Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host Jeff Williams. In the studio with me today, Chris Boyster. He's the executive director for the Illinois Certification Board. Chris, how are you doing?
Chris Boyster:
I'm doing great. It's a beautiful day today.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, I like it. I was out for a little bit, went and got some Indian food. Now I'm back and probably should have brushed my teeth. Anyhow, okay, so yeah, just thought it'd be good to LJ Pemberton. Yeah, she said, hey, you might want to talk to Chris. So thought, have you in?
Chris Boyster:
Well, LJ is our communications manager. She's brand new.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Chris Boyster:
She comes to me and she says, you're going to go talk to Jeff at NPR. When LJ speaks, I listen. (laughter)But I'm grateful to have this opportunity. I'm the executive director of the Illinois Certification Board. We certify certified alcohol and drug counselors and other individuals who work in the substance use disorder, mental health, behavior health field. These are certified professionals. These are CADCs, CAADCs. There's lots of acronyms and peer professionals. We certify a number of individuals, primarily the CADC, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and the CPRS and the CRSS, Certified Peer Support Specialist. So the CADC is a counselor, substance use disorder counselor, and the CRSS is a peer professional and someone who has lived experience and is working in the substance use mental health field. the Elder Certification Board's been around for quite a long time, but it's amazing how some folks don't know what we do. I say we're in a life-changing job. We help people become certified alcohol drug counselors or certified peer specialists, people who've had lived experience who want to come work in the substance use disorder field.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Chris Boyster:
And our mission is to ensure that those people are qualified because the outcome of them becoming qualified folks are working with people who are sometimes in the lowest lows of their life. we offer a number of certifications at the Illinois Certification Board. The CADC, the peer, kind of our main ones, but we also offer gambling counseling. Folks who want to go work and the human service arena to help folks who are struggling with some type of substance use or other, addiction is kind of a taboo word today, but dealing with some kind of addiction or disorder. And breaking the stigma, there's been so much that has been invested over the few years of breaking the stigma of people who suffer from substance use disorders or some sort of, you know, like a gambling problem. And there's been a lot of investment in prevention and funding But what we have recently discovered in partnership with the state of Illinois Department of Human Services, they recently, four years back, we got a grant from them called the CADC Workforce Expansion Program. Expansion Program.
Jeff Williams:
A workforce.
Chris Boyster:
A workforce expansion.
Jeff Williams:
Got it.
Chris Boyster:
Because as we put money into treatment and as we put money into prevention, it's very important that we have a competent workforce that does that. What we've experienced My background is really human services before I came to ICB. What we've seen in the human service field overall is that the number of people going into the field is not as high as the people who are retiring and exiting the field. And there hasn't, in quite honesty, the state and federal government for years did not fund human service programs. You're seeing that change now. That dynamic has changed. But this came as an outcome of saying, okay, we're working on addressing treatment and harm reduction, but we also have to have a competent workforce in the field. And this has been a partnership with DHS for the last four years. They've invested over $4.5 million into bringing folks who want to become a CADC and keeping those folks who are CADC in the field. Right, You know, often when somebody goes into treatment and you ask somebody, I want to go work in that field and help somebody, they automatically think they have to become a licensed clinical professional counselor or a social worker. Certified folks are also counselors, but they're not licensed. So, they come through us. We're a private, not-for-profit organization. They still have to have competency standards. They have to have an education. They have to have workforce experience. They have to do an internship. And then they set for a test. And once they do that and they've gone through all that training, we require continued education. Right, So we truly believe that our folks are making a difference in the world and they need to have those tools to make a difference. People are dying.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah.
Chris Boyster:
We've seen too with Gen. Z that they don't necessarily drink as much. Right. But gaming and gambling is becoming a problem.
Jeff Williams:
Wow. Okay. I didn't realize that.
Chris Boyster:
Especially as we expand access to gaming and gambling with sports betting.
Jeff Williams:
Sure. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Chris Boyster:
So we want to make sure that we have folks that could come into the field, that there's jobs available for them, but they're not just getting a job. They have the skills and the ability and tools to help some of those people. Right, I say their lowest of lows.
