Social Services Advisory Council Agenda and Minutes - 11/19/20

AGENDA

November 19, 2020; 12:00 PM

WebEx Video Conference: https://illinois.webex.com/illinois/j.php?MTID=ma96f83c387921d38f9cd8e6397be6c3a

Join by Phone: (312) 535-8110; Access Code: 177 132 2346

  1. Welcome & Introductions
  2. Public Participation *
  3. Approval of Meeting Minutes: July 31, 2020 Meeting
  4. Housekeeping
    1. Proposed Amendment to Bylaws
    2. Meetings
    3. Appointments
    4. SSAC Webpage: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=126807 
  5. IDHS Updates
  6. Continued Discussion: Priorities for the Social Services Advisory Council
  7. Discussion: Committees of the SSAC
  8. Questions + Answers (pre-solicited)
  9. Adjournment

* If you would like to submit a public comment, please email your comment to Katlyn.Halstead@illinois.gov by 8:00 AM on Thursday, November 19, 2020

Meeting Minutes

Council Members in Attendance: Dayo Adenekan, CILA Corporation; Adam Ballard, Access Living; Quiwana Bell, Chair, Westside Health Authority; Mary Camper, Habilitative Systems; Carlene Cardosi, Rosecrance; Sherrie Crabb, IL Partners for Human Service; Gillian Darlow, Polk Bros. Foundation; Maria Ferrera, DePaul University; Ireta Gasner, Ounce of Prevention Fund; Angie Hampton, Egyptian Health Department; Mike Inman, Mayor of Macomb; Taneka Jennings, HANA Center; Niya Kelly, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; Yesenia Lopez, Cook County Commissioner; Dr. Dan Lustig, Haymarket Center; Bela Mote, Carole Robertson Center for Learning; Sergio Obregon, Chicago Public Schools Children and Benefits Management Unit Liaison; Debbie Pavick, Thresholds; Sylvia Puente, Latino Policy Forum; Frances Reyes, The Center for Prevention of Abuse; Michele Worobiec, TASC; Gloria Yen, University YMCA

Council Members Absent: Keri Clark, Union County; Dulce Ortiz, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center; Jeremy Rosen, Shriver Center on Poverty Law; Itedal Shalabi, Arab American Family Services; Loren Simmons, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

IDHS Staff in Attendance: Director David Albert, Chief of Staff Ryan Croke, Director Caronina Grimble, Katlyn Halstead, Secretary Grace Hou, Director Andre Jordan, Director Rahnee Patrick, Assistant Secretary Dulce Quintero, General Counsel John Schomberg, Director Allison Stark, Director Tim Verry

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Quiwana Bell at 12:02 PM.

Welcome & Introductions:

Chair Quiwana Bell welcomed members of the Social Services Advisory Council, guests, and members of Illinois Department of Human Services staff to the meeting. Chair Bell informed the council that roll call would be taken during the proposed amendment to the by-laws.

Public Participation:

None received.

Approval of 07/31/20 Meeting Minutes & Proposed Amendment to Bylaws:

Motion to approve the 07/31/20 Meeting Minutes and the Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws by Ireta Gasner, seconded by Niya Kelly. The proposed amendment will change the name for the Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse to the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery. The council voted unanimously to approve.

Housekeeping:

Meetings for 2021: Council members should send any dates that will not work for future meetings to Katlyn.Halstead@illinois.gov. The current, proposed meeting dates for calendar year 2021 are: February 25, May 20, August 17, and November 18 from 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM.

Appointments: Secretary Hou will make four appointments to the council; IDHS will notify the council when the appointments have been made.

SSAC Webpage: IDHS has created a webpage where council members and the public can see previous minutes, upcoming meetings, etc.

IDHS Updates:

IDHS Chief of Staff Ryan Croke introduced the Illinois Department of Human Services leadership that were present at the meeting. Croke reviewed the IDHS by the Numbers document shared with the SSAC, a snapshot of IDHS Divisions and make-up.

The IDHS Team reviewed highlights of the work done recently in regard to:

  • Community Provider PPE Distribution
  • Illinois Census Count
  • Medicaid / Long-Term Care Backlog
  • Suicide Prevention Activities
  • Welcoming Centers
  • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Racial Justice Plan

Continuation: Priorities of the Social Services Advisory Council:

Chair Quiwana Bell introduced the continued group discussion surrounding the priorities of the SSAC, noting the purpose of the Council is to advise the Department on all aspects of service delivery. Chair Bell opened discussion by reviewing the priorities discussed during the previous Council meeting:

  • COVID Response (PPE, Food Insecurity, Employment Insecurity, Housing Insecurity, Mental Health)
  • Racial Justice/Equity/Healing
  • Outreach/Engagement
  • DHS One Stop Shop

Chair Bell encouraged the Council to consider if these priorities were all-inclusive and how they can help the Council to create subcommittees to help focus this work. The Council discussed the importance of engaging the community after outreach and the importance of data collection and analysis.

Discussion: Committees of the SSAC:

Chair Bell introduced discussion of the committees of the SSAC, first noting those that are currently established in the bylaws: Governance and Structure Committee, Management Improvement Initiative Committee, Legislative and Budget Committee, Diversity and Disparity Committee, Health and Behavioral Health Committee, and Maximum Independence and Self-Sufficiency Committee. The Council discussed that these committees were established by a former Council and were micro-focused on initiatives being led by the Department at that time.

The Council continued discussion of the importance of data and evaluation, noting that each subcommittee would need to collect and analyze data, and there should be an additional subcommittee focused solely on data and evaluation.

The Council discussed the following proposed committees:

  • Crisis Planning, Emergency Response, and Recovery (new)
  • Data and Evaluation (new)
  • Outreach/Engagement/Communications (new)
  • Innovation/Best Practices/Comprehensive Human Service System (new)
  • Legislative and Policy Readiness (new)
  • Diversity and Disparity (existing, name change)
  • Health Equity (new)
  • Governance and Structure (existing)
  • Budget Committee (existing)
  • Behavioral Health Committee (existing)
  • Executive Committee - compromised of the Chair of each established committee, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Council (existing, maintain)

Individual Council members will review these recommendations before the next meeting, considering the charge of each committee, and send recommendations to Katlyn.Halstead@Illinois.gov. Working with Chair Bell, Katlyn Halstead will package the feedback received from the individual Council members into a proposed amendment(s) to the bylaws for discussion and potential consideration at the next meeting of the SSAC.

Questions & Answers:

None received

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn by Dayo Adenekan, seconded by Sergio Obregon. The council unanimously voted to adjourn at 2:00 PM.