory and opinion, not research. It also lacks the names of the giants of our history who worked so hard to form the professional field of addiction counseling, many who will always remain anonymous. A numbers of years ago I was honored to be named the IAODAPCA professional of the year, an amazing experience to say the least. I want to repeat something I said the day the award was presented to me. “Today we are all standing on the shoulders of the giants that made all this possible, it is imperative for us to acknowledge them and our history. We must repay them by being the mentors of the next generations of counselors.”

There is a saying I have heard that for most people history begins the day they are born, not sure who said that, but it is important that to really understand the importance of certification we go back in history a little bit. It was on May 8, 1945 that Germany surrendered, just 4 days before I was born. That surren- der was followed by Japan on September 2, 1945. Our country was full of exuberance and our economy was at full speed, our young men and women were returning home basking in the glory of victory. Alco- hol abuse, of course, was the dark side of the physical and mental casualties of war, just as we are experiencing today. As we moved into the 1950’s, the exuberance continued, but a dark shadow was growing across the nation about youthful drug use. It was not all “Ozzie and Harriet” or “Happy Days.” The reaction to this new epidemic of drug use at the time was to increase the criminalization of drug abuse and the drug user. The fears were based upon a belief that it was a minority, inner-city problem, and the user committed crimes to support their habit. There was also a belief the dealer was a predator taking advantage of our youth, and of course drug use leads to sexual behavior, especially by young women. Another consideration was the idea that other countries who were our “historical” enemies were behind much of the inflow of drugs into our country to destabilize our society.

The disease concept of alcoholism, supported by the rise of AA in 1935 fought off the criminalization aimed at alcohol use, and while most continued to see it as self-inflicted or a psychiatric problem, there was at least a belief that the alcoholic should be helped, not put in jail. The same could not be said for the drug user. While many associate the war on drugs to President Nixon, in 1954 President Eisenhow- er called for “war on narcotics addiction.”

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s historically has become known as the decade of turbulence in our country. Part of the turbulence was the perceived idea that drugs were moving out of the minority, inner- city into the suburban majority culture and college campuses. Also, our young men and women in Viet Nam would be returning addicted to drugs. These fears began the process of developing the political momentum to look at drug abuse and alcoholism as something that could not be controlled by legal en- forcement alone, although for many criminalization continued to be the simple solution. The treatment movement began to stress substance use as an illness, not a crime. The spokespersons for this movement of treatment of addiction as a medical problem, not a criminal or psychiatric condition for the most part were a few doctors, politicians and public figures who were themselves in recovery. This self- disclosure continued to support the public notion that you had to “be one to help one.” The large majority of people working with addicted people were themselves recovering. 4 Continues on next page . . . . Summer/Fall 2017 Page 5

In the late 1960’s, the movement for treatment began to see major victories that lead to the birth of modern treatment in the United States. In 1970, the Hughes Act, formally named the Com- prehensive Alcoholism Prevention and Treatment Act, passed and signed into law. This law provided funds to States to support addiction (alcoholism) treatment. The National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse was formed and a somewhat organized industry began to develop following the “Minnesota Model” to treat addiction.

Perhaps an argument can be made for July of 1975 as being the date when modern treatment as we understand it today began. This is based upon 5 major events that happened around that time. The first event was decriminalization of addiction, simply put based upon major court decisions, a person could no longer be jailed for showing symptoms of their illness. A person could be arrested for behavior, such as a DUI or possession of a controlled substance, but not for being intoxicated or high on a drug. The “drunk tank” would be no longer legal. The second major step was the Federal Law on the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse records went into effect. These regulations reflected on a Federal level that addiction treatment had some unique needs for confidentiality and the addiction counselor had a high obligation to protect a client’s confidentiality that was different from other forms of counseling. The significant adherence to confidentiality was based on the stigma the current client could face, assurance of protection for future clients seeking care, and thirdly to guard against police/court use of treatment data in support of criminalization of activities.

The third major event was unique funding. The National Institute of Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) began to be funded in the national budget, and used these funds to support a network of State supported Detox centers. Blue Cross and Blue Shield along with several other major insurance companies begin to provide benefits for addiction treatment. No longer was the person suffering from addiction being admitted for care under a made up psychiatric diagnosis such as “depressive neurosis.” Alcoholism treatment had been legitimated as its own unique treatment diagnosis on a funding level.

