The Illinois Accreditation Development Project (IADP) has been funded since late 2005 by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).  IADP is part of a Multi-State Learning Collaborative through which funded states share their experiences in performance measurement, capacity assessment and quality improvement in public health agencies.

In the Phase One of the project, the IADP designed a voluntary accreditation framework to enhance the Illinois local public health certification program and develop a more performance-based accreditation program.  In Phase Two, the IADP created and tested systems, tools and protocols for the Illinois Accreditation Program design to ensure the new program is focused on quality improvement.   Beginning in April 2008, Phase Three of the IADP focuses on specific quality improvement targets, the application of QI techniques and further refinements in the proposed voluntary accreditation process.

The Project is governed by the Illinois Accreditation Task Force that includes representatives from the following organizations:

·         Illinois Department of Public Health

·         Illinois Department of Human Services

·         Illinois Association of Local Health Administrators

·         Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium

·         Southern Illinois Public Health Consortium

·         Illinois Association of Boards of Health

·         University of Illinois at Chicago/School of Public Health

·         Illinois Public Health Association

The Task Force is staffed by the Illinois Public Health Institute.