Virtual Meeting between IDHS-OFVP and Decatur municipality, Minutes, October 13, 2022

October 13, 2022, Thursday

3:30pm - 4:30pm

via webex

Recording

Attendees:

1. Julie Moore - LAC Member
2. James Keith - LAC Lead
3. Melverta Wilkins - LAC Member
4. Erik Grebner - Homework Hangout, Inc.
5. Jerry Culp - LAC Member
6. Karl Coleman - LAC Member
7. Representative Dan Caulkins
8. Representative Sue Scherer
9. Awisi Bustos - IDHS Senior Policy Advisor
10. Christopher Patterson - IDHS-OFVP Assistant Secretary
11. Dana Kelly - IDHS Chief Policy Officer

Minutes

1. Opening/RPSA Progress Overview
   • Awisi Bustos, IDHS Senior Policy Advisor welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending the meeting. She asked Assistant Secretary Christopher Patterson to start the meeting.
   • Assistant Secretary started the presentation with a recap of the main reason for the meeting which is the enactment of the Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) last year, the goal of which are to bring additional resources that are needed primarily to address root cause of violence and to deepen the understanding of the dynamics happening within communities.
   • Approximately 250 million dollars were invested to youth development and violent prevention for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024. Out of the 250 million, a little over 61 million dollars has gone out for RPSA funding, a little bit over 152 million dollars for youth development which is separate from the youth development under RPSA.
   • Assistant Secretary also showed the breakdown for the 61 million dollars invested for RPSA. Violence Prevention was recently exclusively for Chicago; IDHS did not want to assume that the model for street outreach, case management and victim service in Chicago would also fit to Greater Illinois areas such as Decatur. However, feedback from Greater Illinois folks showed that they also need Violence Prevention. He shared that OFVP is excited for the Decatur LAC and its leadership to see what direction it would take. He also mentioned other programs that have funded such as Youth Development and Technical Assistance. Lastly, he encouraged everyone to apply for the convening position which shows OFVP's desire for the LAC works to continue and be sustainable.
2. Local Council Advisory Process
   • IDHS-Chief Policy Officer Dana Kelly introduced herself and mentioned that she has been working with Assistant Secretary to stand up OFVP and fund activities in Greater Illinois. She said that what she's really hoping from the meeting is to identify capacity needs in Decatur and share funding opportunities that have been put out for Greater Illinois. She shared that she's hoping that some of the applications received would be from Decatur.
   • Ms. Kelly said that the work started in Greater Illinois really began with the Local Advisory Council process. Sixteen LACs were convened in early March 2022 with about 150 members across the State. Each LAC was tasked with making recommendations to OFVP on how to allocate violence prevention resources with some guidance from OFVP. Specifically, they were asked to each submit a set of recommendations for activities most needed to reduce firearm violence which the OFVP did receive from Greater Illinois including the municipality of Decatur. The recommendations were then incorporated to the funding strategy formulated by OFVP. She directed everybody to the links provided in the presentation which would take them to the summary of all the recommendations and to the strategy that OFVP have put together in response to the recommendations on how to fund communities.
   • Ms. Kelly then gave the highlights of the recommendations and the first one was support for comprehensive violence prevention services that included aspects like street outreach, victim services and case management. The next one was a need for some sort of a flexible source of youth intervention funding that would target a broad range of youth most at risk of being involved in community violence. IDHS has made other forms of Youth Development funding in the past, a lot of which was focused on school-engaged youth for which the services were provided. They were pretty prescriptive and so there was a desire to fund a broader range of activities that impact youth especially those who may not be involved in school and even those that are over the age of 18 that are still at risk and could utilize some of the youth preventative youth strategies that were developed by organizations and communities.
   • There was also a need for additional trauma-informed behavioral health supports that was highlighted especially for youth most at risk of being involved in community violence. Finally, there was acknowledgement that there needed to be a continued investment in traditional models of youth development that focus on engaging school-involved youth.