The fourth step came along with the flow of money into the new treatment services, with this money came a requirement for oversight. For example, in Illinois, the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities formed the Division of Alcoholism (followed a couple of years later with the Dangerous Drugs Commission). The formation of the Division of Alcohol- ism effectively directed the new addiction treatment movement away from psychiatric treatment, while the Dangerous Drugs Commission began to provide treatment alternatives to incarcera- tion. As public money began to flow into treatment through these agencies, there was a growing need for a licensure of programs that would provide the funded treatment. When health insurance companies began to pay medical benefits for addiction treatment they demanded standards of care. This came in the form of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hos- pitals, who publish and accredit programs based upon their standards of care.

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On January 11, 2017 the General Assembly convened in Spring- field for the 100th General Assembly. IABH staff and lobbyist began working behind the scenes to review introductions of new legislation (bills), House and Senate Resolutions, House and Senate Joint Resolutions, proposed constitutional amends, Executive Orders, committee amendments, and floor amendments. Between January 11th and May 31st, the General Assembly introduced: 2,212 Senate Bills 4,063 House Bills 587 Senate Resolutions 489 House Resolutions 44 Senate Joint Resolutions 68 House Joint Resolutions 34 Proposed Constitutional Amendments

The House was in regular session for 62 days, the Senate for 56 days. In addition, both chambers had 12 days of “Special Session” to address the unresolved budgetary issues.

On July 6, 2017 Both the House and Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto of FY18 Budget package. For the first time in three years, Illinois passed a budget providing a full 12 months of funding for human services providers and others. Here is the funding breakdown in PA 100-0021 for Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Prevention services.

Note: Appropriations included for FY17 are in addition to funds that have already been appropriated in

FY17.

Fiscal Year 2017 Addiction Treatment: $34,270,400 Addiction Prevention: $803,000 Mental Health: $89,350,800

Fiscal Year 2018 Addiction Treatment: $96,826,000 Addiction Prevention: $1,001,900

Mental Health: $218,590,200

In addition to working with the legislators to ensure adequate funding for services, IABH staff and lob- bying team tracked 167 separate pieces of legislation. Of these bills, approximately 25 have passed both chambers and were sent to the Governor for his signature. 

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NEWS FROM TOL . . . .

As many of you know this acronym TOL stands for Training of Leaders. You may have seen ourworkshops listed in the ICB Spring and Fall Conference brochures. TOL has been around for about 10 years. Originally intended to focus on recruitment, retention, advocacy, and mentorship, a recently revised mission statement now states: As an ICB project, TOL provides ongoing programming that enhances the impact of current and future leaders in the substance abuse field.

Nina Henry, current Project Leader, succeeded Felicia Dudek last year. Besides Nina and Felicia, many outstanding trainers like Bob Carty, Mark Sanders, Joe Rosenfeld, Pam Woll, Gajef McNeill, Renee Lee, and Carolyn Hartfield have been featured as presenters.

Workshops we are considering in the future include Training of Trainers (TOT) and grant writing, This fall at the ICB Conference, TOL will feature Joe Rosenfeld presenting on Ethical Issues for Leaders, an expanded version of his segment at the two day leadership workshop TOL conducted for ICB at the Spring Conference.

Look for us when you receive your conference brochures, either in the fall or spring. We hope to see you at one of our presentations. And, If you are interested in joining the TOL planning committee, let Julia at ICB know at [email protected]

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Counselors Yaa Afriyie CADC Crystal Edwards CADC ICB Congratulates Andrea Anderson CADC Hank Exline CADC its Newly Credentialed Charlene Andrew CADC Joan Feﬀerman CADC members! Patricia Banks CADC Kimberly Filer‐Jacobs CADC Denise Bowman CADC Michael Fink CADC Please note: These are Mahew Brown CADC Wayne Gilliland CADC professionals credentialed Les Butler CRADC Alexander Goreham CRADC by ICB between April 11, Carlos Cantu CADC Miriam Greene CADC 2017 and August 10, 2017 Nathaniel Carlson CADC Allison Grimm CADC Tonya Davis CADC Joshua Guthrie CADC This list also includes those Stacey Day CADC Ausn Hall CADC who have successfully Ashley Deetjen CADC Karli Hall CADC transitioned to a higher level Katrina Deutsche‐Vaclavik CADC John Heldman CADC of Certification or Board Jessie Dozier CADC Briany Helmich CADC Registration. Nataliya Dyachuk CADC Prence Hills CADC Jennifer Dziatkowiec CADC Kayla Hotze CADC

