February 19, 2020 Planning and Grants Committee Meeting

Audience

Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Planning and Grants Members and Staff. The public is welcome to attend.

Date/Time

February 19, 2020, 9:00a.m. to 12:00pm

Location

401 S Clinton
1st Floor Conference Room
Chicago, IL
Call In: 888-494-4032
Code: 5329547331#
823 E Monroe
Springfield, IL

Agenda

Call to Order
Roll Call
Approval of Minutes
Fiscal Updates - YTD FY20 Spending
Program Updates
1. Training and Technical Assistance Reports
2. Council Sites
  1. DeKalb
  2. Kane
  3. Morgan
  4. St. Clair
3. Program Sites
  1. DuPage
  2. Westside Health Authority
  3. National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP)
  4. Youth Outreach Services (YOS)
Adjourn

Minutes

Call to Order
Meeting was called to order at 9:06am.
Roll Call
Members: Rick Velasquez, Lisa Jacobs, Shelly Davis, Arnetra Jackson (phone), George Hill (phone). Staff: Wendy Nussbaum, Dick Walsh (phone), Chelsea Biggs, Leslie Ress, Samantha Edwards. Guests: Kadima Palles.
Approval of Minutes
It was addressed that the last Planning and Grants minutes are from May because all subsequent Planning and Grants meetings have been rolled into full Commission meetings.
Motion: Ms. Davis made a motion to approve the last Illinois Juvenile Justice Planning and Grant Meeting Minutes from May 22, 2019 and the Executive Committee Meeting Minutes from December 13, 2019. Mr. Hill seconded the motion. Decision: Motion passed.
Fiscal Updates- YTD FY20 Spending
Ms. Nussbaum stated that most providers are on target except for Kane County which is behind on their yearly budget spending, and DuPage County, which has only spent 20% of their budget through December. DuPage, however, plans on ramping up their CBT services and are working on licensing more clinicians, which will increase their expenses.
DeKalb submitted an invoice for $30,000 in January which has been rejected because it was for a training that did not align with their proposal and the most significant part of the training wasn't scheduled to happen until July, after the grant period ends.
Commissioners discussed that the University of Illinois, Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) is at 28% of their yearly budget as of December 31, 2019. However, CPRD did ask for a budget revision, which was approved. The budget request was for personnel because they had an open analyst position which current staff member, Shawn Freeman, is able to fill. The excess $20,000 will be used to hire graduate students for six weeks to support work around children in detention, and increase Doug Smith, CPRD Director's, percentage of salary since he is working on a literature review regarding this same topic. There is an additional $30,000 left over from personnel expenses which they plan to distribute for training travel expenses, survey participation incentives, supplies, and $16,500 for Qualtrics, under the consulting line in their budget.
Mr. Velasquez clarified this new research project provides qualitative research analysis regarding young children in detention and the language used around adolescent domestic battery. Mr. Hill stated that he wanted to ensure that the personnel working with the increased budget are competent and fully invested in Juvenile Justice. Several Commissioners gave their support to CPRD.
Ms. Jacobs questioned whether the Committee should approve the budget amendment, and Ms. Nussbaum advised that historically budget amendments that are within program plans were approved without Board approval. The Commission Planning & Grants Committee has formerly ratified Ms. Nussbaum's decisions after they were made.
Program Updates
1. Training/Technical Assistance Reports
  Ms. Jacobs asked two questions of Ms. Edwards, Violence Prevention Manager from Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY) regarding site visits:
  ICOY's perspective of site visits- what worked, what didn't work: And any changes in structure needed? Recommendations/observations?
2. Council Sites
  1. DeKalb
    Ms. Edwards explained that the DeKalb Juvenile Justice Council (JJC) has not convened this fiscal year and seems to be inactive, after the previous coordinator left at the start of the fiscal year and the council disbanded after miscommunication regarding funding. Ms. Jacobs expressed that the previous model of the JJC and Early Risk Assessment Project (ERAP) operating under the Public Health Department seemed innovative and successful, but Ms. Edwards advised that ERAP continues to operate independently of the JJC, under the guidance of Court Services. Ms. Jacobs suggested that this would be a good opportunity to learn more about the challenges that Juvenile Justice Councils face, and to analyze why councils might break apart. Ms. Edwards advised that there was no clear direction or leadership in place to reconvene the council. However, DeKalb's Court Services department has robust data, and the ERAP model is working really well.
    Ms. Nussbaum shed light on additional funding issues including the full time JJC coordinator is being paid outside and above her regular full-time job. Ms. Nussbaum shared the coordinator was unable to show documentation of the JJC portion of her job during a monitoring visit or had activities on her timecard that were not billable. Mr. Velasquez advised that she lacked clarity from the State's Attorney and that lack of organization, structure and clarity paired with a leadership struggle is the issue at hand.
    The Planning and Grants Committee continued their discussion on DeKalb in talking about their budget amendment request for a training to be held in March and July regarding domestic violence, focusing on strangulation and lethality. As stated in their proposal, the training was intended to look at family domestic violence and police intervention. At that time, the Commissioners suggested adding a component regarding adolescent domestic battery, but this was not what they had in mind. Ms. Jacobs expressed that although strangulation is a critical issue, if framed as a juvenile justice issue it will work against juveniles. Research shows that strangulation is not a typical behavior which juveniles engage in and by having training on this topic it will provide the wrong context.
