October 18, 2019 Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board Meeting

Audience

Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board Members and Staff. The public is welcome to attend.

Date/Time

• Friday, October 18th, 2019
• 11:00am to 1:00pm

Location

• Hyatt Lodge at McDonalds Campus
  2815 Jorie Blvd., Oak Brook, Illinois

Agenda

1. Call to order/Roll call
2. DHS updates
3. Approval of Minutes
4. All Sites Meeting Update
5. Medicaid Update
6. Program Updates
7. Planning Meeting Review/Summary
8. Program Model discussions/decisions
9. Program Services discussions/decisions
10. Adjourn

Upcoming meetings/events:

• Executive Committee Meeting: Friday, November 15th, 2019
• Full RIOB Meeting: Friday, December 13th, 2019

Minutes

1. Call to Order/Roll Call
   The meeting was called to order at 12:02 pm.
   In Person: Betsy Clarke, Karrie Rueter, Peter Parry, Jason Steele, Rob Vickery, Anne Studzinski, George Timberlake, Rick Velasquez, Tracy Senica, Janet Ahern, Pam Rodriguez, Paula Wolff. Staff: Judge Steve Sawyer, Kristen Marshall, Erica Hughes, Kadima Palles, Olivia Wilks 
2. DHS updates
   Board members had heard about the possibility of a 6% cut in funding for FY21 and asked Karrie Rueter how that would impact Redeploy if it happened. Karrie reported that Redeploy should be able to absorb a 6% decrease if necessary without impacting providers, as we do not currently allocate 100% of the appropriation. She clarified there has been no directive to stop expansion efforts. Janet Ahern indicated that if DCFS saw a budget cut, they would examine current programming and prioritize what can and cannot be cut, suggesting the Board could do the same. It was also suggested that program expansion efforts would be a tool to advocate around budget cuts or increases.
   Ms. Reuter advised the Board that the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) may be posted by end of the week or the following Monday. We are only waiting on the exemption request to be approved. Ms. Ahern suggested a conference call to answer questions from interested parties about a week and a half after the NOFO is posted. The bidders' conference may be hosted at a later date. 
3. Approval of Minutes
   The Board discussed the meeting minutes from the September 13, 2019 Board Meeting.
   Motion: Rick Velasquez made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 13, 2019 board meeting. Anne Studzinski seconded the motion.
   Decision: The Board approved the minutes form the September 13, 2019 meeting.
4. Established site baseline discussion/decision
   In the last five years, the 1st circuit did not meet its 25% requirements in one year. Per the Board's last meeting, Ms. Rueter called an Executive Committee meeting to discuss whether 1st circuit should/could expand. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that this decision needed to be made by the full Board and that the Board may need to revisit the penalty and established site requirements.
   Ms. Studzinski reminded the Board that while three sites have been non-compliant in the past, each only fell out of compliance for one year. Currently what has been decided is to require a minimum of 5 years of successfully reducing commitments by 25% or more. However, this language does not clarify whether this is consecutive years or an average over five years. Therefore, a possible solution is to clarify that after a minimum commitment reduction of 25% averaged over a 5-year period, a site could become an established site. This logic is consistent with the statute averaging the baseline over three years and would allow sites to stay in good standing even if there are temporary circumstances out of their control. Additionally, Ms. Studzinski noted that in the past, the Board has seen non-compliant sites respond to these situations and enact corrective actions. Furthermore, program stakeholders' inability to meet the baseline was not due to harmful patterns of practice.
   If the current penalty practice is changed, it will set a precedent and will be included in new site contracts. Any site that has been doing Redeploy for the last 5 years will be able to move forward with expanded population as an Established site. To be an established site one must have reduced a minimum of 25% averaged over the last 5 years and must not be under an open corrective action.
   
