OFVP Firearm Violence Research Group Meeting Minutes, July 19, 2022

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

9:30am - 11:00AM

via zoom

Minutes

Meeting called to order at 9:35am.

Notetaker: Jessica Cortez

  1. Welcome/Roll Call/Approval of minutes by Joe Hoereth, PhD, Director, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and Assistant Secretary Christopher Patterson, Office of Firearm Violence Prevention, Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) 
      •  Meeting minutes were approved by consensus
    2. FVRG Members present
      1. Joe Hoereth
      2. Christopher Patterson
      3. Timothy Lavery
      4. Delrice Adams
      5. Darryl Kroner
      6. Jon Patterson
    3. FVRG Members Absent
      1. Kimberly Smith
      2. Andrew Papachristos
      3. Soledad McGrath
      4. Tammy Kochel
      5. Lance Williams
    4. Other attendees
      1. Dana Kelly
      2. Reshma Desai
      3. Awisi Bustos
      4. Roy Rothschild
      5. Anna Katter
      6. Aaron N, Karrie Rueter
      7. Meredith Ament (Civic Consulting Alliance)
      8. Sarah Pointer
      9. Renee Vespa
  2. Public Comment - No public comments received
  3. Discussion and Work Items - Dana Kelly, Chief Policy Advisor, IDHS
    1. Update on Greater Illinois RPSA Funding Strategy
      • Ms. Kelly shared a PowerPoint presentation with the Firearm Violence Research Group on the Update on Greater Illinois RPSA Funding Strategy that will roll out in the next 30 days.
    2. Update on Interagency Work
      • Joe Hoereth introduced Meredith Ament of Civic Consulting Alliance to the Firearm Violence Research Group to share updates on the agency work.
      • Ms. Kelly presented first half of PowerPoint presentation
        1. Overview of presentation
        2. Background: History of the group and goals/accomplishments to date
        3. Common programmatic reporting: Street outreach + programs
        4. Common programmatic reporting: High risk youth programs
      • Meredith Ament introduced herself and gave CCA background experience and presented the second half or update on interagency work presentation.
      • FVRG member Timothy Lavery said it's great in general that the three levels are working together and that it will eliminate redundancy. The one key is the collection of the individual level of data. Mr. Lavery suggested pulling all the individual data together into one source. It will be more challenging for an evaluator to have to work with a variety of different agencies to get the different pieces of the data to pull together into an evaluation. Mr. Lavery asked where the group stands on the topic.
      • Ms. Kelly said that in terms of the timeline, OFVP is hoping to have a final report or tool that can be used at DHS. The plan is to roll out the final report by October that would be the quarter covering the month of July, August and September. She added there are things that need to be worked on in terms of how it will work and data management.
      • FVRG Member Darryl Kroner asked where the extra equipment of data is and where will this come into play.
      • Ms. Kelly said that for the street intervention plus data tool, all grantees will be required to participate, and that there will be TA Providers who are going to make sure that this is something they are aware of, that they understand how it works and are able to provide the kind of capacity training that would be needed for organizations that may not be expert in collecting all this data.
      • Ms. Ament will share the tool with FVRG through email after the meeting.
      • FVRG Member David Olson asked if there is anything in IDHS where service providers currently input client-level information about those that they serve.
      • Ms. Kelly shared that IDHS use the E-Cornerstone system for the TEEN REACH programs and Youth Development programs that are funded under RPSA.
    3. Data and Evaluation Overview and Discussion
      • Dr. Hoereth asked if the group should open up a collective brainstorm that can begin right away and then pick up and work with members in between meetings. 
      • The question would be what additional data can OFVP gather in the short and intermediate run that can be useful for understanding short term outcomes or any potential course corrections or approach?
      • Mr. Lavery suggested to piggyback off pending effort that is already going on.
      • Mr. Olson said IDHS could work with other state agencies to figure out some of the data that would be useful at a community level and figure out how to generate that in a more timely manner.
  4. Next Steps
    1. Ms. Ament will share the tool with the FVRG group.
    2. Dr. Hoereth will work with FVRG members individually.
    3. Meeting adjourned at 11:01 am.
  5. Proposed Next Meeting Date/Time - Meetings will be bi-monthly moving forward possibility for quarterly