Bernice Jarvis‐Anderson CADC Esperanza Ortegel CADC Melissa Valenne CADC Cameron Johnson CAADC Kyle Pearson CADC Colleen Vargas CADC Terri Johnson CADC Jessica Perillo CADC Janet Voss CADC Peggy Kepple CADC William Pors CADC Shelby Whitmer CADC Katherine Kolinski CADC Stephanie Pruefer CADC Rita Wiermanski CADC Joshua Koshiol CADC Ruth Reeves CADC Stephanie Williams CADC Danielle Larsen CADC Jessica Reo CADC Kayla Zawislak CADC Lauren Less CADC Margaret Reynolds CADC Damon Lewers CADC Kathryn Richie CADC CRSS Kelley Lochow CADC Samantha Ritacco CADC Pamela Lugo CADC Nicola Roache Ashley CADC Ellen Auten CRSS Angela Marvin CADC Kathryn Russell CADC Madelyn Bell CRSS Catherine Maeson CADC Claire Senglaub CADC Donna Clay CRSS Christopher McFarland CADC Josie Shauck CADC Ravi Doshi CRSS Erika McGregory CADC Nicole Sherbert CADC Chrisne Harmon CRSS Heather Michael CADC Michelle Singer CADC Anna Johnson CRSS Meghan Mockus CADC Allyson Smith CADC Carrie McIntyre CRSS Brenda Monarrez CADC Kristen Sohacki CADC Colee Pezley CRSS Alicia Montes‐Figueroa CADC Beata Staszewski CADC Kathy Raney CRSS Freda Monu O'Donoghue CADC Joanna Stygar CADC Alina Valadez CRSS Victoria Moore CADC Sara Terzich CADC Kevin Zeigler CRSS Heather Morales CADC Anna Themanson CADC

Donald Mrozek CADC Claire Tobin CADC CAAP Khalilah Muhammad CADC Aundrea Troolz CADC Benjamin Murray CADC Shanshan Tsu CADC Rita Johnson CAAP Brandon O'Connor CADC Erin Turner CADC

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CARS MAATP MISA I/II

Aida Alejandro CARS Daifeny Arias MAATP John Moss MISA I Donna Dunn CARS Felicia Franklin MAATP Amy Hemann MISA I Stephanie Fowler CARS Stacey Miller MAATP Talmadge O'Neal CARS Christopher Thomas MAATP Alma Rivera CARS Derek Svezia CARS Ronald White CARS

PCGC RDDP CPS

Gregory Cox PCGC Megan Marker RDDP Colleen O'Connor CPS Mary Crick PCGC Michelle Hommert PCGC NCRS Charles Lawrence PCGC Faye Smith‐Freeman PCGC Anthony Williams NCRS Chrisne Treski PCGC

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Failed To Recertify Counselors Ainsworth, Katherine Brown-Davis, Brenda The following is a list of Alder, Gretchen Bunnell, John members who have failed to renew their credential with Barkus, Kim Calbert, Lela ICB. Barlow, Wesley Carrico, Shana There are a number of Barrett, Christine Cash, Kim reasons why they have not renewed. These include, Barry, Dianne Castle-Enyard, Mary transferring credentials to Battu, Deep Cauwels, Irene another state, failing to pay fees and/or failure to obtain Blain, Daun Celichowski, Christopherr ceus, retired or simply left the Borchard, Steven Clark, Barry field. Brack, David Cobb, Billy What ever the reason may be, Branson, Sandra Cobb, Sue it is the responsibility of ICB to inform the field and the public Brasch, Lisa Cohen, David regarding any and all persons Braun, Matthew Cooper, Larry change in credentials. Breashears, Nesha Corcoran, Sylvia Thank you. Bridges, Katrina Creek, Susan Brown, LaVon Criseto, Gloria

