The Youth Homelessness Prevention Subcommittee
August 5, 2025
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Virtual WebEx - See below for meeting information
Meeting Information:
This meeting was virtual but per the Open Meeting Act, a physical space was provided for the public to attend in person; the physical location was 555 W Monroe St, Chicago, IL 60661; in the Chicago Room on the 4th floor, scheduled from 2:00 to 3:30.
Meeting Agenda:
I. Welcome and Roll Call of Appointees - require a quorum of 9 for voting purposes
II. Introductions of remaining attendees
III. Approval of minutes from June (required motion, second, and vote to approve)
IV. Renewed Focus of Yearly Mandated Trainings
V. Review of Subcommittee Legislative Goals and Updates
VI. Chapin Hall Literature Review
VII. Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement Grant
A. Update
B. Youth Advisory Group status
VIII. Public Comment
IX. Adjourn (required motion, second, and vote to approve)
Meeting Minutes:
Youth Homelessness Prevention Subcommittee Minutes (approved by committee vote at October 7, 2025, meeting):
I. Call to Order
II. Roll Call
a. Present:
i. Tedd Peso (The Night Ministry)
ii. Eugenia Olison (DPH)
iii. Ashley Bae (DHS)
iv. Jennifer Parrack (DOC)
v. Michelle Martin (DJJ)
vi. Nicholas Johnson (Youth Representative)
vii. Sandy Godinez (The Harbour)
viii. Nya Kelly (Chicago Coalition for the Homeless)
b. Not present:
i. Elizabeth Whitehorn (HFS)
ii. Mary Milano (DGAC)
iii. Heidi Mueller (DCFS)
iv. Isabella Hurtado (Governor's Office)
v. Kalynn Lane (Youth Representative)
vi. K'iani Macklin (Youth Representative)
vii. Ann Baker (Midwest Youth Services)
viii. Valerie Tawrel (360 Youth Services)
ix. Leonard Johnson (National Youth Advocate Program)
c. Seven members present - quorum not met
III. Unable to vote on acceptance of June minutes due to quorum not met
IV. Renewed Focus on Annual Trainings - yearly requirement, suggested to try and complete one training per week until completed, there are the 6 required state trainings and 1 required Open Meeting Act training. We are going for a hundred percent compliance this year and appreciate your efforts! If you are having any issue with logging in please reach out to Anna Spreitzer or Barbara Hobrock for assistance.
V. Subcommittee Goals
a. Created to review discharge planning, service plans, and discharge procedures for youth leaving the custody and guardianship of DCFS, the Department of Justice, the Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health, and the Department of Corrections. The goal is to collect data on the housing stability of youth for one year after they're released from these systems of care.
b. Based on the data collected, create a plan to improve discharge policies and procedures to ensure housing stability for youth who leave state systems of care, and then provide recommendations on community plans for sustainable housing, create education and employment plans for homeless youth, and create strategic collaborations between the systems of care with respect to youth leaving state systems of care. We are able to provide recommendation son community plans for sustainable housing, for homeless youth, and create strategic collaborations between the systems of care with respect to youth who are departing those systems of care.
VI. Presentation of Literature Review by Madeline Youngren, Policy Analyst from Chapin Hall, regarding best practices and implementation challenges of discharge and transition planning for youth exiting systems of care.
a. In addition to the subcommittee goals, a lot of the work that we will be doing towards discharge planning will benefit from the opportunities that are presented to us through the Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement (YHSI) grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which was granted to the State of Illinois last year. There are a few items related to the YHSI grant that we would like to review and discuss today.
b. Each year, thousands of youth exit systems such as child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health, many aging out without adequate support, which increases their risk of housing instability or homelessness. The problem is really an abrupt cutoff of services that leaves youth unprepared. With early and structured discharge and transitional planning, we can better equip young people with the tools that they need to succeed, including stable housing education, employment, and emotional supports.
c. We conducted a comprehensive literature review that included peer reviewed studies and technical reports on best practices.
i. Cross system collaboration
ii. Individualized youth-driven planning
iii. Post-discharge support
iv. Workforce Investment
v. Equity
vi. Evaluation
VII. Youth Homelessness Systems Improvement grant - updates
a. Making progress on YHSI - University of Illinois Chicago leading the work on data linking and analysis. Currently in process of getting all of their data sharing agreements in place with the Continuums of Care who have agreed to participate in the project as well as DCFS and DJJ.
b. The Night Ministry has been working on recruitment and outreach efforts for our Youth Advisory Group to bring all of our members together. The goal is to have ten members from across the state.
c. Chapin Hall has been working with DCFS and OPEH to determine internship projects for the intern program to be implemented.
VIII. Is there any Public Comment? No.
IX. Adjournment (unable to vote on motion to adjourn due to quorum not met)
Meeting Materials:
Literature Review Power Point (pdf) as presented by Chapin Hall
Meeting Recording:
Recording
