AGENDA
Social Services Advisory Council
November 17, 2022; 1:30 PM
WebEx Video Conference: https://illinois.webex.com/illinois/j.php?MTID=mf0bc1b3cf7ab13859d37d9cbefbab107
Join by Phone: (312) 535-8110 / Access Code: 2460 462 3811
I. Welcome & IDHS Updates
II. Public Participation *
III. Approval of Meeting Minutes: August 25, 2022
IV. Legislative Update
V. Budget Update
VI. Committee Update
VII. Housekeeping
VIII. OneDHS Report-Out & Breakout Sessions
IX. Adjournment
* If you would like to submit a public comment, please email your comment to Taneka.H.Jennings@illinois.gov by 8:00 AM on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
Meeting Minutes
Council Members in Attendance: Dayo Adenekan, CILA Corporation; Quiwana Bell, Chair, Westside Health Authority; Sherrie Crabb, Arrowleaf; Maria Joy Ferrera, DePaul University School of Social Work; AJ French, Gift of Voice; Barbara Harris-Woodward, Center for Community Academic Success Partnerships (CCASP); Ireta Gasner, Start Early; Christa Hamilton, UCAN; Angie Hampton, Vice Chair, Egyptian Health Department; Niya Kelly, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; Yesenia Lopez, Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya; Dan Lustig, Haymarket Center; Jodi Martin, Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County/Prairie Central; Bela Mote, Carole Robertson Center for Learning; Dulce Ortiz, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center; Debbie Pavick, Thresholds; Frances Reyes, The Center for Prevention of Abuse; Sandy Tiania, Health Care Service Corporation; Gloria Yen, University YMCA
Committee Members Not in Attendance: Mary Camper, Habilitative Systems; Carlene Cardosi, Rosecrance; Mike Inman, Mayor of Macomb; Sylvia Puente, Latino Policy Forum; Jeremy Rosen, Shriver Center on Poverty Law; Itedal Shalabi, Arab American Family Services; Loren Simmons, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago;
IDHS Staff in Attendance: Secretary, Grace B. Hou; Chief of Staff, Ryan Croke; Deputy Chief of Staff, Hina Mahmood; Director, David Albert; Legislative Director, Emily Katalinich; Legislative Deputy Director Taneka Jennings; Director Tim Verry; Director, Laura Garcia; Chief Policy Officer Dana Kelly; DEC Chief of Staff Cory Gold; Senior Policy Advisor, Awisi Bustos; Tiffany Blair; Katlyn Smith
Meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Hampton at 1:32 PM.
I. Welcome and IDHS Updates
- Chair Bell and Vice-Chair Hampton welcomed Council members, IDHS staff, ASL interpreters (Misty Hall and Laura Braucht), and guests to the meeting.
- Chair Bell introduced Secretary.
A. Welcome from Secretary
B. IDHS Personnel Updates
- Sherrine Peyton joined the IDHS team on October 11, 2022 as the State Opioid Settlement Administrator (SOSA). Sherrine has over 20 years of experience in social services with an extensive background in strategic planning across the substance use continuum of care. She is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science degree. Sherinne possesses extensive experience and has worked at the local, state, and national levels on culturally relevant and trauma-informed systemic solutions to substance use prevention and recovery, including serving as the State Coordinator of the Illinois Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant. The last eight years have been very rewarding and momentous, as she created the Community Collaboration Division at the Kenneth Young Center. In addition, Sherrine and her team opened the first LGBTQ Center in the northwest suburbs, including recovery groups for the LGBTQ+ community. Other remarkable accomplishments to note, in 2020, Sherrine was presented with the Cook County "Peggy A. Montes Unsung Heroines Award" by 15th District Commissioner Kevin Morrison and most recently, in 2022, she served on SAMHSA's National Harm Reduction Steering Committee.
- Anthony Ficarelli, joined the IDHS team August 1, 2022 as Deputy General Counsel and Chief Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action Officer. Areas Anthony supervises include Civil Affairs, Administrative Rules, and Administrative Directives. Anthony is an accomplished, multi-faceted attorney drawing on years of experience as legal counsel to a multitude of local governments, their officers, and elected officials. Anthony served as Deputy Chief in the Civil Division of the DuPage County State's Attorney Office and as co-chair and senior partner in the Governmental Affairs Practice Group for the national law firm, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. Anthony has a Bachelor of Science from Regis University and a J.D. from Georgetown University.
- Rafael Rivera was promoted to serve as Chief of Staff for the Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (SUPR) on August 1, 2022. Dr. Rivera has served as SUPR's Deputy Director for the Bureau of Prevention Services for almost five years, overseeing a team that manages three areas within the bureau: Substance Use Prevention Programs, Tobacco Prevention Programs, and Opioid Response and Prevention Services. He has a long history in the field, starting as a substance use disorder prevention and treatment administrator in 1996 and has been in direct mental health services since 1990. Dr. Rivera is a Community Psychologist by training, a father of two amazing "kids" - 24 and 23 years old, a committed partner of over 26 years, and the son of a spry 81-year-old. Rafael has a B.A. from University of Illinois Chicago and a PhD and MBA from National Louis University.