Jeff Williams:
So, this might be a little bit of a different shift. I'm not sure. So do you have to like alignments with the state of Illinois versus like Indiana.
Chris Boyster:
And we belong to what we call ICRC, which is the international accrediting body. So if you get an ICB certification, there is reciprocity with other states that carry an ICRC credential.
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha.
Chris Boyster:
So, we have standards and we have a code of ethics. If anybody's interested, I'm going to do my shameless plug already.
Jeff Williams:
No, this is good!
Chris Boyster:
They can go to iaodapca.org or ILCADCworkforce.org. You can learn more about the only certification board. You can learn a little bit more about the field. And you can get information on the grant and the funding of the grant and how it works. There's 9 different schools who are participating in this grant. I don't know them off the top of my head. I should, but I don't.
Jeff Williams:
These are nine different schools in the state or in the state of Illinois.
Chris Boyster:
Illinois Certification Board is one of the few certification boards in the nation that has what we call an accredited training program. We have gone out and basically accredited mostly universities, community colleges, but some are actually treatment centers or other educational facilities that teach people the required education to sit for a CADC exam. There's like 26 of those. Nine of them are participating in this grant. If you are in one, if you go to one of those schools and you get into one of their programs, you can get your tuition covered and not just your tuition covered. You can get wraparound services provided to make sure you're successful. And then when you get out, the grant will cover your testing fee, your initial certification fee. We've seen a 20% increase between FY 2024 and FY 26 of the number of CDs of our membership overall.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, that's cool.
Chris Boyster:
So there is interest in it. And then in addition to that, those folks who are listening who may be a CADC and your renewal is coming available, you can apply to get that covered as well. OK, so it's not just focused on getting people into the field. It's retaining those people who are in there as well. And anybody, whether you go to one of those schools, if you're sitting for an exam, you think the state of Illinois will cover your exam fee.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, right on.
Chris Boyster:
So, the state of Illinois put their money where their mouth is on this.
Jeff Williams:
Colleges, universities that are involved with this, nine of them.
Chris Boyster:
I believe that is, I might be incorrect, but around approximately 9.
Jeff Williams:
Are those spread out geographically across the state or more like population-wise?
Chris Boyster:
Geographically.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Chris Boyster:
We had Southern Illinois University. They're no longer, I think, part of the program. You could go to our website actually and see those programs. I don't want to say a school that may not be, and I apologize for that. We wish we had more schools down in the southern part of the region. We're also seeing it's not just a workforce gap, there's service gaps. You go down to the southern region of Illinois and you don't necessarily have the service area there that some folks need. I mean, I think there's this, we were just at the Capitol today, and there's the stereotype that urban areas have more of a substance use problem, but you actually see them in rural communities as well. In Illinois, I believe this is correct, we have seen a reduction in overdose deaths, but one overdose death is When we talk about competency and getting people into the field, part of our continuing education and making sure that we have folks who have the latest education and skills is realizing that the field of addiction studies changes. Cocaine was probably the issue in the 80s. Now you look at fentanyl.
Jeff Williams:
Right. Oh yeah.
Chris Boyster:
You know, so you have to have the expertise to deal with somebody who's that. Somebody who is a heroin user may have different needs and services as someone who is suffering from alcohol. So we want folks who have a wide array of education and experiences to treat those people and have knowledge and skill sets. So we're constantly working at ICB is how can we get the latest information to our folks? How can we continually to provide continuing education so that our clinicians and our peers that are working with these folks have the tools and knowledge available to them. And we've also, at Emily Certification Board (accanto.com), here recently kind of expanded our outreach a little bit, been a little bit more involved in policy. I just left the Capitol today. We were talking to some of our legislators. We work very closely with our partner organization, the Emily Association Behavioral Health, and some of the things that they're advocating for. But we also want to make sure that legislators know about the workforce in the field. And when funding opportunities come up to think about the workforce. But the ultimate end of the story is the people that we serve.
Jeff Williams:
Right, absolutely. So, I don't know if this is exactly like when you're down there and you go to the Capitol, is it like a kind of like a lobbying hat that you're wearing at that point?
