January 18, 2018 State Task Force on Developing Opportunites for Youth and Young Adults Who Are Jobless and Out-of-School

Audience

Members of the State Task Force on Developing Opportunities for Youth and Young Adults Who Are Jobless and Out-of- School and staff. The Public is welcome to attend.

Date/Time

Thursday, January 18, 2018
1:00 PM

Location

James R. Thomson Center 100 W. Randolph St.
16th Floor, Room #504
Conference Call in: (712) 775-7031 / Access Code: 792-934-887#

Agenda

Introduction
Roll Call
Overview
History and Activities
Scheduling
Adjourn

Minutes

Introduction
Senator Hunter briefly explained the Task Force being a result of Senate Joint Resolution 10 which created a The State Task Force to provide opportunities to reengage, educate and train youth and young adults who are jobless and out of school including youth without a high school diploma and youth who are low-attending high school students and allows legislators, state agencies, community agency representatives and key stakeholders to be members of the Task Force. She reviewed the following 6 areas that the Task Force will work on: 1) Conduct a series of hearings through the state to examine impact of youth and young adults who are jobless and out of school; 2) Review data regarding youth and young adults who are jobless and out of school including youth with a high school diploma; 3) Examine programs and funding/financing mechanisms used by other states.
Roll Call
In attendance or on call: Senator Mattie Hunter (State Task Force Co-Chair); Jack Wuest, Alternative Schools Network (Data Committee Co-Chair); Senator Chuck Weaver; Representative Keith Wheeler; Paul Vallas (Policy, Program, Finance Committee Co-Chair); Quiwana Bell, Westside Health Authority (Data Committee Co-Chair); Reyahd Kazmi, National Youth Advocate Program; David Whittaker, Chicago Area Project; Andrew Wells, Chicago Urban League; Karina Ayala-Bermejo, Instituto Del Progreso Latino; Sheila Venson, Youth Connection Charter School; Caitlyn Barnes, Illinois Community College Board; Gretchen Lohman, Illinois Board of Higher Education; Kenneth Martin-Ocasio, Aunt Martha's Health and Wellness; Julio Rodriguez, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; Molly Uhe-Edmonds, Department of Children and Family Services; Terri Lamb, Illinois State Board of Education; Derek Cantu, Office of Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti.
* Not in attendance nor on call: Senator Sonya Harper; Anna Katter; Senator Kim Lightford; Senator Dan McConchie; Representative Fred Crespo; Representative Ryan Spain; Karrie Rueter, Illinois Department of Human Services; Ricardo Johnson, Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice; Andrea Durbin, Illinois Collaboration on Youth.
Overview of Task Force
Task Force Co-Chairs Senator Mattie Hunter and Representative Sonya Harper The Task Force will work on the following categories in regards to youth and young adults who are jobless and out of school including youth and young adults without a high school diploma: 1) Conduct a series of hearings through the state to examine impact of youth and young adults who are jobless and out of school; 2) Review data regarding youth and young adults who are jobless and out of school including youth with a high school diploma; 3) Examine various programs and funding/financing mechanisms used by other states; 4) Review various financing and funding mechanisms used by other states, counties, cities, foundations; 5)examine other issues as necessary; 6) Produce a report with preliminary recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on ways and means to address the challenge of reengaging and successfully training and preparing jobless and out of school youth focusing on an age range of 16 to 21 years old.
History and activities
1. Jack Wuest supplied the group with the Task Force Packet Materials.All participating members in the meeting acknowledged that they had the materials.
  1. Committees-The following committees were formed and committee meeting info as follows:
    1. Data Committee
      Conference call January 29th at 2pm. Call 888-330-9549 / Code 230540# Review current and develop new data regarding out of school and jobless youth and young adults.
      Representative Sonya Harper - We will want to get members to fill each of these committees. Each committee should set a date, time and place to meet today. The committee will review current data and develop new data regarding out of school and jobless youth and young adults. The University of Illinois at Chicago's Great Cities Institute is developing a new report examining data for Illinois and key areas in the state.
      Members: Co-Chair - Jack Wuest, Alternative Schools Network Co-Chair - Quiwana Bell, Westside Health Authority Caitlyn Barnes, Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) Reyahd D.J. Kazmi, National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP) Gretchen Lohman, Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) Kenneth Martin-Ocasio, Aunt Martha's Health & Wellness Molly Uhe-Edmonds, Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS)
    2. Policy, Program and Finance
      Meeting on January 31st at 10am at YCCS, 10 W. 35th St., Suite 11F4-2, Chicago, IL. This committee will examine financing, best program practices and policies in Illinois and other states regarding successful opportunities for out of school and jobless youth.
      Members: Chair - Paul Vallas, Chicago State University Karina Ayala-Bermejo, Instituto Del Progreso Latino Caitlyn Barnes, Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) Reyahd D. J. Kazmi, National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP) Karrie Rueter, Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) Sheila Venson, Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) Senator Chuck Weaver, Illinois Senate District 37 Andrew Wells, Chicago Urban League David Whittaker, Chicago Area Project Jack Wuest, Alternative Schools Network.