   • Other findings that Ms. Kelly discussed include the need of organizations to have some sort of resources to address racism and historical disinvestment in communities of color, financial stability and mobility, social determinant factors that are the root causes of firearm violence; need for technical assistance and capacity building resources to allow small organizations to succeed in the violence prevention space; and support for community collaboration inclusive of schools and police and healthcare institutions, park districts and others.
3. Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs)
   • From the recommendations, Ms. Kelly continued, the OFVP developed a set of service offerings that have been released over the past couple of months. The first is Youth Development Greater Illinois. This was made available very early in February of this year and it was modeled after a program that IDHS already implement called Teen Reach. Organizations in Greater Illinois have been able to apply for this Youth Development funding for some time. The application did close in September 8th but it was open from May 2nd all the way through September 8th. In August, IDHS began releasing some new opportunities to Greater Illinois. The 1st was Violence Prevention which includes those aspects of street intervention, victim services and case management that was released and then due September 16th. OFVP is currently reviewing applications for that according to Ms. Kelly.
   • The third is Trauma-informed Behavioral Health Services. This was re-released in September and OFVP is expecting to receive applications by October 14th when they're due. This provides mental and behavioral health interventions to address trauma related to firearm violence. Finally, the Greater Illinois Youth Intervention. Ms. Kelly said it was not in the presentation, but it was another application that provided a broader range of youth intervention activities that was released in August and was due sometime in September.
   • IDHS also recently released a technical assistance training and capacity building NO in Greater Illinois as a response to the other feedback from the LACs. OFVP is committed to making sure that every grantee, as a part of this programming, receives intensive technical assistance and training and this is being done by partnering with organizations that can provide this assistance. Ms. Kelly said that OFVP will send more information and they are encouraging folks to apply. Another thing that IDHS wants to support, Ms. Kelly continued is the continuation of LACs which as everyone knows, is an unfunded mandate in terms of people's participation. OFVP wans to make sure that the work is put in the hands of a convener entity who can continue the work and convene organizations. The office is hoping that an organization, one that might have been involved with the LACs will apply for that funding notice which was released last week. Ms. Kelly said they will make sure to provide information about how to apply for that opportunity.
   • The final feedback from the LACs that Ms. Kelly discussed was about how to address social determinants that are the underlying causes of firearm violence in communities. IDHS provides a lot of services and programming that addresses things like economic opportunity, racial discrimination, housing and family violence and food and security, but a lot of folks, both on the provider level and on the consumer level, don't know how to access those services. Thus, OFVP is committed to making sure that grantees will be trained to understand how to access those services, making sure that people are aware how to navigate those things, what are available, that providers know that they provide those kinds of services, how to apply for funding opportunities and things like that. OFVP will continue to work with grantee agencies to access information on how to connect folks to those services.
   • IDHS Senior Policy Advisor, Awisi Bustos discussed the strategy developed by IDHS from all the recommendations received from the LACs. Ms. Bustos said that there is a total of 100 million dollars to give out in Greater Illinois and considering this unprecedented investment, the OFVP carefully balanced three considerations when allocating funding - the inputs, the providers' capacity and area need. The strategy for the first round of funding was centered around assessing capacity and getting the organizations who can apply right away to do so. The OFVP want to assess where the gaps are to build capacity and fill in the areas of need. So, OFVP is working on building up capacity while simultaneously soliciting application. Ms. Bustos added that OFVP is building capacity of organizations that currently lack capacity to apply by partnering with firms like Ernst and Young, providing technical assistance and training, and community organizing.
   • Ms. Bustos further said that the first round of funding was focused on aligning the recommendations, open to assess capacity, and provided capacity building in areas of high need. For the second round, funding will be escalated in areas of high need and it will be ensured that LAC funding recommendations are met.
