KYC Leader Named Statewide Opi­oid Set­tle­ment Administrator

September 30, 2022

It’s with mixed emo­tions that I share some excit­ing news. Our very own Sher­rine Pey­ton, Direc­tor of Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion has been offered the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take a remark­able lead­er­ship role at the State of Illi­nois. Sher­rine was cho­sen to be the new Statewide Opi­oid Set­tle­ment Admin­is­tra­tor (SOSA). For those who are unfa­mil­iar, State Attor­neys Gen­er­al filed mul­ti­ple law­suits against the pro­duc­ers and dis­trib­u­tors of opi­oids. They sought to recov­er on behalf of those who had been impact­ed by opi­oid use. The set­tle­ment reached antic­i­pates that Illi­nois may receive approx­i­mate­ly $760,000,000 from these set­tle­ments over the next 18 years, if recov­ery is max­i­mized. This is a huge under­tak­ing and one that Sher­rine will be tak­ing on. She, as the SOSA, with a team from the Illi­nois Depart­ment of Human Ser­vices (IDHS), will over­see the dis­tri­b­u­tion of funds statewide to fight the opi­oid cri­sis. Sher­rine is excep­tion­al­ly qual­i­fied to lead this work and I’m so proud that her skills and tal­ents will save lives through­out our great state. With that, as her team­mate, we will be very sad to see her leave KYC. Sherrine’s last day with us will be Octo­ber 8^th.

Dur­ing her time at KYC, Sher­rine has grown our pre­ven­tion pro­grams from one grant-fund­ed pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment pro­gram to the boom­ing Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion Divi­sion. She has brought lead­er­ship, strength, per­spec­tive, com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment, wis­dom, integri­ty, and so much more to her time with us. I can­not over­state her impact or how much I will per­son­al­ly miss work­ing with her on the Lead­er­ship Team.

But with all our team­mates, I am thrilled for this oppor­tu­ni­ty for her and as team mem­bers grow into new posi­tions at oth­er places, we cel­e­brate the oppor­tu­ni­ty to be part of their career jour­ney. We cel­e­brate team­mates as they arrive at KYC and we hon­or them upon their departure.

Sher­rine, our doors are always open to you. We wish you all the best as you take on this incred­i­bly impor­tant work at the State and know we will con­tin­ue to part­ner with you in every way we can. Thank you for your ser­vice, ded­i­ca­tion, and exper­tise through­out your tenure. It has been an hon­or to be your teammate.

Please join me in con­grat­u­lat­ing Sher­rine.

Grace Hong Duf­fin
Pres­i­dent & CEO

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