   Motion: Peter Parry made a motion to amend the established site requirement to read: "after a minimum 25% reduction in DJJ commitments, averaged out over the previous 5-year period, current Redeploy sites will transition into Established sites, providing they are not under current corrective actions plans."
   Decision: A roll call vote was called, and the motion passed unanimously.
5. Electronic monitoring decision/discussion
   The Board determined that Electronic Monitoring (EM) is an unallowed expense under the Redeploy grant. The Board indicated that Kane County no longer uses EM and it had been very successful so far. The 2nd Circuit brought up that they were using EM in place of phones/broadband services in spread out locations of youth on probation. Jason Steele suggested intensive probation services as a successful alternative to EM. Mr. Steele indicated the AOIC has a report on alternatives to detention. The Board discussed the fact that most eligible sites for the detention pilot are rural. Mr. Parry indicated that detention pilots are essentially pre-adjudicated youth programming. Judge Timberlake said that based on information from Shawn Freeman at CPRD, there are a number of counties that have been sending kids out of state to detention.
   Mr. Parry discussed that most sites at the All Sites meeting were not concerned about EM and used it sporadically. Board members continued to agree that EM will not be paid for in Established sites or for the pilot programs.
   Ms. Studzinski requested that detention day numbers should include how many youth were in detention (not just how many days served in all) in order to understand the numbers in context, i.e.: is it a small number of youth for many days, many kids in for many days, etc. 
6. Program and/or fiscal discussions/decisions
   All Sites Meeting Update
   Kristen Marshall reported that the All Sites meeting included representation from all current 8 sites. The discussion centered on the new Established Sites and the detention pilot program. A brief history of the program was provided, with an explanation on how the Board came up with the three program models - Established Redeploy site, New Redeploy site, and Detention Pilot program site. Two presentations were given on day two of the all-sites meeting: one on Electronic Monitoring and the other on Medicaid. Carrie Muehlbauer from ICOY conducted the training on Medicaid. Judge George Timberlake discussed a shared cost model for current sites to encourage them to use Medicaid. Ms. Studzinski mentioned that the Board needs to be sure that sites are not billing Redeploy for Medicaid billable services. Rueter advised that there also needs to be a balance and integration between Medicaid systems and wrap around services that will not be covered by Medicaid to make sure organizations are not only providing Medicaid services and missing important care that is not covered under Medicaid.
   Site visits
   The addition of new staff and changes to current programming triggered several requests for site visits, mostly about education and expectations. Mr. Velasquez discussed the need to assess the skill level of new staff when DHS is providing education and expectations about the Redeploy program.
   Winnebago County
   The Board discussed how Winnebago County had a high number of commitments in August during leadership transitions. However, there were only two commitments in September. DHS reported that the new juvenile judge in Winnebago County, Judge Lowry, attended the All Sites meeting and demonstrated interest in participating and collaborating with Redeploy. The lead agency for the Winnebago County Redeploy program is transitioning leadership to the former Redeploy coordinator and probation supervisor. A representative from DJJ indicated that there are currently 30 youth in DJJ from Winnebago County (more than 10% of the total DJJ population). Of those, seven are a portion of an EJJ sentence. Winnebago County is the highest committing county for girls. DHS suggested that this is, in part, because they do not serve girls through Redeploy. The Board discussed how to address this and increase services for girls in Winnebago.
   2nd Circuit
   Ms. Hughes indicated that in the 2nd Circuit, Redeploy providers discussed issues related to transportation and communication issues between counties. Mr. Parry suggested this example highlights a larger issue of Redeploy eligible youth not being referred to the program, suggesting that counties struggle to work together. This led to a discussion about whether staffing in the downstate region, especially the 2nd Circuit, needed more support and resources. The Board also discussed the 2nd Circuit model, in which the probation program manager is conducting all YASI assessments. The Board indicated that some sites are contracting this work, which could be an effective or efficient strategy for sites with multiple counties. In the 2nd Circuit, the program manager also provides and analyzes eCornerstone data for the entire 2nd circuit. The Board reiterated that it might be worth considering expanding administrative staff to support this work so that the program manager can take on more outreach responsibilities. The Board discussed strategies to help the 2nd Circuit and other areas struggling with cohesive county engagement. Judge Sawyer reported that there has been judicial turnover in 2nd Circuit, which could be meaningful to the Redeploy program. There was discussion around cultivating reciprocal mentorship between the sites, investing in leadership development and clear governance in each site. While discussing governance, the Board suggested that the council model is an effective way of bringing together stakeholders. The Board discussed that technology such as video conferencing could be utilized to facilitate collaboration in geographically large jurisdictions. Pam Rodriguez discussed the importance of offering praise and support to judges and other stakeholders who are supporting the Redeploy initiative. This suggestion inspired further conversation about recognizing the stakeholders, including the promotion of and communication about success in established or strong performing sites.
   Upcoming RIOB meetings
   The Board discussed upcoming meetings considering the holidays.
   Motion: Ms. Ahern made a motion to switch the Full Redeploy meeting to November and the Executive Board meeting the December. Ms. Rodriguez seconded.
   Decision: The motion passed unanimously.
7. Adjourn
   Motion: Betsy Clarke made a motion to adjourn at 1:04 pm. Mr. Steele seconded.
   Decision: Meeting adjourned at 1:04 pm.