   • Ms. Bustos also shared the tool kit being used by IDHS in spreading the word about the funding initiatives. She asked the attendees for help in spreading the word on the funding opportunities especially for those that are currently on the way. She added that OFVP wants to ensure that organizations in the community that are able to apply will get the information in order to be able to serve the community. Ms. Bustos said the tool kit will be provided to the attendees after the meeting.
4. Next Steps
   • Aside from spreading the word about all the funding opportunities and encouraging eligible organizations to apply, Ms. Bustos discussed more steps that need to be taken, one of them is to ramp up capacity building efforts in the community to ensure that organizations are well-equipped to successfully apply and secure the grants. Another step that OFVP would like the LAC to take is to revise and complete the community asset mapping if they have not done so and be prepared to report findings when requested. The attendees are also asked to identify and encourage larger organizations in the community to explore primary and subrecipient relationships with smaller organizations. The OFVP would also like the LAC to continue holding meetings and keep the office abreast of any pressing issues or needs that may arise. Ms. Bustos then opened the table for question and answer.
5. Question and Answer
   • Assistant Secretary started the discussion by emphasizing that IDHS listens to the communities and it has heard and thought deeply about the sustainability of the work that's being done particularly the framework for creating something that is long lasting. OFVP wants to make sure that the smaller providers who have not had State funding in the past and is intimidated of the State funding process but have been doing great work in the communities out of their own pocket, is provided with the opportunity to sit at the table and get the funding, that they have the capacity building and support that they'll need to go forward in long term.
   1. Representative Dan Caulkins mentioned that most of the programs discussed have ended and surmised that IDHS has probably received applications. He asked what are they supposed to do, they have groups that may have thought about participating but it looked to him that all programs are in past tense already.
      • Ms. Kelly referenced slide 13 and said that one of the things that they wanted to do today is to talk through what can be done for the second round of funding. IDHS released the first set of direct service grants on a limited basis with a 35-45 day application window for a particular purpose, they wanted to see who was out there and who was ready to apply, who could get going right away and OFVP wanted to see what is the capacity across the municipalities. She added that they know round one will not going to capture everybody and they do anticipate a second round for most of the opportunities to come out. She also said that depending on what they receive from each community, they may put some more specific funding limitations per community on things, they may be changes but the content won't change. And so, Ms. Kelly said that what they want the attendees to do is keep for interested organizations excited and let them know about the opportunities that they will be able to apply for and then they would be able to have them apply in the second round which OFVP plans to keep open for a longer period.
   2. Representative Caulkins asked if there is a website link or something very simple that a person can click on a link and it will open a place where the person can look and find if it fits their program.
      • Ms. Kelly provided the dhs.illinois.gov/RPSA website and she also referenced slide 17 of the presentation where a set of website links is provided that will take people to where they find the funding opportunities. She also mentioned that she sends updates to all LAC members when funding opportunities get released.
   3. Representative Caulkins mentioned GATA, confirming that it is needed for pre-qualification.
      • Ms. Kelly said yes, GATA is required in the application.
   4. Representative Caulkins stressed that it is the GATA process where most small community organizations fail. He shared that he's had other community organization apply for funds and they get stuck in the GATA spinning wheel, that you have to do it and then you have to update it and then you have to do it again. He asked if there is any resources that IDHS can provide that would help the small active organizations to get through the GATA process.
      • Ms. Bustos shared the link to the GATA resource that organizations can access. She shared that there is a GATA app which is a technical assistance that literally walks applicants through the pre-qualification process, directing them to each website or agency where they would need to do a particular exercise, letting them know what it would cost, what the timeframe would be in keeping track of the entire process, and where they are along. There is also pre-qualification verification form that organizations can fill out and on the back end, staff is checking their pre-qualification status, and providing them feedback on what part of the puzzle they are missing and exactly where or what they need to do to overcome that. Ms. Bustos added that there is also a learning management tool that can be used by organizations that want to go for a deeper dive into how the whole GATA process works and how to get pre-qualified as well. They can sign up for the learning management tool and they have access to all those resources. Ms. Bustos also mentioned that there are videos available as short as 45 minutes for organizations that don't have time to go in deeper.
