January 15, 2020 IJJC Meeting Agenda & Minutes

Audience

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

Date/Time

January 15, 2020, 9:00am to 12:00pm

Location

• 401 S Clinton
  7th Floor
  Chicago, IL
• Call In: 888-494-4032
  Code: 5329547331#
• 823 E Monroe
  Springfield, IL

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Fiscal Updates--YTD FY20 Spending
5. FFY18 Core Requirements Compliance Report
6. Presentation from Kane County Juvenile Justice Council
7. Old Business
   1. Youth engagement strategies update
   2. Minimum age of Detention of Youth update
   3. CY 2018 Transfer Report
   4. Site Visits Progress/TA Update
   5. CY 2020 Meeting Calendar
8. New Business
   1. SFY 2021 NOFO Priorities
   2. Web Ex meetings
9. Legislative Updates
10. Public Comment
11. Next Meeting
12. Adjourn

Minutes

1. Call to Order
   Chairman Velasquez call the meeting to order at 9:07 am.
2. Roll Call
   Commissioners, present: Chairman Rick Velasquez, Lisa Jacobs, Jackie Bullard.  Phone in: Julie Biehl, George Hill, Dana Weiner and Arnetra Jackson.  Staff: Shawn Freeman, Peg Robertson, Olivia Wilks, Samantha Edwards, Amanda McMillen, Kadima Palles, Chelsea Biggs, Dick Walsh and Wendy Nussbaum.
   The Commission did not reach quorum and Rick Velasquez emphasized the need for increased attendance and engagement of Commission members in order to meet the Open Meetings Act requirements. Additionally it was understood that because of failure to make quorum the Commission would not be able to take any final actions but would proceed to convene the discussion. Mr. Velasquez asked that all Commission members make the effort to attend meetings and that he will be flexible in the future to accommodate for scheduling conflicts, including future consistency regarding time and location for all meetings. Mr. Velasquez also expressed interest in the goal of utilizing technology more and in a better way for meetings and presentations. Rick Velasquez announced that representatives from the Kane County Juvenile Justice Council would be presenting to the Commission later in the meeting to discuss their work. Mr. Velasquez advised that this is something he would like the Commission to regularly do in order to showcase the work the Councils are doing. Mr. Velasquez explained that he had attended several site visits with ICOY that were very informative and that the firsthand experience of creating a working relationship and gaining knowledge with the Councils and their leaders has been very beneficial. Mr. Velasquez also advised there is a tight schedule coming up especially regarding NOFOs and anticipates some issues with governance and scheduling at this point. Finally, Mr. Velasquez announced that Olivia Wilks from ICOY is leaving and moving on to Chapin Hall to work on Family First policy. This was her last day and her last Commission meeting.
3. Approval of Minutes
   No quorum present, unable to review. 
4. Fiscal Updates - YTD FY20 Spending
   Wendy Nussbaum gave the Commission updates on fiscal spending. Ms. Nussbaum advised that DuPage County is behind in their spending; however this is due to a delay in billing for training their service providers TF-CBT. DeKalb County: Ms. Nussbaum advised that DeKalb County is behind on their spending money. Additionally, DHS conducted a program and financial audit of DeKalb county and reported some non-compliance, specifically around their Juvenile Justice Coordinator's record keeping and reporting of billable hours. Rick Velasquez observed that there were some additional JJC implementation issues observed at the previous site visit. Mr. Velasquez advised that there would be a follow up site visit soon in order to gain clarity on their focus and spending. This results of the next site visit will be brought back to the Commission with recommendations for the remainder of FY20 and FY21. Rick Velasquez questioned whether we need to notify them to advise our concerns and he and Peggy Robertson agreed to reach out. CPRD: spending is lower than the contract- personnel needs that may be able to close that gap as well as training, also working through some complications with Peg's contract. Rick clarified that this is not unusual for there to be issues with Peg's contract and delaying her pay but not her workflow. Shawn needed a few months into the fiscal year to get acclimated to his new role at CPRD and is now more situated in his role w the Commission and council and can now make recommendations confidently to increase spending to match contract. Westside Health Authority: They have not been providing program performance reports (PPR) in a consistent or timely manner. Wendy Nussbaum wondered if this would result in a postponement of funding which was affirmed. She did advise that they have been notified twice and a response was received the morning of the Commission meeting. Per their response, that agency is working on providing their latest PPR. Rick Velasquez advised that this agency has some other issues related to programming and funding that require further monitoring, possibly internal monitoring by DHS.
5. FFY18 Core Requirements Compliance Report
