April 15, 2022 Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board Meeting

Audience

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

Date/Time

Friday, April 15, 2022

9:30am to 11:30am

Location

Meetings are held via Zoom

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

1. Call to order/Roll call 
2. DHS Updates
3. Approval of Minutes
   1. 2/18/22 RIOB Meeting
4. FY22 Program and Expenditures updates 
   1. Redeploy Illinois program expenditures, commitments, & number served
   2. FY22 ICOY Expenditures update
5. Redeploy Illinois Annual Report Review 
6. Planning Grant Update
7. Report on ORBIS Update 
8. Ad Hoc RIOB Data Workgroup Report 
9. Ad Hoc RIOB Membership Report
10. Adjourn

Upcoming meetings/events:

• Executive Committee Meeting: Friday, May 20th, 2022
• Full Board Meeting: Friday, June 17th, 2022

Meeting minutes

1. Call to Order/Roll Call
   Secretary Grace Hou called the meeting to order at 9:30 am and invited Kristen Marshall to call the roll.
   Roll Call: Grace Hou, Delrice Adams (MaryAnn Dyar), Janet Ahern NP, Judge Walter Brandon, Elizabeth Clarke, Avik Das, Dan Hunt, Krish Mohip NP, Heidi Meuller (Omar Jamil), Peter Perry, John Johnson, John Rekowski, Tracy Senica NP, Anne Studzinski, Judge George Timberlake NP, Rick Velasquez, Paula Wolff,
   Staff: Erica Hughes, Esther Kaplan, Kristen Marshall, Karrie Rueter, Susie Schoenrock, Honorable Colleen Sheehan
   Guests: MaryAnn Dyar, Garien Gatewood, Omar Jamil
2. DHS Updates
   Secretary Hou shared that Redeploy Illinois received a thirty percent budget increase for FY23. Staff will present financial information and recommendations at the Executive Committee meeting on Friday, May 20th at 9:30 am. All Board members are welcome to attend.
   IDHS' budget for FY23 is the department's largest budget to date at nearly twelve billion dollars. Five billion dollars have been allocated for general revenue funds. Two hundred and fifty million dollars have been allocated for violence prevention programming and the Reimagine Public
   Safety Act (RPSA). Seven million dollars have been allocated towards the expansion of youth summer programs in Teen Reach, community services, and youth development, which will ensure that an additional 7,600 youth will be involved in quality summer programming. IDHS is planning for an expansion in homeless prevention services and has allocated an additional one million dollars for homeless youth services. Notably, there is a twenty-eight million dollar increase to support refugee and immigrant populations and welcoming services. Illinois has welcomed nearly 2,000 Afghan refugees and anticipates welcoming Ukrainian refugees.
   Another area of dramatic growth in General Revenue Funds (GRF) is a fifty-million-dollar expansion for domestic violence shelters. Additionally, IDHS is increasing their home services programs which enable people with disabilities to live independently in their own home. There will also be an increase for childcare and behavioral health providers, which will be helpful in relation to Redeploy's work.
   Secretary Hou explained that states across the country have been settling with opioid distributors. The Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery will be home to the State Opioid Remediation Fund. Proceeds from opioid manufacturer and distributor settlements will be implemented with the IDHS department in partnership with the Attorney General's office. The FY23 budget includes an appropriation of one hundred and eight million dollars to deploy more funds to communities across the state that have been heavily impacted by the opioid epidemic. Secretary Hou opened the space for questions and comments.
   Paula Wolff inquired about how the Pathways to Success, a program for children with complex behavioral health challenges that provides access to home and community-based services, might complement the work of Redeploy. In response, Secretary Hou said that the state has been having productive conversations about reentry housing. Additionally, Karrie Rueter has been working on launching the RPSA program, an area that IDHS is planning to invest additional resources in. Ms. Rueter added that she has two new boroughs in her portfolio, one for all AmeriCorps programs and one for Violence Prevention services where IDHS will operate all programs under RPSA.
   In response to a question from Rick Velasquez about the Governor's announcement of efforts to examine behavioral health, Secretary Hou explained the two interagency efforts that have been launched. Dana Weiner has been brought on to lead a children's behavioral health residential assessment and transformation and is conducting policy action research with the University of Chicago. Ms. Weiner will help figure out how the emergency placement system can work better for families. David Jones, the Chief Behavioral Health Officer, will work alongside Ms. Weiner to develop a holistic behavioral health system for adults. Additionally,