      • LAC member James Keith shared that he is hoping that the convener position really has an expectation of not only convener. He read the performance measures, the performance standards, and it was how often the convener is getting organizations to the table to meetings. Mr. Keith thinks, to Representative Caulkins point, that a convener should be doing more than convene. They should be providing technical assistance. GATA is very difficult. He recommends that as everybody move forward, that the convener position is not just a convener, but a facilitator of information, a technical resource for the smaller organizations who struggle through the levels of qualification. He thinks that it's going to be key to making the program successful. He added further that if it's possible, remove the deadlines and let the services be a rolling application process because nothing is more painful than see the deadline come while you're trying to do this for the first time. The suspense is hanging over your head and if you've never done it before, all of a sudden, you just think, this is too much and gives up. The organization falls back and continue to try to get resourcing through community resourcing opportunities, as opposed to this phenomenal opportunity through the State because people will default back to the path of least resistance and not to knock the State's processes because it can be cumbersome. Mr. Keith said he gets it why it's cumbersome but suggested to make it user-friendly as it can be to achieve what Representative Caulkins is pointing out.
      • LAC Member Jerry Culp agrees that organizations do get stuck when applying for grants. He said they would need more time and would need somebody not only to help technically with the GATA pre-qualification but also to let them know what fits in which categories and then help them write the application. He added that the process is really overwhelming, sometimes it's hard to figure out the words and get it right, get to the point where people understand what you're asking for on top of trying to figure out how to prequalify for GATA. He thinks that a technical assistance person is a really important upfront person to organize groups and make them understand where they fit in and which category they would fit in. Also, he added further, to understand each category and how their requests will fit into those. Mr. Culp said he doesn't mind helping write grants, but some of these grants he has never been involved in and just navigating through them and understanding what you're looking is something that would need assistance and he thinks that hiring somebody to help them through the process would be the best solution. It would be so much help if there's somebody who can organize and give not only assistance to the group that meets to talk about where the funding goes or continue the the meetings, but to help each of the organizations on what they're looking for funding in a certain area. He said it would make a big step for the LAC.
      • Ms. Bustos thanked Mr. Culp for the feedback and said that they are taking it into account. She reiterated that GATA is a law and that IDHS did not create it and so everybody needs to abide by it. But IDHS is in the business of helping people and so one of Secretary's top priorities is to create tools to lessen the barriers to all the resources. The OFVP has been listening to organizations, hosting listening sessions even prior to the creation of the LACs and they are working together to figure out how to simplify the process for everybody. Ms. Bustos said it is a work in progress but also emphasized that it is not something that IDHS take lightly, all the tolls and resources have been developed within the year in order to ramp up and build capacity, close the gaps and make GATA a less of an issue for organizations until there's a remedy, maybe a legislative amendment or whatever it would look like. IDHS is putting its best foot forward to ensure that GATA is not an issue for its community partners.
      • Mr. Keith said he appreciates it. He reiterated his suggestion to have a rolling application period. He asked if it's possible to keep the application rolling, IDHS can send back the application and let the applicant know of the shortcomings in the application and the organization will have the opportunity to correct those or adjust those and then resubmit. It only works until the until the money runs out but we're keeping opportunity open as opposed to when an agency applies for the first time and they don't get it and say the State of Illinois is too big for me, I'm not going to do it again.
      • Mr. Culp also said that it would be helpful if after submitting a grant application, a list of deficiency of things that the agency is looking for would be given to the applicant, even if that applicant is not reapplying.
      • Assistant Secretary said he appreciates all the feedback and added that those are all recommendations that OFVP has heard and working around and considering. He is seeing a consistency in the feedbacks particularly on the GATA as a strain in the application. He added that the OFVP understands that there were going to be smaller providers who won't be able to navigate that system and so the app was created and other tools to help them. He also said that there hasn't been any provider who has dropped off because they felt it was a bottomless void, but Assistant Secretary believes that the OFVP has been able to help the applicants thru various ways of communication.