   Wendy Nussbaum advised this compliance report is not a written report but instead an excel spreadsheet. However, she believes it would be useful to turn the Excel sheet to a written report if possible. The Compliance Report is due to ODJJP on Feb 14th, 2020 and she requested ICOY present it to her sooner than that for editing and analysis. ICOY will be assisting with editing and updating the Compliance Manual and operationalizing Dick Walsh's role in order to standardize and systemically communicate the work process. Rick Velasquez agreed that it is important to have a narrative behind our compliance reporting and an easily transferrable operational structure across all systems. Olivia Wilks advised that there is a lot of rich data in the excel report that can be turned into informational reports where we can identify and follow up on trends and patterns. Mr. Velasquez agreed that this is the role of the Commission; to identify, report and address issues related to detention and diversion. Lisa Jacobs advised that there may be mechanical issues related to future planning without access to comprehensive data, as the Commission can learn a lot from data about how systems are functioning. Additionally the Board would like to formulate how to communicate what they are learning about the compliance process to interested parties. Ms. Jacobs believes that the Commission is competent in the actual data flow and monitoring process and can now re-focus on improving what they learn from it and how that can be communicated. Wendy Nussbaum advised that the Commission will need to ask for permission from DOC for approval to ask for more comprehensive and detailed data as the current data gathered is not good for quick analysis. To further emphasize the importance of communicating this data to interested stakeholders, Rick Velasquez used the example of the Commission's involvement with the City of Chicago's advisory panel revising JISC and diversion model. Mr. Velasquez explained that Dick Walsh often identifies CPD as being the most non-compliant and this data and any narrative or reports can be very beneficial in informing the advisory panel about compliance issues. Mr. Velasquez will update the Commission later in the day or in a future meeting about what is going on with the advisory panel. Julie Biehl suggested that CPD's non-compliance should be presented to CPD as they pick and transition a new Superintendent, as their understanding of diversion will be critical. Rick Velasquez elaborated that the City is approaching the Federal monitoring and oversight as not just a CPD issue but on a citywide systemic level and that diversion is on their radar as this has been an issue for over 10 years under the JISC model. Jackie Bullard brought up that the continuing incarceration of status offenders statewide is a large and concerning problem. Ms. Bullard advised that due to the recent cannabis legalization, possession of it has become a status offense which will need monitoring to ensure youth are not sent to detention on these types of offenses. Shawn Freeman advised that he has talked to some police superintendents about this issue but doesn't have a clear picture of how it will play out. Mr. Freeman does believe that most youth will continue to be arrested for marijuana use and sent straight to detention due to system habit. Wendy Nussbaum requested that Shawn try to find out how many youth are currently being held in detention due to cannabis charges. Jackie Bullard advised that this issue is most specific to counties that have high detention rates and in the past it has not been successful to bring public defenders in to challenge status offense detentions. Ms. Bullard advised that the courts have additionally been using contempt and violation of probation/court order as reasons to put youth into detention, sometimes for up to a year cumulatively. She advised that she wants to look more deeply at the data in order to try and leverage the information gathered in order to address these practices. Rick Velasquez asked if Jackie Bullard is willing to create a workgroup to take a look at the data and advise the Commission on what the data means and what steps the commission should take to address the issue. Ms. Bullard declined, explaining that she is currently focusing most of her time and resources on new sentencing process for youth serving life without parole as well as a high number of DJJ transfers. But that she would help as much as she can. Another systemic issue discussed was the readiness and relationships between law enforcement and CCBYS to address challenges. Rick Velasquez advised he'll be meeting with CCBYS providers and sharing with them what the Commission is experiencing and how they can intervene to help with diversion. Lisa advised that regarding compliance in detention without a delinquency cases pending (status offender) it may be a good time to partner with AOIC. This is because the AOIC is in the process of updating the detention criteria and standards statewide to ensure that they are not scoring youth in who have possession of cannabis charges.
6. Presentation from Kane County Juvenile Justice Council
