May 18, 2022 Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Meeting

Audience

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

Date/Time

May 18, 2022, 10:30am - 12:00pm

Location

Virtual/401 S Clinton

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Agenda

1. Welcome & Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes
3. Youth Advisory Board Introduction
4. Executive Director Report
5. Committee and Work Group Status Updates
   1. Compliance
      1. Procedural Action Item
   2. Planning & Grants
      1. Procedural Action Item
   3. Racial Justice & Equity
   4. Youth Engagement
   5. Executive
6. New Business
7. Public Comment
8. Adjourn

Minutes

1. Welcome & Roll Call
   Chairman Rick Velasquez called the meeting to order at 10:41 a.m. Executive Director Andrea Hall began roll call.
   Roll Call: Julie Biehl, Sav Felix, Jelani Floyd, Arnetra Jackson, Lisa Jacobs, Amanda Klonsky, Michelle Mbekiani, Tamela Meehan, Esther Franco Payne, Briana Payton, Keyria Rodgers, Rick Velasquez, Dana Weiner
   Staff: Andrea Hall, Maribel Gonzalez, Esther Kaplan
   Guests: Joshua Brooks, Randi Goodwin, Sam Pederson, Destine Phillips, Peg Robertson, Devonta Savage-Jackson, Dwayne L Wright
2. Approval of Minutes
   Motion: Rick Velasquez called for a motion to approve the meeting minutes from January 19, 2022. Sav Felix moved approval of the minutes. Keyria Rodgers seconded the motion. Motion carried. No abstentions. No opposition.
3. Youth Advisory Board Introduction
   Rick Velasquez invited Joshua Brooks from Adler University, one of the individuals responsible for developing and bringing together the Youth Advisory Board, to introduce the group. The Youth Advisory Board, co-led by Joshua Brooks and Anthony Young, has been meeting since December of 2021 and is composed of seven young people from Cook County, St Clair County, and Champaign County. Topics at meetings have included the history of the Juvenile Justice system, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, root causes of young people intersecting with the Juvenile Justice system, civic engagement, restorative justice, and organizing. The Board is preparing for the final project where youth will recap all they have learned since December. Guest speakers have included a youth organizer from the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) and Vanessa Wesley who shared a presentation on the intersection of youth and law enforcement. Joshua Brooks invited Youth Advisory Board Members Destine Phillips, Randi Goodwin, and Devonta Savage-Jackson to introduce themselves.
   After introductions, Joshua Brooks shared that youth have agreed to provide their perspective on law enforcement interactions within their communities for the annual presentation to the Illinois Juvenile Officers Association (IJOA). Joshua Brooks opened the floor for questions.
   Vice-Chair Lisa Jacobs noted that there are multiple policy initiatives underway that would benefit from youth influence. Joshua Brooks shared that the goal is to have youth advise the Commission. Youth involvement with the Commission will likely involve their participation in different committees that suit their interests.
4. Executive Director Report
   Rick Velasquez invited Andrea Hall to share updates. Andrea Hall thanked everyone for their participation in the Commission's work since she began her role two years ago and mentioned that all committees currently have space for additional members. Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) trainings have been uploaded to OneNet and the Ethics training will not be due until the fall. Andrea Hall clarified that Commissioners who serve on multiple state boards or commissions must only complete each training once and should plan to be in contact with her.
   Andrea Hall provided financial updates. As the fiscal year ends, the Commission has allocated around one and a half million dollars and has underspent seven hundred and sixty-four thousand dollars. Underspent funds will be de-obligated at the end of the fiscal year and applied to the following year. One of the primary reasons that some grantees are underspent is due to staffing issues. The Department of Human Services (DHS) is about to enter the grantmaking process for FY23 and applications were due the previous Monday. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) conducted site visits in April. Two of the site visits were Title 2 and there were no findings.
   Finally, Andrea Hall advised Commissioners to look at the upcoming events and priorities at the end of the Executive Director report. The Coalition for Juvenile Justice is hosting a Youth Summit in August and a Racial and Ethnic Disparities conference in November. Additionally, OJJDP is hosting a State Relations conference from November 1st to the 3rd in San Diego, California. Andrea Hall opened the floor for questions.
   Rick Velasquez added that Commissioners should read fiscal reports if they will be reviewing renewal applications. These reports indicate how a grantee is addressing the implementation of their program and the use of funds.
5. Committee and Work Group Status Updates
   1. Compliance
      Rick Velasquez invited Lisa Jacobs to share updates. The committee has been meeting to address issues of compliance with the updated Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) core requirements. Data has shown that non-compliance on the jail removal requirement is mainly due to violations in the city of Chicago and with the Chicago Police Department holding youth for longer than six hours. The committee is also facing tightened requirements from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and expanded responsibilities as a Commission. One of these responsibilities is the inclusion court holding facilities in the Commission's monitoring universe. Finally, the committee is responsible for documenting all monitoring authority and data collection practices and all site visit policies according to OJJDP's new requirements. Loyola law students have been assisting in data analysis and legal research. The final compliance manual is due to OJJDP by June 13th. Lisa Jacobs opened the floor for questions.
      In response to a question from Arnetra Jackson about youth who are held in police custody for more than six hours, Lisa Jacobs explained that it is possible that these are youth with no adults coming to pick them up. The committee will be investigating this issue further. Lisa Jacobs noted that Illinois law and the federal core requirements are out of alignment. The state allows twelve hours or more for the processing of youth, so the Chicago Police Department's practices are allowable under Illinois law. Esther Franco Payne noted the importance of finding advocates to work on legislation that will help bring Illinois into compliance with OJJDP.