   5. Representative Caulkin asked what level of funding has been established or set aside for their local community for various programs including violence prevention.
      • Assistant Secretary said the funds will be coming from the 100 million dollars. He said it is a competitive process and that is why the OFVP is doing the push, the outreach to make sure providers are well aware of the opportunities in front of them and that the deterrents are being addressed that are preventing smaller organizations to apply. Out of the 100 million dollars for the youth development and violence prevention, in a competitive NOFO atmosphere, OFVP is anticipating the money being distributed to individuals who actually applied. Unfortunately, those silent stakeholders who are not at the forefront and not involved will be missed and Assistant Secretary said that would be catastrophic to some.
   6. Representative Sue Scherer asked if there is a dollar amount earmarked for Macon County or Decatur, how is the funding gets divided out, are there areas that supported funding the program, does it have anything to do whether the community gets the grant or not?
      • Assistant Secretary said no. The communities have been selected by the research group according to the rate and volume of shooting in the communities. Every community is going to have different expertise and levels of need. OFVP is encouraging that if a community such as Decatur is experiencing high levels of firearm violence, providers should come in and apply. It is a competitive process but Decatur providers will not compete against for example, Peoria providers, they will compete with other Decatur providers. They will compete with each other. He said he can send some calculations of how the breakdown would look like but it's hard to foretell who will step up and how much money will actually be distributed in the community from the RPSA funding. He added that it's a really incredibly hard calculation to make across the State.
   7. Representative Scherer added that it sounds like they were earmarked as one of the areas that needed these services, she asked how it was decided that Decatur needed to have this kind of meeting compared to other communities.
      • Assistant Secretary said the meeting is the Local Advisory Council meeting and the areas were identified with OFVP's research group that includes researchers from the University of Chicago and others who identified the cities and counties and municipalities within the State with the highest rate of shootings and homicides. Decatur, unfortunately fell within that realm but fortunately, at the same time, Assistant Secretary said everyone can do something about it thru RPSA.
   8. Representative Scherer asked how many communities are there.
      • Assistant Secretary said 16 communities outside of Chicago and all are in the IDHS website. Ms. Bustos shared the link to the website in the chat.
      • Ms. Bustos added that the meeting is not unique to Decatur. She said the OFVP is doing check-ins and many has been held so far with other LACs. Decatur is having its meeting right now so we can give an update and hear back from the community on what they need but all the LACs will receive the same information that is being shared today.
      • Mr. Keith said to Representative Scherer and Representative Caulkins that some of the folks in the meeting are part of the Decatur LAC and offered to do a separate meeting with the legislators to bring them up to speed with where they at, where they've been and where they are going with what they're doing.
   9. Representative Caulkins asked if any Decatur organization has applied for the grants that have been open for several months.
      • Assistant Secretary said that some of the applications have closed but will open again according to Ms. Kelly. But at this point, Assistant Secretary said he doesn't know which providers have applied and that's because of the integrity of the process, they are being reviewed and scored. After they have been reviewed and scored, the results will be forwarded to his office and he will give the thumbs up for the funding recommendations. He added that at this time, he can't identify any particular provider from the Decatur area.
      • Mr. Keith said there are two organizations that have already received the funding from the first application deadline, Homework Hangout and Youth with a Positive Direction. He added that those were off the Teen Reach model and so both of those have been involved in that program. Those are the two that are currently receiving funding and he said they don't know about the applications until the deadline closes.
      • Assistant Secretary added to the point of Mr. Keith about the Teen Reach expansion. As summer were coming in, OFVP wanted to make sure they give additional dollars for programs that were already up and running and so that was an additional investment for those programs from RPSA as well as street outreach and youth intervention, those programs are open and haven't closed yet.
      • Ms. Bustos said she provided some links in the chats based on the questions that are being asked.