   Rick introduced the presenters from Kane County Juvenile Justice Council and impressed upon the Commission how important it is to hear from grantees. This allows the Commission to gain first-hand knowledge of the work being done as well as develop working relationships. The presentation began at 9:50am. Julia Schick, Coordinator for the Kane County Juvenile Justice Council, alongside Sarah Seberger, the Assistant States Attorney and State's Attorney's designee to the Kane County Juvenile Justice Council presented to the Commission about Kane County's council. Kane was invited as they are a very established council and a model of collaboration and engagement. Additionally, with the addition of the new Juvenile Justice Judge Parga, there is potential for even more collaboration and reform within their JJ system.
   Sarah Seberger began the presentation by outlining the Kane JJC's current project, which has been doing work in order to formalize the council. Their hope is that this operationalizing of the Council will allow it to remain fully operational regardless of changes in leadership, membership or personnel. Some examples of their formalization work is the creation and appointment of Chair and Co-Chair positions, open meeting compliance, written bylaws, written internal processes, community partnerships and building capital within the community. Additionally, Ms. Seberger relayed that they were working on expanding their data collection in order for the Council to have access to arrest data. This matter was discussed with the Chief Judge and was approved.
   Additional accomplishments include:
   • Growing awareness within schools around school safety and discipline
   • Annual reports that are disseminated to the community
   • Resource cards that are given to every police officers in order to appropriately refer youth in crisis.
   • Resource cards for all community members that educate the public about different kinds of domestic abuse (partner/intimate domestic violence vs family abuse).
   • Train the trainer and training educators in restorative practices.
   • Parent engagement trainings presented in both English & Spanish, including subjects such as internet safety and school discipline
   • The creation of a restorative practice committee, which has been a great opportunity for people across all districts to compare and learn from each other regarding best practice
   • To address the amount of detention commitments due to failure to appear warrants, they instituted a program where youth now receive reminder calls for court cases
   • The Court Services Department made a shift in their risk assessment model to try to address Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R.E.D.)
   • A strong partnership with the Gail Borden Library
     Rick Velasquez expressed how vital it is that Kane not only has the library involved with the Council but also government entities, social service agencies and more. He pointed out how overlooked but important libraries are to uplifting communities and how unique Kane is for thinking to include them in the Council.
   • The Council shared that they believe their biggest accomplishment is bringing so many stakeholders together and to connect resources and network, especially during their quarterly meetings. This coordination and facilitation of resource and asset connections has resulted in:
     • The addition of a social worker in the Aurora Police Department
     • The new Juvenile Judge who has been utilizing Council resources for the youth she sees
     • The Council voted and became Trauma-Informed
     • Schools incorporation of restorative justice practices
     • The hiring of psychologist, who, with the added credibility of having been a former police officer, provides training to police officers about adolescent brain development.
   • Questions & Answers:
     • Question: Lisa Jacobs asked do the external resources (funding from Commission) make a difference? Also, should the Commission only provide the funds and let the Councils run as they want OR should the Council also provide guidance, technical assistance
       Answer: The funds provided by the Commission made it possible for the Council to hire Julia Schick as the Coordinator and she is the person able to bring everything together to accomplish the things the County has accomplished. Also, funds have paid for large presentations, printed materials, programming to educate the community, etc. Kane's Council appreciates collaboration and a mix of ideas and outside perspectives, challenges, etc to prevent tunnel vision/group think. Additionally, sometimes the Commission reaching out to stakeholders can yield more results when Kane needs something and isn't getting a response.
     • Question: Wendy Nussbaum asked for 2 or 3 lessons learned that would be helpful for new councils.