Chris Boyster:
Today we literally just went to go talk to legislators. We exist. And not just we the ICB, 7,000, approximately around 7,000 folks, they are our members. legislators to know that they exist. Right, And what they're doing to treat their constituents and the people in the state of Illinois.
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha. And when I said lobbies, I didn't mean like advocate basically for, yeah.
Chris Boyster:
And ironically, before I came to the Illinois Certification Board, that's what I did for about 25 years. I worked in advocacy. I advocated for everything from My first job out of college was for the Illinois Pork Producers Association. Prior to coming here, I worked for the Illinois Collaboration on Youth. I'm A foster father. I've adopted three children, two out of the foster system. I know firsthand knowledge what substance use does to families and to children who are born substance use exposed. I've seen it. And I've also seen, you know, sometimes state and government in general gets a bad rap. But I've also seen our state really invest and try, sometimes the state's behind, but it truly does care about the families and children and people. And constantly I see our lawmakers and our policymakers, particularly now, those folks at DHS and then this current administration, constantly trying to introduce policies and initiatives to not just treat folks, but to prevent it. Right, Because it's all interrelated. Someone involved in DCFS may also be involved with, you know, services at DHS or someone who has, where do you see the state moving now? It's often been a sideload system. I use Britney Spears as an example. Okay. We all know that Britany was in a conservatorship, I believe that's the right word, and suffered some mental health issues, but she just recently got in trouble with a DUI. We would go in and we would treat the mental health and not treat the substance use disorder. We would go in with the substance use disorder and not treat the underlying mental health. So the state is really working on what we call integrated care. And integrated care, by the way, is more than just mental health and substance use disorder. It's also your physical health. Really looking at a holistic approach of the whole patient, the whole person, mind, body, and spirit, right? And going back to our mission, we're constantly thinking of that. And when we're looking at our standards and we're looking at our requirements and we're looking at our experiences, you know, are our folks equipped to work in the current environment to treat people as a whole person and not just see them as someone who is suffering from this or someone who has this. Because someone who suffers from depression may also be suffering from alcoholism and they say, oh, you drink because you're depressed. They may also have alcoholism in their family. And you've got to really work on that. But also at the same time, if you don't they can't be happy choice and free if they've got a chemical dependency issue. So, it has to work hand in hand. So I'm very excited that we're seeing the pivot turn. Are we there yet? No. Do we have a long way to go? Yes, but we're making strides. We're making steps. It's an honor to be in this position. I've been very honored in my entire life to in human services mostly and know that there may be people we never see will never meet on the streets. And I know this sounds very cliche, that the work we're doing may have made a difference in their life.
Jeff Williams:
Right, Wow, very cool.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah. Well, once again, we are in the studio with Chris Boyster. He's the executive director from the Illinois Certification Board. Stopped by the studio. Could you give the people the information, like how to get a hold of you online again?
Chris Boyster:
Yes, www.iaodapca.org, iodapca.org, or you can call us at, or you can e-mail info at iodapca.org.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah. Also, little side note here, are you, you're an actor also.
Chris Boyster:
I don't know. (laughter) So I've done like one community production here in Springfield and I did something in Bloomington. And I started out acting actually as a child and literally was like a Disney audition. And I went in and they said, no, not what we're looking for. So, I went back and majored in poli-sci (political science).
Jeff Williams:
Right.
Chris Boyster:
So, you know, I’ve done politics. I went for office here. I was on the county board for a while. So, I kind of been active for a long time. But in fact, I just got a call back for a movie. Not like I'm never going to be a movie star. It's like these B-rated. You will see them somewhere.
Jeff Williams:
Those are some of the best to watch though, you know. Well, wow, this has been a great conversation. Once again, we're in the studio with Chris Boyster, executive director at the Illinois Certification Board. Chris, thanks a lot for stopping by and talking about this. No, it's been great. It's going to be good information for people to hear out there. So, thanks a lot for stopping by.
Chris Boyster:
No, thank you.
Chris Boyster and Illinois Certification Board Ensures a Strong Workforce and Helps Break Stigma