      1. Procedural Action Item
         The Compliance Committee is seeking authorization from the Commission to review and sign off on the Compliance Manual for purposes of submission to OJJDP by June 13th.
         Motion: Lisa Jacobs called for a motion to authorize the Compliance committee to sign off on the Compliance Manual. Arnetra Jackson moved approval. Esther Franco Payne seconded the motion. Motion carried. No abstentions. No opposition.
   2. Planning & Grants
      Rick Velasquez invited Lisa Jacobs to share updates. The Commission is approaching year two of a three year grant cycle. Instead of a competitive application process for the second year, existing grantees submitted renewal applications for continued funding as of May 16th. At least one commissioner will be assigned to review each renewal proposal. Two meetings will be scheduled for the review process. First, there will be a meeting to orient Commissioners with the criteria for renewal. Commissioners will then have some time to review applications. Recommendations on continued funding will be made at the second meeting.
      1. Procedural Action Item
         Motion: Lisa Jacobs called for a motion to authorize the Planning & Grants committee to make decisions to continue funding for grantees. If the Planning & Grants committee decides not to recommend continued funding or if there are issues that need to be addressed, those applications will be reviewed by the Executive committee. The Executive Committee will then make the final determination on those renewal applications. Tamela Meehan moved approval. Michelle Mbekiani seconded the motion. Motion carried. No abstentions. No opposition.
   3. Racial Justice & Equity
      Rick Velasquez invited Michelle Mbekiani to share updates. The Illinois Racial Justice and Equity committee met in February and March. In February, Juvenile Justice Councils presented to the committee. In March, Andrea Hall, Tamela Meehan and Era Laudermilk shared a presentation the Racial Equity and Impact Analysis (REIA) tool which helps organizations analyze the impact of policies and decisions. In April, the committee did not meet and focused on the release of the 2019 county R.E.D. data briefs.
   4. Youth Engagement
      Rick Velasquez invited Tamela Meehan and Briana Payton to share updates. Tamela Meehan shared that the Youth Engagement committee is proud of the work that the YAB has accomplished so far. Commissioners are encouraged to reach out to the committee with opportunities to engage the YAB in the work of the Commission. Briana Payton expressed that it will be important to collect feedback from youth and keep youth connected throughout the summertime. There is a Youth Engagement conference scheduled for August that the committee may have youth from the YAB attend.
   5. Executive
      Rick Velasquez shared that Commissioners will have short bios and headshots uploaded to the website by the end of the summer. ICOY will be reaching out to Commissioners for headshots in the coming weeks. In April, The committee helped sponsor an event where the Commission partnered with the Juvenile Justice Institute (JJI) to discuss the intersection of homelessness and Juvenile Justice. There were around seventy attendees present.
6. New Business
   Rick Velasquez announced that Governor Pritzker established a new behavior health initiative to address the gap in mental health services for youth across the state. This initiative will bring together six departments to work collaboratively on a blueprint that will determine how to address the current conditions in Illinois. Commissioner Dana Weiner, who understands the complexity of DCFS, DHS, and the IDJJ system, is leading this initiative. Rick Velasquez invited Dana Weiner to share further.
   Dana Weiner explained that there are three key areas of the initiative. Firstly, her team will coordinate among the six child-serving agencies, facilitate interagency crisis staffing calls, and work more broadly across agencies to understand the pathways to services. Secondly, her team will examine capacity and process issues, map business processes to understand what families must do to be eligible for supports and services, conduct policy analysis as it relates to the misalignment between law and policies that govern the delivery of behavioral health services, and look to the field for best practices that are used in other states. Thirdly, her team will create a blueprint for the governor's office, including a plan that incorporates supports in technological infrastructure, staffing, governance and oversight, policy change, and all other aspects involved in changing realities for children and families throughout Illinois. It will also be important that education is provided to everyone who has early touchpoints with children on how to identify mental health issues and interact in a way that is conducive to healing from trauma. Lisa Jacobs will connect Dana Weiner to the leaders of a workgroup focusing on youth mental health issues and detention.
   Rick Velasquez announced that Liz Ryan was recently sworn in as the new Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). She founded the Youth First Initiative in 2015 which has helped six states examine the closures of youth prisons and redirected around fifty million dollars to community-based services. Liz Ryan has a strong advocacy, policy, and legislative background.
   Rick Velasquez invited Commissioners to share any other announcements.
   Arnetra Jackson shared that she participated in a free cannabis dispensary operation program at a community college in order to be able to better educate youth on their rights related to cannabis use in Illinois. Many young people struggling with their mental health are sentenced to substance abuse treatment by DCFS in relation to their cannabis consumption. Staff turnover within DCFS makes it difficult for information on new policies to be successfully communicated to everyone involved in these types of cases, including case workers.
7. Public Comment
   There was no public comment.
8. Adjourn
   Motion: Rick Velasquez motioned to adjourn the meeting at 12 p.m. Arnetra Jackson moved approval. Lisa Jacobs seconded. Motion carried.