June 16, 2022 Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Executive Committee Meeting

Audience

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

Date/Time

June 16, 2022 11:00am

Location

Zoom Link:  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82933944727?pwd=dWNmVFZoV3RXNitMYWlLb21zZXJFUT09

Agenda

1. Welcome & Roll Call
2. FY23 Title II Renewal Application Discussion & Final Vote
3. Public Comment
4. Adjourn

Minutes

1. Welcome & Roll Call
   Chairman Rick Velasquez called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. and explained that the committee will review and approve ICOY's budget proposal for FY23. Co-chair Lisa Jacobs noted that since she is a board member of ICOY, she will not be voting on their contract.
   Roll Call: Julie Biehl, Lisa Jacobs, Michelle Mbekiani, Tamela Meehan, Briana Payton, Rick Velasquez
   Staff: Maribel Gonzalez, Andrea Hall, Esther Kaplan
2. Approval of May 22nd, 2022 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
   Motion: Rick Velasquez added this item to the agenda and called for a motion to approve the minutes from May 22, 2022. Lisa Jacobs moved approval. Tamela Meehan seconded the motion. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.
3. FY23 Title II Renewal Application Discussion & Final Vote
   Rick Velasquez invited Executive Director Andrea Hall to begin the discussion. Andrea Hall shared Sav Felix's recommendations for St. Clair County's and Northeast DuPage Family and Youth Services' (NEDFYS) applications. Sav Felix expressed concern about the teen court cases that St. Clair County sees and recommended that the Commission work with them to push their JJC's model further in the coming year. Lisa Jacobs reminded committee members that the Commission previously decided that its funding could not be used for teen court in St. Clair County and suggested that the Commission encourage counties towards better restorative justice practices.
   Andrea Hall shared Sav Felix's comments on NEDFYS' application. Sav Felix noted that their program participation reflects DuPage County's overall demographics but does not represent the demographics of DuPage County's juvenile justice population. This disparity needs to be addressed. Sav Felix also recommended that NEDFYS reconsider having law enforcement meet with youth and that no police contact is necessary. Finally, NEDFYS should consider providing lighter touch therapy options for first time offenders and low-level misdemeanor cases. Sav Felix recommended funding NEDFYS with contingencies. Andrea Hall opened the floor for discussion. Rick Velasquez suggested that the Commission include monitoring high-risk populations' access to their services in the Notice of State Award (NOSA). Lisa Jacobs noted that NEDFYS' program is unique in that they are working on deflection and serving youth in leu of arrest. Tamela Meehan suggested that one of NEDFYS' contingencies be a check-in with the Commission on these recommendations at the three-month mark.
   Motion: Rick Velasquez called for a motion to approve both St. Clair County and NEDFYS' applications. Lisa Jacobs moved approval. Tamela Meehan seconded the motion. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.
   Rick Velasquez introduced Illinois Collaboration on Youth's (ICOY) contract as the next portion of the FY23 Title II Renewal discussion. ICOY 's grant is the largest amount of money that the Commission awards and the committee needs more input from those benefiting from their services to finalize their application. Rick Velasquez suggested that the committee consider amending ICOY's NOSA to reflect the full award of $350,000 which would bring them to the original amount for FY22. In FY22, the Commission amended ICOY's contract to increase funding in order to account for the additional funds needed by Adler University for their work with the Youth Advisory Board. Rick Velasquez invited committee members to share their reflections on the scope of services that ICOY provides to the Commission.
   In relation to the Training and Technical Assistance element of ICOY's contract, Lisa Jacobs shared that the logistical and communication support piece has been heavily relied on. However, subject matter expertise about how grantees are performing, and the tracking of outcomes and progress of grants should be vested at DHS. Andrea Hall noted that ICOY's bi-monthly meetings with providers is where they engage with grantees, share best practices, ask about current needs, and then produce training opportunities based on those needs. Once the trainings are completed, ICOY does not track the performance of grantees. Michelle Mbekiani added that since ICOY exists outside of the DHS documentation requirements, different kinds of conversation and dialogue can occur between them and grantees. Rick Velasquez concluded that ICOY's role is to make sure that each site has the capacity to track their own outcomes and progress. Maribel added that ICOY's requirement to provide two training opportunities per year was reduced from four since the Problematic Sexual Behavior series was no longer being provided. Additionally, ICOY provides a racial bias training series once a month.
   No issues were found in the areas of Committee Meeting Coordination and Research and Data Collection.
   Lisa Jacobs shared the broad deliverables that the Commission with likely need from ICOY in order to maintain Compliance with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA):
   1. General communications to the monitoring universe about JJDPA compliance issues (lockups / police , jails, sheriffs, courts, IDJJ and IDOC stakeholders)
   2. Identification of the monitoring universe via strategies like communication with, surveys of and follow up to all the entities listed above.
   3. Classification of the monitoring universe according to the JJDPA / OJJDP categories, via activities like those listed above.
   4. General training and technical assistance on compliance issues to the broad field (law enforcement, sheriffs, probation / detention, courts, etc.)
   5. Targeted training and technical assistance to sites with compliance challenges / non-compliance.
   6. Compliance data collection and analysis.
   7. Preparation of compliance reports for the Commission, the field, the public, etc.
   8. Other ad hoc compliance activities, in response to the evolving compliance landscape in Illinois.
   9. Conduct on site monitoring visits 
      Rick Velasquez expressed concern with requiring all of these responsibilities from ICOY and questioned whether the current part-time Compliance Monitor position will be sufficient. Lisa Jacobs suggested funding ICOY as requested and adjusting their budget as a Compliance workplan is developed.
      Rick Velasquez moved the discussion to the next area of ICOY's application, support for the Illinois Racial Justice and Equity (ILRJE) Committee's projects. Andrea Hall shared that ICOY assists with the administration of the ILRJE Committee, but does not assist with research or data. The Center for Prevention Research and Development's (CPRD) NOFO included that they will help co-lead Racial and Ethnic Disparities data collection and analyzation. ICOY's shift away from data collection and research will be reflected in their NOSA.
      Rick Velasquez transitioned committee members to the final area of the ICOY application discussion, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB). Rick Velasquez questioned whether the Commission needs to carve out a budget for the YAB that is separate from the Youth Engagement Committee (YEC). Andrea Hall clarified that the YAB is a project of the YEC. Committee members agreed to renew ICOY's budget to the original amount of $350,000 in case Adler University decides to continue to be funded through ICOY.
      Motion: Rick Velasquez called for motion to approve ICOY's application as well as any recommendations identified. Julie Biehl moved approval. Briana Payton seconded the motion. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.
4. Public Comment
   The committee did not act on this item.
5. Adjourn
   Motion: Rick Velasquez called for a motion to adjourn at 12:00 p.m. Briana Payton moved approval. Tamela Meehan seconded the motion. No abstentions. No opposition. Motion carried.