       Answer:  Sarah Seberger advised that any new council work on getting their name out, becoming entrenched in the community, pick the low hanging fruit first and build the structure and reputation to make the Council indispensable, follow the law (Roberts Rule of Order, etc.) to legitimize the Council and create trust/transparency and also to help build structure Julia Schick agreed that compliance and following the law has made a huge positive difference. She also believes that one huge learning opportunity for new councils is to see what the community has and work on building those relationships by being strategic on creating relationships and strengthening connections. Additionally she suggest that councils themselves about the most current youth research and trends and be able to synthesize and communicate that information to stakeholders.
     • Question: Jackie Bullard asked how data connects to reforms?
       Answer: Sarah Seberger advised that they use data to make changes but it was also used in order to persuade the Chief Judge to allow the Council access to more data on arrests. Julia Schick advised that a lot of the data is used behind the scenes and the Court Services dept shifted how they are obtaining data in order to be congruent with the data the Commission has to submit. Both representatives advised that there are challenges, such as a lack of resources particularly for high need youth, continued resistance regarding R.E.D. and the ability to connect with all of the beat police officers serving Kane County. The presentation ended with Lisa Jacobs advising the Kane JJC representatives that the Commission wants to amplify the voices of different councils if they are all reporting that they are seeing the same issues. Additionally the Commission is interested in connecting some of things that Kane is seeing and learning and doing with state stakeholders.
7. Old Business
   1. Youth engagement strategies update
      The Commission expressed the desire to not just fill role of youth commissioner but to utilize that role as part of the commission's strategy statewide. Rick Velasquez identified that there may be system and access barrier for that role of youth commissioner and the Commission needs to work in creating better times for meetings in order for youth to participate. Julie Biehl agreed and identified two major barriers specifically: Money and timing. Additionally it was brought up that there needs to be a specific goal for the Youth Advisory Board to convene about in order to connect their organizing to current issues.
      Samantha Edwards detailed that ICOY met with Mikva Challenge about re partnering with their existing JJ councils. Since then there have been multiple follow ups with no response but the partnership continues to look promising, Mikva is world-renowned in their youth council and youth engagement work and the Commission wants to move forward with that partnership.
      Rick Velasquez, Olivia Wilks and Samantha Edwards participated in a CJJ webinar that outlined best practice on how to engage with youth. Olivia advised that her main takeaway from this webinar is that there are people already engaged in this work that have created good models. The Commission can learn and borrow from these models, however part of these models is the need for stipends for the youth in order to incentivize them to engage. Rick Velasquez advised that the Commission needs to formalize this YAB process by having a committee that identifies system and access barriers, provides input regarding the selection of partnerships and design we will follow and then come back with solution recommendations. Along those lines, what we do know is that youth engaged in this are not financially compensated, meetings are not scheduled with youth schedules in mind and that there are many people that are incarcerated or otherwise in need of accommodations.
      Judge George Timberlake said that in the past the Commission has looked for young adults that have lived experience instead of younger youth as it's easier to engage them. If the Commission continued this practice it will satisfy Federal OJJDP requirements (up to age 28) for a youth member and create relationships with youth. Rick Velasquez agreed but clarified that it's only a good tactic for representation on the Commission, in terms of YAB it's important to focus on younger people and their families.
      Lisa Jacobs suggested that the Commission starts doing listening sessions and engage with agencies that have access to these youth voices (ie: Storycatchers, DCFS, BYP100, Assata's Daughters, etc) and possibly focus on learning from the youth already engaged instead of trying to start our own advisory board.
      Rick Velasquez wondered if the problem of learning about and creating a YAB is a governance issue bc the Commission isn't engaged enough and lets the YAB fall by the wayside. Mr. Velasquez feels that it may be beneficial to have some Commission members take this on and work outside of Commission meeting times, collaborating with ICOY and others to move this forward. Arnetra Jackson advised that she wants a call with ICOY to clarify what the YAB will look like, what it's goal is, etc.
   2. Minimum age of Detention of Youth update