   10. Representative Scherer asked if Homework Hangout and Youth with a Positive Direction allowed to continue to apply for the programs or are they part of a different group.
       • Assistant Secretary said they are allowed to apply.
   11. Mr. Eric Grebner, the Executive Director of Homework Hangout Club and asked about the new ARPA Youth Employment funding. He said he did not see any NOFOs specifically on youth employment. He said he know there was one recently released for six counties but Decatur/Macon County was not one of them. He asked about the projective release of any youth employment dollars specifically for Decatur/Macon County. He said there hasn't been any IDHS-funded youth employment program in Decatur since the middle of 2021.
       • Assistant Secretary was not sure at the moment and so he said he will get back to Mr. Grebner separately as he want to make sure he gives him the right information. He added that the OFVP team will determine whether Macon County is eligible for the funding. He asked the rest of the team to provide the answer to Mr. Grebner today or early tomorrow. Ms. Bustos said she will put the inquiry out.
   12. Assistant Secretary shared that he is really excited about the outcome and on getting the reviews and recommendations from the office that is now scoring and reviewing the applications. He is also excited to see the providers who are going to be in the first round of funding in addition to the youth development work that IDHS has been doing. He commented that Decatur has been a really active and engaged community and the LAC. He shared that they want to continue supporting the municipality and reiterated about the opportunities for technical assistance and convening position that can make the LAC long lasting and sustaining. He encouraged everyone to get the word out and said that the slides can be shared if anyone is interested. He also reiterated that they want to make sure that they are walking smaller organizations through the process of applying for the funding despite the GATA frustrations.
   13. Representative Scherer commented that Homework Hangout has done a wonderful job in the past when she worked with them employing young people and getting them off the streets. She thinks that has made a difference. She shared that when she looks back at her tenure, things were going gangbusters and then Renner became governor, and they didn't have a budget for two and a half years which shut everything down. Then it got back going again and it was going gangbusters again. And then covid hit. She said she feels like that the holding tank things are in now is because of Covid, and everybody's trying to get back up on their feet from that. She asked to pass it on to whomever makes those decisions, everybody talks about wanting to get people back to work and the summer program was very successful on that, and so she would like to see those programs step up again.
       • Assistant Secretary assured her and thanked her for the input.
   14. Mr. Keith commented that OFVP has been great about pushing out the grants available thru the meeting. He appreciates getting the link for the list of agencies that have already received the funding. He asked if they could have the information on who's applying in their community once the application window closes, which agencies were approved and so they can be in the loop since they are an advisory group.
       • Assistant Secretary said they are going to make sure they will push the envelope as far as they can for transparency. They will post all of the approved and recommended providers in the Decatur section of the website. He also thanked the input about making the NOFOs staying open because he understand that it is a disadvantage for smaller organizations if the application period is only 30 or 60 days.
   15. LAC Member Melverta Wilkins asked about the Youth Development grant for Decatur. She is confirming if there was an opportunity for eight organizations or eight after school programs in that particular grant in the Decatur area. If there are no eight organizations who will apply for that, how will it be changed? Will the funds be allocated differently?
       • Assistant Secretary said that the question brings the attention back to the capacity for each one of the municipalities that OFVP will be working with. He said that their original thinking and from some of the guidelines for the Chicago funding, was there will be up to six violence prevention providers and up to eight youth development providers. He said this might be true for Chicago but in other communities, there might not be that many providers. He added that they want to take the recommendations from the municipality itself and they want to support whatever endeavors it has. He said it doesn't have to be a provider that gets funded from Decatur.
   16. Representative Scherer asked for a sort of flyer that can be sent to her that she could forward to a lot of groups that she knows would appreciate having this opportunity.
       • Assistant Secretary directed them to slide 14 and said they will share something similar to the information on the slide. He also said folks can go to the website by using the QR code to get the information that was shared today.
6. As there was no other questions, Assistant Secretary adjourned the meeting.