- Katie Gunter, MPH, MSW, joined the IDHS team October 3, 2022 as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary. Prior to joining IDHS, Katie was the Deputy Director at the University of Chicago National Program Office for Bridging the Gap: Reducing Disparities in Diabetes Care, a 5-year initiative to implement and evaluate integrated medical and social care models and build a value case for services in diabetes care that are traditionally not eligible for reimbursement. She has extensive experience in program management for multi-level interventions in safety net health care settings, implementation of community-based interventions with a focus on chronic disease management, and culturally tailored and patient empowerment interventions. She has also worked in a Baltimore, MD federally qualified health center as an HIV case manager in a multidisciplinary care team and as a clinic manager for Planned Parenthood in western North Carolina. Katie holds a dual master's degree in public health and social work from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
C. Support for Asylum Seekers - Secretary Hou
- The State is working in partnership with the City of Chicago.
- The first two buses arrived on August 31st and since then, 92 buses have arrived in Chicago with 3,700 people with no sponsors.
- Secretary had the opportunity to visit the boarder communities in Del Rio Eagle Pass and El Paso which provided better communication and more information compared with the State of Texas.
- Connection was established with the different non-profit organizations in Del Rio, Eagle Pass and El Paso that work with the asylees.
- The White House triggered Title 42 which is a public health rule that would enable the Federal Administration to pause border crossings and limit or prohibit them unless the asylum seekers from Venezuela in particular, have sponsors. Since then, only two buses have arrived and many individuals were turned away and reported back to the country of Mexico.
- However, a judge just struck down the Federal Government's ability to limit the asylum seekers through Title 42 and the Federal Government has asked for a stay on that judgement. Illinois is now expecting and planning for additional buses to arrive.
- The State of Illinois with different vendors and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency have stood up many hotels to house families. There are 12 hotel sites with almost 2,000 individuals, 720 of which are children. The City on the other hand, has been primarily providing intermediate shelter to around 1,155 single males in their city shelters.
- The State and the City are now working closely on permanent housing solutions for the asylees while preparing for an influx of more individuals.
- Member Maria Joy Ferrera shared that her organization has been discussing how they can respond to this issue. She asked how the long-term planning looks in terms of providing therapeutic spaces and trauma informed care for the families. Also, what does the coordination look like between NAMI and other behavioral health systems and is there a particular person looking at the well-being of the individuals.
- Secretary said that the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Refugee Rights is working with their continuum of organizations to identify case managers that are assigned to the different families in the hotel sites. They are working to assess what the array of needs that family members have in addition to health and mental health. Also, IDHS is working with IDPH and the Cook County Health and Hospital Systems. Various screenings are done not only in Illinois but upon crossing the border. She added IDHS recognizes the critical importance of mental health services but the agency is limited in being able to provide the level of care to all the individuals in the hotel sites.
- Dr. David Albert added that the DMH team is working on it as of current and he, too has been very involved in standing up an immediate response and figuring out what can be built to ensure supports and services remain available on the longer term. He offered to connect member Ferrera with the DMH team to talk more about ways to help the asylees.
- Secretary also mentioned that the Latino Policy Forum has started a weekly meeting called Welcome to Illinois Coalition that brings together a variety of different organizations to work on this issue together.
D. Other Division updates
- Chief Croke shared the new and first ever State Capital Program for Sociasl Service and Human Service Providers in the State with grants up to $250,000 and grants that start at $50,000. There will be at least 60 available to Human Services Providers throughout Illinois. Applications are due at the end of the calendar year but organization can apply early and a number of technical sessions are already scheduled between now and end of December.
II. Public Participation
? No public comments received.
III. Approval of Meeting Minutes: August 25, 2022
- The minutes are not available and will be approved in the next meeting.
- Roll call:
- Dayo Adenekan - present
- Quiwana Bell - present
- Mary Camper -
- Carlene Cardozi -
- Sherrie Crabb - present
- Maria Ferrera - present
- AJ French -
- Ireta Gasner - present
- Christa Hamilton - present
- Angie Hampton - present
- Barbara Harris - present
- Mike Inman -
- Niya Kelly - present
- Yesenia Lopez - present
- Dan Lustig - present
- Jodi Martin - present
- Bela Mote - present
- Dulce Ortiz - present
- Debbie Pavick - present
- Sylvia Puente -
- Frances Reyes - present
- Jeremy Rosen -
- Itedal Shalabi -
- Loren Simmons -
- Sandy Tiania - present
- Gloria Yen - present
IV. IDHS Legislative Update - Emily Katalinich, Legislative Director
A. Director Emily Katalinich provided an overview of the process that Legislation goes thru when setting up their priorities and agenda.
- The Governor and the Secretary continue to prompt Legislation to focus on equity and use it as lens to think of potential unintended consequences of any changes they make.