Cupp, Jody Golden, Tomika Kennedy, Geoffrey Dahl, Ashlee Gordon, Annie Kennedy, Ramona Dawson, Gina Grace, Alicija Keys, Johnny Dawson, Tonya Gregory, Joshua Lafin, Brittany Dean, George Hale, Gary Larsen, Mary DeLeon, Jenny Hamatian, Avraham Lation, Erica Dilbeck, Matthew Harris, Jeanette Lear, Andrew Dillard, Gregory Hathaway, Lisa Leonhardt, Mary Dowers, Kelley Hearne, William Lessard-Templin, Alexis Edwards, James Heel, Garrett Lindsey, Steven Eggers, Diana Hendrix, Satonia Loftin, James Eka, Lawrence Hollonbeck, Richard Lotito, Karen Elliott, James Horsley, Timothy Marchunt, Diana Ellison, Suzanne Houlihan, John Markel, Leslie Enders-Baldwin, Jenna Howard, Melodie Marshall, Tena Fisher, Roderick Howard, Tawna Masi, Michel Flaugher, Stephanie Ioder, Judith May, Cheri Foley, Nicole Kap, James McCrary, Marvin Garber, Ashley Keefe, Andrew McLeod, Tanya Garrison, Melissa Kellogg, Lolita McMillian Jr., Edward Gilbert, Heather Kennedy, Bridget Miller, Jackie

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Counselors CAAP

Myers, Natashia Stack, Rebecca Baker, Jerome Naekrsz, Linda Stermensky, Gage Calloway, Antone Norman, Robert Stone, Amanda Carpenter, Craig O'Mullan, Robert Storto, Sherry Davis, Jr., Kenneth Orem, Tyler Strauch, Robert Graves, Daniel Paluch, Christopher Sullivan, Brady Harrison, Christopher Pennington, Michael Swire, Neal Perkins, LaDonna Tansey, Linda Jackson, Raphel Person, Kimberly Tarletion, Brian Jordan, Lenora Prestion, Margo Thomas, Charlotte Kutella, Kenneth Price, Wayne Thomas, Katheryn Mayhew, Donyell Ragland, Paige Thurmon, Philip Rudolph, Landon Rehs, Andrew Tilford, Mary Smalley, William Renteria, Sussethe Trrez, Steve Wilkes, William Richardson, Mark Turner, Tonay Willliams, Sr., Anthony Ripper, Marianne Vlier, Ricahrd Rivas-Harrington, Juanita Wahler, Vicki CRSS Rivenburg, Courtney Walsh, John Rock, Vincent Ward, Stefanie Aguirre, Taylor Rose, Larry Watson, Debra Goodwin, Kelly Ruelas, Gilberta Wheeler, Antonio Goodwin, Trisha Ryden, Arthur Wilkerson, Douglas Williams, Sharon Samangooie, Desiree Williams, James Schalk, Gayla Wisniowska, Grazyna Schmidt, Kenneth Wozniak, Jillian CFPP Scruggs, Stephanie Yetter, Michelle Seals, David Zukowska, Paulina Forrest, Louise Shafer, Nancy Lyons, Jennifer Shields, Trina CARS Siebold, Hilary Bergstedt, Priscilla Sinclair, Debra Prevention Specialist Hibbs, Sandra Singh, Sangeeta Townsend, Trina Sipes, Tameka Tudor, Teresa Smith, Brenda CRSS Smith, Cassandra Snipes, Donzell Aguirre, Taylor Sosa, Josefina Goodwin, Kelly Spellman, Carla Goodwin, Trisha Spihlman, Walter Williams, Sharon Spreitzer, Leo

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MISA I/II PCGC NCRS

Bardwell, Evelon Bassey, Freda Chrismore, Shannon Davis, Willie Baker, Cheryl Kist, Elizabeth Hardrick, Elroy Barlow, Wesley Matthews, Amy Barry, Dianne Salvatierra, Ana Herrera, Elena Brack, David Hudson, Cynthia Brown-Davis, Brenda Jackson, Pearl Calbert, Lela Johnson, James Dillard, Gregory Lowe, Darryl Downing, Christine Norris, Isiah Eggers, Diana Young, Antonio Kennedy, Bridget Keys, Johnny Loftin, James Morin, Gregory Norman, Robert Rauchut, Zbigniew Shafer, Nancy Smith Tansey, Linda Willis, Dortha Wisniowska, Grazyna

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Want Your Article YOUR AD HERE! featured in the Next ICB Newsletter? Interested in advertising in the If you would like to submit an ICB Newsletter? article for possible inclusion in the ICB Newsletter please Contact email your article to: [email protected] Dianne Gutierrez at ICB will consider all articles that will be of some benefit to our 217/698-8110 members. Articles are to include a written statement for all of the details. from the Author giving ICB permission to use the [email protected] article.