   Mr. Jones will investigate policies that need to be put in place to ensure a smoother continuum surrounding mental health services and substance use disorder services.
3. Approval of Minutes of February 2/18/22 RIOB Meeting
   Motion: Ms. Hou called for a motion to approve the minutes from the RIOB Meeting on February 18, 2022. MaryAnn Dyar noted a few corrections that Ms. Marshall will address. Ms. Wolff moved approval of the minutes given the corrections. Honorable Walter Brandon seconded the motion.
4. FY22 Program and Expenditures Updates
   Secretary Hou invited Ms. Marshall and Erica Hughes to share updates.
   1. Redeploy Illinois program expenditures, commitments, & number served
      Ms. Hughes announced that budgets will be addressed at site visits that are taking place beginning the following week. The 2nd Circuit reached their baseline in December but have yet to commit any more youth. In February, the 13th Circuit committed two more youth and reached their baseline of six. The 13th Circuit will begin the same process as Madison County.
      Lake County initiated the start of their program with a press release. They are currently serving three youths and anticipate an additional youth to begin receiving services soon.
   2. FY22 ICOY expenditures update
      Ms. Marshall explained that Susie Schoenrock, ICOY's newly hired Redeploy Program Manager, will be listed in the April expenditure documentation. Ms. Hughes added that ICOY is responsible for Redeploy's new website. Ms. Marshall opened the space for questions about ICOY expenditures. In response to a question from Mr. Velasquez about the open contractual line in the budget, Ms. Marshall clarified that this item is for contractual consultants. These funds will be utilized at the upcoming site visits where Honorable Colleen Sheehan will be present, and trainers will be providing additional sessions before the end of FY22. Ms. Hughes added that the program has yet to hire an additional judicial consultant.
5. Redeploy Illinois Annual Report Review
   Secretary Hou invited Ms. Marshall and Ms. Hughes to review the draft of the Annual Report with Board members. Ms. Hughes reminded Board members that the report spans from 2015 through 2021 and includes an executive summary, a program overview with a map of current sites and planning grant sites, sites that are eligible for Redeploy, and sites that are Focus eligible. The report also includes a Board overview, aggregate analysis of 2015 through 2021 data, commitments and detention admissions, a cost/benefit analysis, information on program expansion and focus, and information on current sites. The final section includes a timeline followed by a timeline narrative. The report ends with conclusions and recommendations, followed by the appendices.
   Ms. Hughes noted that she reviewed the Board's meeting minutes starting in 2015 to identify motions and decisions that were made that helped to move the program forward. Redeploy has saturated the state, with Rock Island County being the only eligible county left that is not in the planning phase. The program has been extremely resilient throughout the last seven years.
   Redeploy has saved the state over one hundred and fifty-eight million dollars dating back to 2002 and has provided services to nearly five thousand youth. Ms. Marshall explained that the report will be dedicated to the sites, youth, and families that have participated in the program. Ms. Marshall and Ms. Hughes opened the floor for questions and concerns.
   Mr. Velasquez emphasized the importance of incorporating a visualization of the shift in protective factors and risk factors and suggested adding a graph that displays the number of successful and unsuccessful completions of the program. He added that the determination of 'unsuccessful' is subjective and does not provide a balanced impression of the success of the program. Ms. Hughes explained that eCornerstone provides a list of exit statuses that speak to whether a case is considered successful, neutral, or unsuccessful. Additionally, looking at whether a case plan has been completed has helped to remove some of the subjectivity. Ms. Studzinski mentioned that how success is measured will need to be reconsidered as the program shifts to the new matrix. Ms. Marshall made note of this for future meetings with ORBIS, the organization that is helping to develop the new matrix. Both Ms. Clarke and Mr. Velasquez inquired about including information about racial disparities and equity issues throughout the Juvenile Justice system at the beginning of the report.
   Ms. Hou suggested that the Board consider hosting legislative briefings with individuals in participating counties once the annual report is finalized. Board members expressed gratitude to Ms. Hughes for her leadership and hard work throughout the process of compiling such a large report.
   Motion: Secretary Hou called for a motion to approve the annual report with the edits and dedication discussed. Ms. Studzinski moved approval. Avik Das seconded the motion. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.
