Aurora LAC Meeting Minutes, July 6, 2023

Thursday, July 6, 2023

3:00pm to 4:00pm

Hybrid at Kane County Health Department & via Zoom

Attendees:

  1. Adam Grubbs - City of Aurora
  2. Anne Wilson-Dooley - Aurora Community Member
  3. Babatunde Beeks - START Program
  4. Candace - Their Leaders in Transformational Education (LITE)
  5. Derek Bos - Kane County Health Department
  6. Joe Walsh - Kane County Health Department
  7. Kaitlin Soriano - Kane County Health Department
  8. Lt. Andy Wolcott - Aurora Police Department
  9. Michael Isaacson - Kane County Health Department
  10. Ricky Rogers - African American Men of Unity
  11. Sharon Cabrera - Kane County Health Department
  12. Simon Rodriguez - City of Aurora
  13. Tina Koral - Kane County Health Department

Minutes

  1. Called Meeting to Order and Introduced Members of the Meeting
    1. Introduced Kaitlin Soriano as the new coordinator for Local Advisor Council
  2. Reminder that Members of the Local Advisor Council must Complete DHS Mandated Training Requirements
    1. Participants and members of the meeting who wish to be listed as an official Local Advisory Council member should email Kaitlin Soriano ( SorianoKaitlin@KaneCountyIL.gov )
    2. List of current members .
  3. Provided Updates and Discussions Regarding Community and Organizations
    1. Leaders in Transformational Education (LITE) expressed excitement for completion of grant applications regarding safe programing to enhance youth life skills such as employee readiness and career exploration. Planning a youth conference for this upcoming year and ideas to collaborate with local community members such as the Kane County Health Department to provide workshops on mental health and wellness.
    2. Representative from African American Men of Unity first thanked everyone who supported their Juneteenth celebration as over 7,000 people were in attendance to celebrate the holiday. The African American Men of Unity are continuing to provide individuals and families with education, training, and resources to improve their quality of life and promote self-efficacy through their various programs. They are currently working on recruiting clients to be a part of their violence prevention program.
    3. Community member expressed the idea of the LAC working with the Aurora Police Department to be updated on community safety incidents related to gun violence prior to the meetings. Another idea of data such as a heat map was mentioned followed by discussion of how a heat map could and could not be useful to the communities. Aurora Police Department (APD) shared willingness to work with the LAC but would first have to navigate with the police department what could be released.
    4. African American Men of Unity furthered the conversation with a pre-arrest diversion aspect, to get the community organizations involved with the APD more.
    5. City of Aurora is working on wrapping up grants and emphasized how grateful they are for their grant writer. With their grant they plan on expanding their restorative justice youth court program. They program is free of charge for youth under 18 who commit their first offense. The program has proven to be very successful in behavioral and lifestyle changes for the youth. They shared the idea of integrating/expanding their program for at-risk youth such as students who are truant. Also stated the program will have a better follow-up system for those who complete the program, providing continuous services or referring them to other resources.
    6. Discussed the issue of truancy being an issue in Aurora and expressed the community need for more referral services and for more community organizations to be listed as a referral service. Idea to partner with Aurora schools.  
  4. Established New Meeting Schedule
    1. Majority voted to meet on the second Thursday of each month with a tentative start time of 1:00pm
  5. Meeting was Adjourned