County receives grant to address substance abuse

By Editor | June 25, 2025 |

By Carmen Ensinger

Greene County Public Health Administrator Molly Peters announced that the county has been awarded the Illinois Department of Human Services Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) grant for FY26 to continue their work in helping those with substance abuse issues.
This latest grant will be used to create an Overdose Fatality Review Team focused on the impacts of overdoses and interventions that could prevent them. The team will consist of law enforcement and judicial leaders, Greene County coroner and State’s Attorney, hospital partners and others.
“In the years leading up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Greene County saw high rates of substance abuse,” Peters said. “Unfortunately, the county lacked adequate substance use prevention and recovery services to address this addiction crisis. The primary health services provider in the county could not meet demand and law enforcement and judicial leaders overseeing the county’s jail and drug court were seeing many of the same individuals stuck in downward cycles.”
In 2019, Greene County had a nonfatal overdose rate of 19.89 (per 100,000 residents), one of the highest across the state. It also had high rates of opioid use and hard drug use in subsequent years.
The GCHD decided to conduct a community survey which identified substance use and mental health as high priorities to improve public health.
“In 2020 and 2021, the Health Department conducted a local assessment of needs, which involved a series of focus groups,” Peters said. “The department’s assessment identified barriers to substance abuse prevention including lack of long-term funding, lack of treatment options and lack of access to care (including transportation challenges).”
At that time, the Greene County Drug Court did not refer people to peer support services, substance use disorder counseling services were inconvenient to many, and the Greene County Jail did not offer such counseling.
There were no Narcotics Anonymous meetings held regularly in the county. Locust Street Resource Center, the primary nonprofit agency offering behavioral health services in the county, did not have the capacity to meet demand.
In 2022, key stakeholders in the county–including public health and law enforcement leaders, decided to take action, forming the Greene County Mental Health Coalition. The grassroots coalition spurred the GCHD successfully to apply for a grant from the State of Illinois to improve coordination of and access to recovery support services.
In Jan. 2023, they received a $120,000 grant to increase their capacity to address the substance use crisis. Supporting two staff positions and administrative costs, the grant allowed GCHD to launch and lead a peer-led Recovery Council that addresses substance use disorder support and prevention needs.
In partnership with the Illinois Department of Human Services and Recovery Corps Illinois, the GCHD in 2023, rolled out a Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) Council.
In 2023, GCHD partnered with Recovery Corps Illinois to help those struggling with substance use remain sober and rebuild their lives.
“Recovery Corps members have lived experience that helps them support program participants through recovery goal-setting, counseling and facilitating the provision of a variety of services spanning housing, transportation, health and employment needs,” Peters said. “They receive a living stipend that is funded by grants from AmeriCorps and Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS).”
Many Recovery Corps participants are referred to GCHD by police officers, the sheriff’s office and the judge overseeing Greene County’s drug court. (Individuals also directly seek help.) This underscores cross-institutional commitment to a rehabilitative, rather than punitive, orientation toward those struggling with addiction.
After public advocacy by key champions and targeted stakeholder engagement by GCHD, Narcan has become widely available in Greene County. Medication-assisted treatment (e.g., suboxone and buprenorphine) is also more widely available, including in the Greene County Jail. GCHD also began organizing regular Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Since its launch, Recovery Corps has directly supported over 100 individuals in Greene County.
“Corps members help clients set and make progress toward personalized goals, while accessing the right mix of supportive services,” Peters said. “More broadly, Recovery Corps and the strengthened coordination of services, enabled by strong cross-organizational partnerships, has brought needed visibility to the substance use disorder crisis.”