6. Planning Grant Update
   Secretary Hou invited Ms. Marshall to provide an update on planning grants. Ms. Marshall reported that Peoria and Champaign County have planning grant contracts that are ready to be signed. Champaign County's budget has been approved. Peoria County has built client feedback into the planning process. Ms. Marshall invited Peter Parry to share an update on Cook County.
   Mr. Parry shared that Cook County is continuing to collaborate with the University of Chicago Crime Lab. They are leaning towards the Purchase of Service model for their program and still plan to be Probation driven. Mr. Parry assured Board members that the Crime Lab is helping Cook County break away from the way things have been done in the past. Cook County will meet with Winnebago County next week to learn more about their Redeploy program and how they provide services to youth. Judge Maryam Ahmad has remained involved throughout the application process, which will likely be completed by late July 2022. Mr. Parry asked if anyone had questions.
   Ms. Wolff shared a concern about how service providers will be selected within the Purchase of Service model. She noted that over the years, many individuals working within diversion and deflection have voiced concern over the court's focus on punitive services and use of culturally incompetent services. Cook County must be the sole critic of service providers. Ms. Wolff also stated the importance of being prepared for criticism relating to ties between the University of Chicago Crime Lab and the Chicago Police Department. Mr. Parry assured Ms. Wolff that there are many people with the same concern and the issue is being monitored closely. In response to a question from Karrie Rueter about measuring the reduction of youth sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Cook County, Peter Parry explained that Cook County will be treated like a multi-county circuit where each courtroom is a county. There are four counties and courtrooms participating in the program. Cook County will measure success as a 25% decrease in youth sent to DJJ from across those four courtrooms.
7. Report on ORBIS Update
   Secretary Hou invited Ms. Marshall and Ms. Hughes to share updates about a recent meeting with ORBIS. The exception request was approved at the end of March after the state contract process was completed. The process is moving forward in getting ORBIS' pre-qualification status, which will enable IDHS to send them a Notice of State Award (NOSA). Ms. Hughes assured Board members that ORBIS will be able to spend the amount of money that has been allotted for them before the end of FY22. Ms. Rueter added that there will not be a delay for a FY23 contract since ORBIS will be receiving a continuation grant. FY23 may begin with an estimated amount since the number will depend on how many users are expected to need access to the system, but revisions can always be made.
8. Ad Hoc RIOB Data Workgroup Report
   Secretary Hou invited Ms. Studzinski to share updates. Ms. Studzinski said that the workgroup met last week, including additional liaisons from current sites to help examine data. Site liaisons were thrilled with the data and the possibility of receiving individual site reports. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the annual report, proxies, and how to determine if youth are improving. As the programs begin to reflect the new matrix, data will need to be collected that is removed from a binary perspective. The workgroup anticipates having future conversations about social media and youth and guns, which are both topics that were included in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Ms. Studzinski opened the space for questions and concerns.
   Ms. Wolff reminded Ms. Hou of Ryan Croke's assignment of bringing together different agencies to collaborate on how to best support youth in Redeploy. The services needed to support the families and youth in Redeploy programs are decentralized around state government and there must be a systematized way to ensure that families receive all the services that they are eligible for. Secretary Hou agreed to include a discussion of this topic at the next meeting and recognized that a regular cadence of other agencies being a part of Redeploy's work is necessary.
9. Ad Hoc RIOB Membership Report
   Secretary Hou invited Ms. Marshall to share updates. The RIOB Membership Report Committee is planning to meet before the Executive Committee meeting in May and will continue efforts surrounding the education of new board members and processes for new membership.
10. Adjourn
    Motion: At 11:30 am, Secretary Hou called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Elizabeth Clarke moved adjournment. Ms. Studzinski seconded the motion. Motion carried.

• Upcoming meetings/events:
  • Executive Committee Meeting: Friday, May 20th, 2022
  • Full Board Meeting: Friday, June 17th, 2022