State Incentive Grants

State Incentive Grants: 

Illinois DHS Seeks Statewide Collaboration 

By Houkje Ross


Closing the Gap, Substance Abuse Prevention:What’s Working to Keep Our Youth Drug Free?


June/July 2001


“I n some ways, we feel like we are the pioneers in the development of a comprehensive, statewide prevention plan. Because Illinois was one of the first to receive State Incentive 

Grant (SIG) funding, it’s been a kind of trial-by-fire process, but very 

exciting,” said Kim Fornero, chief of the Bureau of Substance Abuse 

Prevention in the Illinois Department of Human Services and project 

director for the Illinois SIG. 

Fornero is talking about the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) State Incentive Grant, which Illinois and five other states 

received in 1997. CSAP developed the SIGs to boost the number of 

community-based programs using scientifically proven strategies to 

reduce youth substance abuse. SIG funding is granted for three years. 

At least 85 percent of funding must go to the support of communitybased organizations, and other local efforts (see model program next 

page). States that receive SIG money are also required to create a 

comprehensive state prevention plan. 

“None of us—state agencies, CBOs, and other non-profits in 

Illinois— have enough funding to really be effective in reducing 

substance abuse in our state. My $20 million alone isn’t going to do 

much. But if we take your $3 million, my $20 million, and his $15 

million, and make sure they are going to the right places, we can really 

have an impact. We need to work together,” said Fornero. 

“Working on this project has really forced me to think about 

systems issues—how things are connected. Nothing works in isolation,” she said. 

Real Impact Takes Collaboration 

“In order to make a real impact, we have to streamline and coordinate our efforts,” said Fornero. Her hope for the future? A State 

database that can tell her the types of programs that are working in a 

specific geographic area within Illinois. “Before we put new money 

out for prevention efforts, we want to be able to scan our system to 

identify where money and services are most needed, what is already 

out there, and where gaps exist,” she said. 

But Fornero and her team—the Prevention Advisory Council, 

which consists of five workgroups—have only just begun. And Fornero 

knows that she has a lot of work ahead for the Council. “Before I 

started this project, I wasn’t aware that our state has 43 programs 

within 11 agencies that are in some capacity addressing substance 

abuse prevention—and I work for the state. If I don’t know, it’s unlikely anyone at the community level will know either,” said Fornero. 

To increase the likelihood that others in her state will know about 

the programs already working to prevent and curb substance abuse, 

the Council created the following workgroups: Best Practices, Communications, Policy Review, Data Collection, and Collaboration. Each 

workgroup has its own goal. 

For example, the Collaboration workgroup’s goal is to build an 

alliance between agencies, organizations and others engaged in substance abuse prevention-related initiatives throughout the state. “One 

of our first steps was to send out a survey to 12 state agencies in order 

to identify commonalties, and potential partnership opportunities,” 

said Fornero. This was done in December 2000. 

The agencies—like the Illinois Department of Public Health, 

State Board of Education, Liquor Control Commission, the National 

Guard, State Police, and the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs— were targeted because they have programming that 

addresses substance abuse or related risk factors, and they target youth 

in some way. 

The survey gathered information about each state agency’s programs. Types of information gathered included: 

 Long range goals; 

 Target populations, geographic areas served; 

 Existing collaborations; 

 Specific strategies or approaches to programs; 

 Mechanisms for measuring success (process and outcome); and 

 Needs assessments. 

In addition to completing the survey, agencies were asked to 

submit documentation related to their programs. Agencies could submit a variety of documents including: a copy of a Request for Grant 

Application/Proposal, quarterly reports or evaluations, training plans, 

and mailing lists of service providers. “The response we received from 

agencies was great,” said Fornero. She attributes agency willingness to 

respond to the survey to the type of information requested. “We asked 

for documents that could tell us about an agency’s program, but 

didn’t require much work from the agencies. The onus is on us to 

evaluate each program,” she said. 

According to Fornero, the next step for the collaboration 

workgroup is to sort through all the information, summarize, and 

develop recommendations to present to the Council. “It is overwhelming, ”said Fornero. The workgroup will identify opportunities for 

collaboration as well as potential gaps in service. The workgroup has 

already found that many agencies are targeting youth, but very few 

are targeting families, schools, or the community. For a comprehensive 

approach, these gaps have to be addressed. 

To contact Kim Fornero, call the Illinois DHS at (312) 814-1354.

Need More Information on Creating Partnerships with Other Organizations? 

Want more ideas on how to collaborate with state agencies, CBOs, or non-profits in your state? Check out the page 

10 story in the September/October 2000 issue of Closing the Gap entitled, “Tennessee Creates Latino Network.” 

You’ll learn how the Tennessee Office of Minority Health created a network for information sharing. Call the Office 

of Minority Health Resource Center at (800) 444-6472 and request publication #424.

Office of Minority Health Resource Center U.S. Department of Health and Human Services