February 18, 2022 Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board Meeting

Audience

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

Date/Time

Friday, February 18, 2022

9:30am to 11:30am

Location

Zoom meeting
Call in number: (312) 626-6799
Meeting ID: 810 1283 0597
Meeting Passcode: 874632

Meeting Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81012830597?pwd=RTkxUC85Rzk2TGFQVmZ0bDR3ZnVEQT09

Agenda

Call to order/Roll call
DHS Updates
Approval of Minutes
1. 12/17/21 RIOB Meeting
FY22 Program and Expenditures updates
Planning Grant Report
Report on ORBIS Progress
Redeploy Illinois Annual Report Review
Ad Hoc RIOB Data Workgroup Report
RIOB Planning Meeting Re: Youth and Guns
Adjourn

Upcoming meetings/events:

Executive Committee Meeting: Friday, March 18th, 2022
Full Board Meeting: Friday, April 15th, 2022

Minutes

Call to order/Roll call
In the absence of Secretary Grace Hou, Anne Studzinski, Vice Chair, called the meeting to order at 9:30 am. She invited Kristen Marshall to call the roll.
Roll Call: Ryan Croke, Delrice Adams (NP), Janet Ahern, Judge Walter Brandon, Elizabeth Clarke, Avik Das (NP), Dan Hunt (NP), John Johnson, Krish Mohip (NP), Heidi Mueller, Peter Perry, John Rekowski, Tracy Senica, Anne Studzinski, Judge George Timberlake, rick Velasquez, Paula Wolff (NP).
Staff: Erica Hughes, Esther Kaplan, Kristen Marshall, Karrie Rueter, Honorable Colleen Sheehan
Guests: MaryAnn Dyar, Garien Gatewood, Omar Jamil, Luis Klein.
Ms. Marshall reported that a quorum was present. Ms. Studzinski asked Board members to answer a check-in question about their first jobs.
DHS Updates
Ms. Studzinski invited DHS Chief of Staff Ryan Croke to share updates. Mr. Croke shared that the Governor has introduced the FY23 budget proposal, which shows a strong investment in the Department of Human Services and the Health and Human Services portfolio. Redeploy Illinois is funded at 3.6 million dollars. The FY22 budget represented the strongest investment to date in human services in the state of Illinois. Currently, there are four funding notices that have been released from the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention, resulting from the Reimagine Public Safety Act. The largest funding notice is for youth development services and is open to organizations in thirsty-seven areas throughout the state with the most concentrated incidents of firearm violence over a five-year period. DHS is working closely with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA), the Lieutenant Governor's office, and other programs designed to reduce violence across the state. In order for Board members to assist in sharing information about funding opportunities, Mr. Croke agreed to distribute one-pagers and social media materials, along with a budget recap from Secretary Grace Hou with the Board. In response to a question from Heidi Mueller about the current state of emergency for child and adolescent mental health, Mr. Croke shared that the Governor plans to establish a Chief Behavioral Health officer to assist in the coordination of addressing individuals experiencing behavioral health crises throughout the state. Additionally, there will be a workgroup with the State Board of Education, DHS and DCFS focused on children experiencing behavior health crisis.
Approval of Minutes - 12/17/21 RIOB Meeting
Motion: Ms. Studzinski called for a motion to approve the minutes from the December 17, 2021 RIOB Meeting. Elizabeth Clarke moved approval. John Rekowski seconded the motion. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.
FY22 Program and Expenditures updates
Ms. Studzinski invited Kristen Marshall to share program and expenditure updates. Ms. Marshall shared the sites will be discussing their FY23 budgets in the coming months, which must be in line with FY22 expenditures. Budget projections will be documented at in-person site visits in the Spring. Some sites overestimated the number of youth that would be served, which speaks to possible missed opportunities. It may be necessary for a portion of sites to reevaluate the number of youth they expect to serve. Ms. Marshall opened the space for questions and concerns.
Rick Velasquez voiced concern about the impact that staffing issues across the state have likely had on sites' budgets. Karrie Rueter explained that discussions with sites revolving around projected number of youths are only a starting point for sites to continue to understand their budgets and sites will not be pre-judged based on numbers.
Mr. Velasquez asked Ms. Marshall to provide more information about the delays in Lake County's program. Ms. Marshall shared that Lake County's contract recently went through the state's process. They are waiting to begin delivering services until it is finalized and will start taking referrals on March 15th, 2022.
In response to a question from Mr. Velasquez about the program's overall budget, Ms. Rueter clarified that 1.3 million dollars have been set aside for Cook County planning and the Orbis contract. An increased appropriation may be needed for Cook County sites next year. Additionally, any funding that is remaining in the planning grants category is due to planning grant sites getting started later than what was initially anticipated, which has created a gap in the budget.
Erica Hughes added that the 2nd Circuit has recently shown an increase in commitments and is currently at their baseline. Ms. Hughes will report back on this after their site visit. In order to confirm that these commitments are accurate, Heidi Mueller suggested developing a timeline to look at DJJ data more frequently.
Ms. Studzinski invited Ms. Marshall to provide Board members with an update on the ICOY contract. Ms. Marshall shared that due to the loss of the Program Manager in December 2021, personnel was not included as a line item this time. ICOY has posted the open position and anticipates having a new-hire by mid-March. The new website is already in ICOY's budget and work is being put into motion. Ms. Marshall and Ms. Hughes will meet with ICOY next week to discuss specifics about what the Board is looking for in this candidate.