      Data has been examined by around the issue of 10, 11 & 12 year olds that can't go home (based on police assessment) and have no other options for placement. Julie Biehl questioned how the police can make child welfare judgement and what were they using as basis or criteria for that determination. Wendy Nussbaum advised that the determination is not that they "can't go home" but that all other placement options have been exhausted. Lisa Jacobs explained that the police have determined that the youth must be screened for a detention hearing and this screening takes into consideration the youth's family situation. Ms. Jacobs is working on a report about this. Peg Robertson and Shawn Freeman offered can to help with this and the hope is to create system maps and identify gaps in resources and family support.
   3. CY 2018 Transfer Report
      Shawn Freeman updated the Commission- the report is prepared and ready to go but is missing Cook County and Private Attorney automatic transfer data; however, he believes he will be getting this data this week. Mr. Freeman has also added 2016 automatic transfer data (added into the 2017) and will then perform one final review. Mr. Freeman advised that 2018 data is coming along and he is currently getting robust data from the States Attorney. Peg Robertson advised that one lesson learned during this transfer report process is that many circuit clerks don't realize they are legally/statutorily required to collect and provide this data. Additionally there are some systemic barriers regarding Clerk's data collection (ie: some count by hand, don't keep records)
   4. Site Visits Progress/TA Update
   5. CY 2020 Meeting Calendar
      Wendy Nussbaum directed the board to the meeting calendar information. Rick Velasquez suggested that there may be a call before the April meeting for NOFO approvals.
8. New Business
   1. SFY 2021 NOFO Priorities
      The Commission is beginning to craft the 2021 NOFOS. Last year there were 2 competitive NOFOs (Youth Serving Programs & JJCs). System improvement is due to be re-bid as well.
      The Commission discussed how they would like their NOFOs to look this year and what they want them to include. Rick Velasquez advised the Commission's 3 year plan for OJJDP will begin so there will be substantial discussion around how the Commission moves forward, including regarding NOFOs. System improvement grants are per year but can be approved for 3 years without having to re-bid.
      Mr. Velasquez also advised if the Commission decides funding certain agencies and/or certain programs (JJC funding) we have an obligation to advise agencies that FY21 will be the last year. Wendy Nussbaum advised that last year the Commission didn't accept new Councils for funding but did continue to fund established councils.
      With regards Youth Serving Programs, Rick Velasquez would like to clarify the reason for Commission funding and focus on innovation and alignment with the Commission's vision; not just funding service for service delivery sake. Mr. Velasquez asked about how the Commission can help this grow innovative programs to scale, how it can fund & replicate and institutionalize innovation and create real system changes.
      Rick Velasquez posed the following questions:
      1. Does the Commission want to put out a NOFO for JJ Councils? If so, will it be for new Councils or only established sites
      2. Does the Commission want to put money out for youth services in existing sites only or new sites as well and either way, they must be mindful to build in questions in the NOFO around how the site thinks the funding they receive will address systemic issues (DuPage County and YOS are perfect examples of use of funds for innovative systemic and needs responsive services) and the questions structure needs to be tied to data, scalability and ties to another funding source such as CCBYS, etc. 
      3. Jackie Bullard asked if the Commission is going to be funding these programs in perpetuity. She advised that she has witnessed Commission funding running out and subsequently funded programs disappear. It is important that the NOFO asks for proof of sustainability.
         Lisa Jacobs advised that we need to consider agencies like WHA and NYAP who focus on front end deflection with a focus on R.E.D. Ms. Jacobs advised that they may not have the same funding streams, innovative practices etc- and the Commission may need these agencies to be able to report back by helping devise system improvement/change strategies. Olivia Wilks explained that those sites that don't have Redeploy unilaterally struggle to serve high needs kids and serving that population can be an innovative approach for funding.
         The determination by the Commission is that they will move forward with funding existing Youth Councils as well as New Youth Councils. Olivia Wilks also advised that new councils in areas where there is Redeploy would be a great expansion as well as Winnebago county.
   2. Web Ex meetings
      No update noted
9. Legislative Updates
   None noted
10. Public Comment
    None noted
11. Next Meeting
    P&G/Executive Committee Meeting: Feb 19, 2020, P&G at 9:00 AM; Full Commission at 10:30 AM; P&G/Full Commission Meeting: April 22, 2020, P&G at 9:00 AM; Full Commission at 10:30 AM.   
12. Adjourn
    Meeting was adjourned at 11:40am.