    3. Professional Development Committee
      Review successful professional development strategies including trauma informed and other professional development strategies.
      Members: Co-Chair - Andrea Durbin, Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY) (Need another Co-Chair) Derek Cantu, Office of Lieutenant governor Evelyn Sanguinetti Terri Lamb, Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Julio Rodriguez, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Molly Uhe-Edmonds, Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS)
Schedule for Future Task Force Meetings - Hold meetings at various areas around the state for strong input. Task Force could meet every other month with a hearing and discussion before or after the meeting involving youth and other people from organizations and groups to present their view of the situation for jobless and out of school youth. There could also be separate hearings for more input. A tentative hearing at Malcolm X College is scheduled on March 2nd.
1. Next Committee Meetings
  1. Next Data Committee Conference call January 29th at 2pm. Call 888-330-9549 / Code 230540#
  2. Next Policy, Program and Finance Committee Meeting on January 31st at 10am at YCCS, 10 W. 35th St., Suite 11F4-2, Chicago, IL
  3. Next Professional Development Committee Meeting TBD
2. Other Task Force Meetings
  1. Organizing meeting for March 2nd Task Force Hearing at Malcolm X College
    February 5th
    2 pm Chicago Urban League
    4510 S Michigan Ave.
    Chicago, IL
  2. Youth Employment Hearing - Help Build the Economy. Help Strengthen Our Youth and Communities. Prepare, Educate and Employ Out-of-School and Jobless Youth
    Friday, March 2
    9 am to 12 pm
    Malcolm X College
    1900 W. Jackson Blvd.
    Conference Room 1107
    Chicago, IL
  3. Next State Task Force Meeting
    March 16th
    10 am Thompson Center
    100 W. Randolph
    16th Floor, Room 504
    Chicago, IL
Other Items
1. Youth Employment Hearings to be developed by the Task Force from March 2 to Sept. 30:
  - Chicago (referenced above) hosted by Senator Mattie Hunter and Representative Sonya Harper
  - Peoria - Senator Weaver and Representative Spain will be hosts.
  - Aurora/Schaumburg - Representative Keith Wheeler and Representative Fred Crespo will be hosts.
  - Southern Illinois/Metro East - Reyahd Kazmi will help organize this with Senators and Representatives.
  - Danville/Effingham - Andrea Durbin will help organize this with Senators and Representatives.
  - Proviso/Westchester - Jack Wuest will work with Senator Lightford and Representatives Ford and Welch.
  - Other possible Hearing cities: Rockford, Quincy, Springfield, Rock Island, Macomb, Champaign
2. WHO, HOW, WHEN, WHY AND WHAT FOR OTHER HEARINGS
  Where Hearings Could Be - The Hearing should be in a place that is accessible and comfortable for youth and other groups to come and speak. It might be a local community agency, community college or what other venue the legislators would choose, but again with an emphasis to have groups feel comfortable to come and testify.
  1. Outreach to Youth, Groups, Etc. to Join the Hearing - The discussion about the Hearings was that the legislators could work with their local community groups, business associations and other relevant groups to reach out to key groups to come and testify.
  2. Structure of the Hearing - The structure of the hearing which would invite youth, businesses and community agencies working with jobless and out of school youth and other groups to the hearing. There should be at least
  3. 4 agencies that work with jobless and out of school youth and they should bring at least 1 youth to testify along with the adult from the agency, 3 local businesses and other groups.
  4. Length of Hearing - The Hearing should run from 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The format of the hearing could be:
    1. Introduction - Introduction by the State Legislators hosting the Hearing to give background of why the hearing is occurring.
      The questions and structure of the hearing would be to have 4 minutes each to speak addressing the following areas (if there are other pressing concerns they can speak about those concerns too but this is a friendly structure for their testimony:
    2. Testimony / Discussion
      - Pressing Needs - What are the pressing needs in terms of reaching and successfully assisting jobless and out of school youth and young adults? This can be personal testimony and testimony addressing programming, funding, policies, etc.
      - Barriers - What are the barriers, challenges, etc. that out of school and jobless youth face?
        
        Limited available programming
        
        Transportation
        
        Mental health
        
        Criminal records
        
        Housing
        
        Language
        
        Etc.
      - Resources - What are the available resources that assist jobless and out of school youth?
      - Recommendations - what recommendations do the people testifying have to successfully reach, serve and transition out of school and jobless youth to education, training and/or employment?
      - Policies - What policies would people testifying recommend?
  5. Notes will be taken and distributed to the Task Force Members to assist in the development of the draft and final report
  6. Preliminary dates for other meetings could be:
    Friday, June 15; Friday, August 17; Friday, September 28; Friday, November 2 - The Task Force will need to meet more regularly to review the Final Report; Friday, November 30 - The Task Force will need to meet more regularly to review the Final Report; Friday, December 14 - The Task Force will finalize the Final Report.