Planning Grant Report
Ms. Studzinski invited Ms. Hughes to provide a planning grant report. Ms. Hughes shared that Champaign, Peoria and Cook County have all submitted their letters of intent and are waiting to finalize their contracts. Cook County met with its Redeploy Illinois committee to discuss the analysis from the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The analysis looks at characteristics of youth that were sent to DJJ from Cook County. They will have their planning stage completed by July 22nd. Peoria County is setting up meetings with their stakeholders. Both Peoria and Champaign are partnering with local universities.
Ms. Studzinski invited Peter Perry to provide more information on Cook County. Mr. Perry announced that subcommittees are meeting in the next few weeks and will identify the services that the Crime Lab analysis is pointing towards. Winnebago County has been identified as a potential site for Cook County to visit and learn from. When identifying service providers for the site, Cook County will need to be strategic to ensure that they will be able to address the high needs of the youth they anticipate serving. The county-to-county issue was also discussed, and there should not be a problem with accepting Lake County's youth in Cook County.
Report on ORBIS Progress
Ms. Studzinski invited Ms. Marshall to provide Board members with an update on the ORBIS contract. Ms. Marshall shared that Redeploy has received the ORBIS workplan, which includes Racial and Ethnic Disparities and input from youth and families. Bi-weekly meetings with ORBIS staff have continued and the contract is still in progress. Discussions with providers help to clarify what kinds of reports need to be generated to learn about youth being served and youth going to DJJ. Board members can anticipate another update at the April meeting. Ms. Marshall opened up the space for questions and concerns.
Ms. Clarke shared information about a report that was written for the International Judges Association about including children's voices in assessments and reports. She also emphasized the importance of the perspective of children with incarcerated parents, which will be the focus of a new DHS taskforce.
Mr. Velasquez expressed concern about the potential for over-assessing of youth with the implementation of YASI 2.0. Ms. Rueter explained that only a couple youth services programs use the YASI assessment, and youth are not typically in these programs at the same time. The duplication of assessments is unlikely, but DHS will investigate the issue. Additionally, there is work to be done that might enable youth to transition from one program to another. DHS would like to develop the ability for DJJ to obtain assessments that were completed prior to the youth coming to them.
Redeploy Illinois Annual Report Review/Approval
Ms. Studzinski invited Ms. Marshall to share updates on the program's annual report. Ms. Marshall shared that the report is almost complete and will be covering the last seven years of the program. Since the program's inception seventeen years ago, Redeploy sites have provided individualized, intensive services to 4,842 youth. Counties have reduced commitments of eligible youth to DJJ by sixty-five percent across Redeploy sites, resulting in 4,000 fewer youth being committed to DJJ. The annual report will include a wide range of information, from the budget impasse to COVID-19.
Conclusions and recommendations will be drafted in response to the information in the report and will be approved by the Board. One of the recommendations will be the continuation of Racial and Ethnic Disparities work. Examining DJJ data from the baseline years in specific communities could serve as a possible method of tracking Racial and Ethnic Disparities progress since the beginning of the program. This would exemplify whether counties have decreased their commitment numbers since becoming a Redeploy site, specifically by race and ethnicity.
Ad Hoc RIOB Data Workgroup Report
Ms. Studzinski reported on the March workgroup meeting. Sites were asked to examine their data as they begin to think about their 2023 applications. Eight out of ten sites responded and all recognized that a problem with Racial and Ethnic Disparities still exists, both within the program and in the number of kids sent to DJJ. Trauma exposure was shown across the board and most of the youth were coming in with crimes against people, as opposed to property. There were fewer drug offenses than expected. Some sites mentioned youth and guns, along with the inclusion of anecdotes. The conclusions that sites drew had a lot to do with family support and education. None of the sites reported on missed opportunities. These responses exemplified a clear difference between the two program models. As the program shifts towards a more holistic approach, the sites using the Purchase of Service model will have to make significant adjustments. Ms. Studzinski opened the space for questions.
Mr. Velasquez highlighted the need for a formalized process to review failures within the program. This process could include a comparison of past failures with the new matrix, as well as a thorough review of cases sent to DJJ to identify areas where sites may have been able to serve youth.
Ms. Studzinski invited John Johnson to share a recent success story in Winnebago County with the Board.
RIOB Planning Meeting Re: Youth and Guns
Board members agreed to delay the planning meeting to discuss youth and guns until the summer. This will allow for the opportunity to include findings from site visits in the discussion.
Adjourn
Motion: At 11:30 am, Ms. Studzinski called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Elizabeth Clarke moved adjournment. Honorable Walter Brandon seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Upcoming meetings/events:

Executive Committee Meeting: Friday, March 18th, 2022
Full Board Meeting: Friday, April 15th, 2022