AGENDA and MINUTES - Pillar 5 Subcommittee meeting, June 20, 2025

Illinois Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security

Subcommittee on Pillar 5: Support Trusted Community Based Providers to Serve the Needs of those In Deep Poverty

Meeting Agenda and Minutes

Friday, June 20, 2025, 1:30-2:30 PM

Via WebEx

In person location:

401 S Clinton St, Chicago, IL 60607

Via WebEx

Agenda:

Welcome Roll Call
Public Comment - subject to written comment in advance
Approval of Meeting Minutes: November 14, 2024 and March 21, 2025
Debrief on the listening session held on May 30, 2025 - Chair Lauren Wright
Next Steps
1. Schedule of Meetings
  1. Friday, September 19, 2025, 2-3 PM
  2. Friday, December 19, 2025, 2-3 PM
Adjournment

Minutes:

Subcommittee members in attendance:

Lauren Wright - Chairperson
Rev. Dwight Ford - Commission member
Jennifer Hebel - public member
Deborah Ward-Mitchell - public member
Courtney Hedderman - public member
Becky Salazar - public member

Subcommittee members absent:

Al Llorens - Commission member
Juan Calderon - Commission member
Senator Kimberly Lightford - Commission member
Janice Phillips - IDPH, IWGP member
Meredith Byers - public member
Amy Brennan - public member
Lesley Schwartz - IDHS SME
Jennifer Gentile - IDHS-SME
Phillis Johnson-Haywood - IDHS SME

Administrator: Priya Khatkhate, IDHS-Deputy Assistant Secretary for Programs

Facilitators/Guests:

Justin Bologna - Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP)
Bruce Parry - Illinois Union of the Homeless and Illinois Poor People's Campaign

Proceedings:

Welcome Roll Call - led by Administrator Khatkhate.
Public Comment - Bruce Parry provided the following public comment:
- Recommends that the Commission adopts the National Academy of Sciences metric for poverty: Those living under 200% of the SPM threshold as the target.
- The official poverty measure is insufficient to capture everybody who is in poverty.
- The SPM accounts for family income after transfers. It shows the effects of SNAP, EITC, etc.
- Most poor people are one emergency away from entering deep poverty.
- They also recommend that someone who has lived experience (someone who is or has recently been homeless) be part of the commission.
Approval of Meeting Minutes: November 14, 2024 and March 21, 2025 - postponed due to lack of quorum.
Debrief on Listening Session held on May 30, 2025 - Chair Lauren Wright
- Illinois Partners got feedback from trusted providers (who are mostly community-based) on the following key question: What are they experiencing in light of federal threats to funding?
- Key points from discussion:
  1. Concerns about potential reduction in public health funding, which could affect local health departments and environmental justice.
  2. Concerns were raised about SNAP cuts increasing demand for food pantries and housing subsidies.
  3. Organizations highlighted challenges in providing services, such as affordable housing for disabled individuals and increased calls for housing assistance.
  4. There was an emphasis on the interconnectedness of all of these services -that clients who need access to one type of service often need access to others as well
  5. The need for non-traditional funding sources (and sharing these broadly) and better referral systems was emphasized.
- The listening session had a low turnout as it was held during the last week of the legislative session and Illinois Partners was stretched thin.
- Illinois Partners is conducting a survey to understand the impacts of federal uncertainty in real time. Illinois Partners wants to understand impacts on consumers and clients.
- The target audience for the survey are the community-based providers particularly those receiving state and federal funding. More generally, any organization that is meeting the needs of community members.
- Member Jennifer Hebel will take the survey back to other staff and discuss distribution to partners.
Discussion/Review of Pillar 5 goals - Chair Wright
1. Goals
  1. Advocating for Caregiver Support: The subcommittee will pursue advocacy for appropriations to bolster financial support for caregivers, focusing on securing cost of living adjustments for caregiving providers to sustain this vital workforce. Additionally, the subcommittee is in support of the caregiver portal being developed by the Illinois Department on Aging.
  2. Building an Integrated Network of Community Providers: To improve services for those experiencing deep poverty, the subcommittee will research best practices for engaging and coordinating with community-based providers. This effort will clarify the concept of an " integrated network," ensuring that community organizations can effectively collaborate, share resources, and disseminate opportunities for better support.
  3. Advancing Equitable Access to State Funding: Pillar Five is committed to promoting consistent and equitable funding that reflects the rising costs of essential services. In FY25, they will revisit the Human Services Equitable Pay Act, analyzing previous feedback to refine and strengthen tie proposal to align with broader Commission priorities.
  4. Improving Disbursement Practices for Anti-Poverty Funds: To increase the effectiveness of State funds reaching families in need, the subcommittee will document best practices in fund distribution. Drawing from this research, they will design an advocacy strategy to enhance Illinois' disbursement practices, maximizing the impact of funds for families facing poverty.
2. Discussion
  - Any decision on the adoption of FY26 goals can wait until there is quorum.
  - Some achievements have been made on goal 1. For goal 2, the listening session was the first attempt to build the integrated network.
  - For goal 3, feedback on the Act is welcome. Goal 4 is in the works.
  - One way to move forward is to re-engage the identified areas with concentrated deep poverty with the subcommittee as the convener allowing organizations to bring in directly impacted individuals (on a reasonable local level).
  - The goals for next year should reflect the overall goals of the Commission.
  - Member Jennifer Hebel shared that IDoA is doing a lot of listening sessions and one of the findings is that people do not have a good understanding of the existing resources. One of the things that IDoA did was connecting people to existing resources which they are eligible and this helped providers identify where they are NOT reaching people.
  - Pillar 3 subcommittee is dedicated to improving access to benefits.
  - Member Becky Salazar suggested to include representatives (in deep poverty areas) from the benefit/programs that serve low-income persons, like Medicaid, MCOs, energy assistance offices, food pantries, etc. to exchange information.
  - Ms. Hebel suggested convening people to share best practices.
  - Chair Wright shared that Illinois Partners has Local Area Councils (LACs) that meet regularly to troubleshoot issues. The Quad Cities network adapted a software for their local area, and that's how they refer clients to services that they need.
  - Ms. Hebel suggested using the areas (with systems that work and can be replicated) as mentors or coaches for other areas interested in implementing similar things. This could raise questions about whether systems can be shared, and if they're proprietary. Many times, there are great ideas that stay in a single region but should be shared elsewhere.
Next Steps
1. Schedule of Meetings - will look at different schedule earlier in the week to improve attendance.
  1. Friday, September 19, 2025, 2-3 PM
  2. Friday, December 19, 2025, 2-3 PM
2. Discuss recommendations for the larger Commission and also think about the impact on the Commission's work and subcommittee goals of the current changes happening in the federal level.
3. Chair Wright, Kaitlin and Administrator Khatkhate will work together to form tentative goals for the next year to be presented to the Commission on its upcoming meeting on July 29th.
Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 2:59 PM.