- Director Katalinich also mentioned the concern raised by SSAC members on the transition from State and Federal public health emergencies in the coming year that may result in losing the flexibility for meetings as dictated by the Open Meetings Act (OMA) such as allowing remote public participation and remote participation in general. She added that discussions are already going on regarding the issue.
- Member Ireta Gasner thanked IDHS for being responsive and said they will continue raising the issue in other platforms with other stakeholders and that the SSAC will be open in partnering to figure out the issue and do whatever solution that will come up.
B. Organizations can send their ideas to Legislation by sending an email to Dir. Katalinich and Deputy Director Taneka Jennings.
V. IDHS Budget Update - Tiffany Blair, Budget Director
A. Director Tiffany Blair cautioned everybody beforehand that since the budget to be discussed is still proposed, it is confidential until the Governor's address. Specifics were not given but only the overall approach in the budget development.
- The Governor's Office of Budget Management asked all State agencies to submit a Maintenance Budget which does not include program and new expansion areas. However, Secretary and the leadership team has that list ready in anticipation of opportunities to share them with the Governor.
- DHS plans to have a budget briefing following the Governor's address in February 2023.
- The maintenance budget includes the full year cost for the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) or rate increase.
VI. Committee Update - Chair Bell
- Each of the consolidated three committees have been working on a charge and identifying priorities and main goals for the next few months.
- The Council will vote on the charges on the next Council meeting.
A. Response, Recovery, and Innovation Committee: Mary Camper and Jodi Martin
- The group met and wanted to clarify their charge in terms of what they wanted to accomplish and they want to make sure that what they're doing is what the Department wants them to do.
B. Outreach, Engagement, Equity, and Policy Committee: Niya Kelly and Gloria Yen
- Finalized their proposed language for their charge with the help of Taneka.
- Will be working on creating realistic, tangible, actionable goals on their next meeting that would fit the confines of the Council's capacity.
C. Health and Wellness Committee: Maria Ferrera and Dr. Dan Lustig
- The group met in October and hoping to meet again in January.
- Once of the concerns was some elements of their charge may overlap with the charges of the other subcommittees so they wanted to bring it back to the larger group.
VII. Housekeeping - Taneka Jennings
? Reminder to complete all required trainings by the end of the year
A. Ethics Training Program for State Employees and Appointees 2022
B. Harassment and Discrimination Prevention Training 2022
C. HIPAA and Privacy Training 2022
D. Security Awareness 2022
E. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training 2022
? Agenda Items - please send any agenda items to Taneka or any division or guests that the Council wants to invite; agenda items can also be sent to Chair Bell or Chair Hampton
VIII. OneDHS Report-Out & Breakout Discussion - Dana Kelly, Chief Policy Officer
- Chief Kelly gave a recap of her presentation during the last SSAC meeting and presented the feedback she received with regards to the questions she posed during the last meeting. Presentation will be shared to Council members.
A. Breakout Session - Chair Kelly provided the questions for discussion:
- What are your initial reactions to the themes presented? What resonated most with you?
- Are there any particular areas that you would like to contribute to fleshing out/continue exploring, going forward?
- Is there anything missing?
- What are your initial reactions to the themes presented? What resonated most with you?
- How can the SSAC help assess capacity gaps across the state in addressing poverty?
B. Report-out from the breakout sessions
- Chief Kelly reported for the first group and shared ideas that were discussed:
- Feedbacks she presented were accurate with regards to the members' experience
- Other places where information can be obtained, partnerships with other organizations such as ministerial alliances, churches and schools that could be important to informing the DHS work and then sharing the information to the SSAC and its subcommittees so they can move forward and advance their thinking
- What do case managers need to be able to understand what benefits are available and share information; can DHS do a better job of informing those resource guide
- What are the geo-mapping possibilities
- Technology issues, websites are not mobile friendly such as the ABE, need to use social media to promote services
- DHS Senior Policy Advisor Awisi Bustos reported for the second group:
- A lot of data is missing and there needs to be more information gathering and data accessibility to help inform their work, they did not have access to stuff they requested for because they didn't have access
- Wondering if the State has a research partner to help drive data
- The approach to things is very Chicago-centric, there is a need to have things and initiatives to be mirrored state-wide especially downstate
- Having a more holistic approach to the one-stop shop not only about benefits but as well as mental health needs and building infrastructure that compensates therapeutic and violence and trauma informed services.
- SSAC members can be tapped to join as partners
- Taneka reported for the third group:
- The desire to continue thinking about how we are centering on our impacted community members throughout the entirety of the services and processes at DHS and making sure it is actively soliciting from communities how they can best accesses IDHS resources
- Technology issue, to be mindful of the capacity of community organizations and others with regards to computer access
- Shoring up staff capacity around policy transitions that DHS makes to the way that services and programs work
- What is the role perhaps within IDHS of having our own community navigator roles
IX. Adjournment
- Taneka will reach out with regards to dates for the 2023 quarterly meetings of the Council
- Member Ireta Gasner moved to adjourn, and member Niya Kelly seconded. The Council voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting.