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...... Continued from page 5

By July of 1975, decriminalization was the “law” of the land. The federal regulations on confidentiality had spelled a set of unique requirements for those practicing addiction treatment, specific funding channels were operating, and there were regulations and standards of care in place. The fifth major event was the ground breaking research document known as the Littlejohn Report. This report defined the unique set of qualifications of the “alcoholism counselor.” This report set forth a clear distinction of the job skills specific to the addiction counselor. As the above 5 factors came together in 1975, Illinois was already ahead of events. In 1973, Illinois had formed a taskforce of persons working with addicted people to develop a system to credential alcoholism counselors. It took the task force almost 3 years to develop a workable system which considered the needs of all parties involved. In 1975, the taskforce handed over its work, called the “Illinois model,” to the Illinois Alcoholism Counselor Certification Board (IACCB) for implementation. Based upon the work of this group, certification for “alcoholism counselors” began in 1975. The 1950’s notion of the criminalization of drug use was still too strong in both the United States and Illinois to be included in this first round of certification. IACCB understood there was a need for the credentialing of persons who were primarily counseling people who suffer from drug addiction, as compared to people who suffer from alcohol addiction. Thus IACCB supported and led the movement to develop standards for “drug abuse” counselors. By 1977, the new certification was complete and a new organization was formed to certify drug abuse counselors.

As we moved into the 1980’s there was the growing recognition and political acceptance that it was not “alcoholism” or drug abuse that we were treating, but rather it was the disease of addiction we were treating. With this realization, there was a diminishing need for the separate identities of counselors. From my recollection, I believe it was by 1986, the two certification organizations were able to set aside some historic concerns and merged forming our current association, Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association, Inc. (IAODAPCA). Today the mission statement of the Illinois Certification Board (ICB, d/b/a, IAODAPCA) is the same as it was in the 1980’s “to protect the public by providing competency based credentialing.” To fulfill this mission statement, ICB engages in a number of activities. First, and perhaps most important, is to publish and oversee the standards of competency based skills necessary to become a CADC in Illinois. To that end, ICB manages an application process that includes, documentation of training, supervision and experience in the core competencies of the addictions counselor. Additionally, the applicant must also successfully pass an examination covering those core competencies. As was mentioned, during the early days of the formation of addiction treatment many of the people working in the field were people who themselves were in recovery. These individuals had a great and rich understanding of addiction and recovery, but they often were given only limited support in learning how to be a professional counselor. Many paid a high price for this lack of support and training. Understanding this, ICB developed a network of training programs along with a set of training standards to prepare people to become professional counselors working with addicted people. Today ICB accredits 26 training programs. These training programs are free standing, located in treatment centers, community colleges, four year colleges, and within master level universities. A third major part of the mission of ICB is to ensure that certified counselors maintain and keep current with the advancing field of addiction counseling. ICB requires its certified counselors to receive ongoing continuing education. It hosts two major conferences a year, the Fall Conference held in southern Illinois and the Spring Conference in northern Illinois. ICB recognizes ongoing continuing education events, online, and bibliocredit education opportunities. As highlighted in the mission statement, and within the issuing of the very first certificate awarded, was a strong code of ethics for counselors. ICB has published this Code of Ethics, and requires all certified counselors to read, understand, and follow them. ICB has established a specific process of how it investigates alleged ethical violations and potential consequences. ICB also requires each of its accredited training programs to educate their students on the nature, importance, and rationale for the Code of Ethics. Lastly, ICB has worked with other organizations to speak to the needs of addiction treatment in Illinois by providing the voice of the counselors who are working in the addiction field. ICB does not advocate on any specific political issue, however it does advocate for the integrity of its credential, and the critical role that certified counselors play in the treatment and recovery of persons suffering from a substance use disorder. Addiction by its nature is a pervasive illness that affects all areas of a person’s life, and negatively impacts the life of the addicted person’s loved ones, and many others. There are a wide range of health care providers who provide an extensive array of critical services to the addicted person and their family, however it is the certified alcohol and other drug counselor by the nature of their education, skills, and global understanding of addiction who is able pull together all the pieces of an individual’s life to help them work toward the pathway of recovery. Having the credential of CADC demonstrates to the community that you hold a unique and central role in treating individuals and the families who are experiencing substance use disorders. 

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In Memoriam . . . . .

Nathaniel Gordon, CADC—Member since 2005

“Good bye may seem forever. Farwell is like the end, but in my heart is the memory and there is where you will always be.” -Walt Disney

To Protect the Public by providing competency based credentialing of Human Service Professionals

Illinois Certification Board d/b/a IAODAPCA 401 East Sangamon Avenue, Springfield, Illinois 62702 website: WWW.IAODAPCA.ORG ~ Email: [email protected]