April 13, 2015 Racial and Ethnic Disparity (RED) Committee Meeting

Audience

Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Racial and Ethnic Disparity Members and Staff. The public is welcome to attend.

Date/Time

April 13, 2015, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location

  • 21 South Clark Street
    Suite 4301
    Chicago, IL
  • 823 E. Monroe
    Springfield, IL
  • Call in: 888-494-4032 Code: 5329547331#

Agenda

  1. Call to Order
  2. Roll Call
  3. Approval of Minutes
  4. Project Updates
    1. CASP
    2. DMC Newsletter
  5. Community Awareness
    1. Summer DMC/RED Forum
      1. Basic Logistics
      2. Breakout Session Priorities/Topic Areas
  6. Mental Health/Public Health
  7. School-to-Prison Pipeline
  8. New Business | Public Comment
  9. Next Meeting:  May 11, 2015
  10. Adjourn

Minutes

  1. Call to Order
    Meeting was called to order at 9:32am.
  2. Roll Call
    Chairman Esther Franco-Payne. No quorum present. Staff: Rob Vickery, Karima Douglas, Julie Stremlau. Guests: Stephanie Kollmann, Christine Head, Era Laudermilk, Mukhayyo Azamova, Jaclin Davis, Vanessa Weaver, Kathy Bankhead, Dr. Bambade Shakoor-Abdullah and Keyria Rodgers.
  3. Approval of Minutes
    Unable to approve minutes due to lack of quorum.
  4. Project Updates
    1. CASP- Representatives from CASP sites Peoria County (Vanessa Weaver) and Macon County (Keyria Rodgers) gave updates on their ongoing DMC planning efforts. Vanessa is leading the juvenile justice council's data collection efforts and working towards a council website. Vanessa also discussed Peoria's new "School Challenge" program which focuses on reducing truancy and poor academic performance among youth on probation. Keyria discussed the council's community forums on retail theft, runaways and domestic battery offenses. The data included in these community briefings include detailed race and ethnicity information re: those top offenses.
      1. Representatives from the Cook County Southland Juvenile Justice Council, Jaclin Davis and Dr. Bambade Shakoor-Abdullah requested technical assistance related to the CASP curriculum to be used with their Council.
    2. DMC Newsletter- April's Newsletter is set to be published and disseminated on April 15th. The spotlight is on the progress made on Illinois programs and policy initiatives that impact DMC. Such programs include Bridging the Divide and the reduction of harsh school discipline measures in Chicago Public Schools. The DMC Coordinator requested the Committee members submit events they want included in the newsletter.
  5. Community Awareness
    1. Summer DMC/RED Forum
      1. Basic Logistics: The group discussed possible locations for the forum and determined that multiple forums across the state would be easier for agencies to attend and better received by local community members. Committee staff and volunteers should create a loose structure and outline for the forum agendas to ensure that there is a coherent message. The Committee agreed that the program should end with a call to action for all attendees.
      2. It was noted that a lot of important information is gained in the small break out circles and attendees could shift out about every 20-30 minutes for maximum benefit. There will be further planning on the forum and final decisions on dates, locations, etc.
      3. Legislators should be an anticipated audience.
    2. Breakout Session Priorities/Topic Areas: The Committee's priority areas (community awareness, mental health and school discipline) should be the key themes throughout the forums. Other session priorities should include:
      1. A discussion of DMC reduction successes/model programs
      2. Keyria Rodgers suggested including a discussion of the state budget crisis
      3. Chairperson Franco-Payne suggested adding a coffee talk with juvenile justice funders such as the Woods Foundation, Polk Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust.
      4. Kathy Bankhead suggested we include information about how white youth in more affluent areas are treated by the system. What is the protocol for diverting youth away from arrest, formal charges and detention in those areas? Is there a standardized protocol?
    3. Stephanie Kollmann suggested developing a DMC Toolkit for distribution at the forums in order to give basic details about what DMC is and how DMC identification and reduction works for Illinois.
  6. Mental Health/Public Health: Christine Head volunteered to develop a series of one-pagers that discuss the intersection between mental health/public health data and the juvenile justice system. A Committee member also suggested using resources from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
  7. School-to-Prison Pipeline: The DMC Coordinator discussed working with key advocates around school discipline issues to understand what strategies are actually working to reduce racial disparities in school suspensions, expulsions and school based arrests as opposed to just overall reductions. Such strategies include changes to student code of conduct changes as restorative justice practices in schools. Dr. Bambade Shakoor-Abdullah also suggested using the Aban Aya Youth Project, an evidence based project geared towards youth behavior.
  8. New Business | Public Comment
  9. Next Meeting: May 11, 2015
  10. Adjourn
    Meeting was adjourned at 10:51am.