    Mr. Hill clarified that a site is no longer in compliance if they decide to change the scope or focus of the work that the Commission approved in the original program plan, especially without consent from DHS or the Commission. The Committee also vocalized the issue of not following proper channels for amended programming and budgets. It was discussed that DeKalb can request for additional funding again for a different training that is in line with juvenile justice work, and that they still have $37,000 in funds left that can be used towards trainings related to juvenile justice.
    Motion: Ms. Davis made a motion to deny the increased funding request from DeKalb County for a strangulation and lethality training in March and July. Mr. Hill seconded the motion. Decision: Motion passed.
  2. Kane County
    It was discussed that the State's Attorney is stepping down and Sara Seberger has left to go to Sangamon County as the Assistant State's Attorney, but Mr. Velasquez feels confident that the other stakeholders will carry the Council successfully.
  3. Morgan County
    Ms. Edwards shared that the council coordinator had just left during their site visit, and the CCBYS program manager took over coordinator responsibilities, helping to mobilize their community and build relationships with school systems and law enforcement. There was discussion about training and onboarding for new coordinators. Ms. Edwards advised there has been a general webinar for all coordinators but a more specific webinar regarding onboarding can be addressed. Ms. Edwards also shared with the Planning and Grants Committee that there is some tension between the council, the Screen, Assessment and Support Services (SASS) program, and Probation because of competition for referrals.
  4. St. Clair
    St. Clair County has a robust council that includes community members and parent representatives from Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI). A highlight is that their Redeploy program, Children's Home and Aid, has begun offering wraparound services for juvenile gun offenders. Mr. Velasquez agreed that the county's community engagement is phenomenal. During the site visit, Ms. Edwards and Mr. Velasquez also met with the detention Superintendent who wanted funding to increase services in detention. Mr. Velasquez pushed back and suggested the increased funding should focus more on diversion tactics and community services rather than detention services, with the fear that more youth would be brought to detention that way. Despite how robust their program is, there had been a lack of resources in their community, and fiscal challenges for detention alternatives were major issues in the county.
3. Program Sites
  1. DuPage
    The DuPage Comprehensive Trauma Collaborative is continuing their work with Loyola University to assess the effectiveness of TF-CBT in their county. They have successfully trained clinicians at their Comprehensive Community Based Youth Services (CCBYS) providers and the Health Department, but have had trouble getting youth into treatment. This is partially due to limited clinician availability and difficulties in scheduling, but also youth and families are reluctant to participate in the research study because information will be shared with probation. However, the providers are utilizing TF-CBT for youth outside of the research study but are not capturing those numbers. Ms. Nussbaum asked what the Commission is hoping to accomplish with this study as TF-CBT has already been evaluated and proven effective. Ms. Jacobs explained that it is about proof of concept for justice system stakeholders, especially with high level youth that they can still be serviced therapeutically effectively regardless of risk. However, many of the youth are coming from CCBYS, not the justice system.
  2. Westside Health Authority
    Ms. Edwards reported that Westside Health Authority is funded for their RYSE program, which is also funded by the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS). During the site visit, the number of youth being served were unclear. In their application, Westside Health Authority claimed the Commission funding would allow them to serve 30 additional youth whereas during the site visit, Ms. Edwards and Mr. Velasquez were told there would instead be 30 youth total. Ms. Nussbaum also noted that Westside Health Authority did not submit their quarter one periodic performance report on time; and instead submitted it along with their quarter two report.
  3. National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP)
    This is the first year NYAP is being funded by Commission. Their application was specifically for the CANEI program which offers mentoring and clinical services together-- but at the site visit Ms. Edwards and Mr. Velasquez were informed that the Commission funding was not for the extension of CANEI but rather a new program for youth on probation. Commission funds are supporting the mentoring component of the program while Medicaid is being used for the clinical portion. There is some concern from Commissioners about whether youth who do not have a diagnosis will have access to mentoring. Commissioners suggested NYAP requires technical assistance around diversification of funding but seem to be on the right track.
  4. Youth Outreach Services (YOS)
    It was reported that YOS is continuing to do well. Staff have met full fidelity on PSB-CBT and continue to have work with the University of Oklahoma. During the site visit, YOS staff informed Mr. Velasquez and Ms. Edwards of systemic barriers they face in working with their population. Such barriers include the lack of referrals from - DCFS because MST is not considered one of the evidence-based models in Family First, the challenges in removing youth from the sex offender registry because youth need to be assessed by the J-SOAP which is not effective in determining risk, youth are required to register in the same location of adults, and there appears to be no clear structure to how youth are being diverted from Cook County's State's Attorney Office. Mr. Velasquez also shared that YOS has received additional funding from OJJDP to expand its services to youth who have exhibited problematic sexual behaviors.
Adjourn
Planning and Grants Meeting adjourned at 10:34am .