OFVP Firearm Violence Research Group Meeting Minutes, September 20, 2022

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

9:30am - 11:00AM

via zoom

Minutes

Meeting called to order at 9:35am.

Notetaker: Jessica Cortez

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
- Assistant Secretary Patterson welcomed FVRG members to the meeting.
- Joe Hoereth welcomed new FVRG member Dr. Eric Reinhart. Dr Reinhart is a physician and an anthropologist at Harvard University.
1. FVRG Members present
  1. Joe Hoereth
  2. Christopher Patterson
  3. Timothy Lavery
  4. Darryl Kroner
  5. David Olson
  6. Jon Patterson
  7. Tammy Kochel
  8. Eric Reinhart
2. FVRG Members Absent
  1. Kimberly Smith
  2. Andrew Papachristos
  3. Soledad McGrath
  4. Lance Williams
3. Other attendees
  1. Dana Kelly
  2. Reshma Desai
  3. Awisi Bustos
  4. Roy Rothschild
Public Comment - No public comments received
Discussion and Work Items - Dana Kelly, Chief Policy Advisor, IDHS
1. OFVP Update - Assistant Secretary Christopher Patterson shared PowerPoint slides Office of Firearm Violence Prevention Updates to the FVRG group. Assistant Sec. Patterson handed the presentation over to Awisi Bustos to continue updates. Awisi began with the RPSA Funding Distribution slide #10.
2. Review of One-on-One Feedback - Joe Hoereth presented PowerPoint slides on Review of One-on-One Feedback with different FVRG members.
  - Conversation Example Feedback:
    1. Need to consider other types of data
    2. Need to get that real information about how their [violence prevention program participants] lives are being changed
    3. Need to manage expectations that data that comes on the end is going to be limited to the variables and individuals we [OFVP] are interacting with.
    4. Just put me to work. I'm ready to do whatever homework you need me to do.
  - Themes/Specific Ideas
    1. Some members indicated they would like more opportunities for discussion
    2. Several indicated it would be helpful to have a communication between meetings - some type of brief summary of recent and upcoming activities
    3. Suggestion: The group should work collaboratively on a product
    4. Suggestion: A study of the extent of problem of firearms violence in Illinois
    5. Suggestion: Would be useful to focus on an issue important to the office and working on it together
    6. Managing expectations/understanding of what can be concluded from short-term data
    7. Issue regular communication to the FVRG with an update of OFVP activities shared mid-way between meetings.
    8. Develop a product (i.e. report or study) that serves a useful purpose to OFVP and that the group can collectively contribute to.
    9. Give time at a meeting for members to share their areas of expertise and current projects OR ask them to share that information in an email that we compile in a document and share back with them.
    10. Identify opportunities for research group members to participate in any program activity.
  - FVRG Member Kochel: The opportunity to engage on a shared project is very appealing and engaging more beyond the meeting via communication for opportunities to participate in program activities.
  - FVRG Member Olson: There does not exist any digestible straightforward description of the extent of the gun violence problem in Illinois that he is aware of. For them to take all they have learned in the process up to this point about the prevalence of gun violence and what they don't because the data doesn't exist.
  - Dana Kelly: That type of work helps OFVP to address possible questions. The outstanding questions OFVP has are where there isn't a lot of answers on data OFVP can collect or can pursue at this group to answer some of the outstanding questions with the work being done.
3. Overview of Reporting Tools and Metrics - Reshma Desai, Bureau Chief at IDHS presented PowerPoint presentation Overview of Reporting Tools & Metrics. Two excel spreadsheets were shared with FVRG to review and also discussed during the FVRG meeting 1) Intergovernmental Coordination Quarterly Reporting Summary and 2) FY23 RPSA VPS reporting forms
  - 1. What is your overall impression of the reporting tools discussed?
    2. What is valuable that's being collected?
    3. What is missing?
    4. How can data that is collected through this process potentially contribute to a longer-term evaluation?
  - FVRG Member Kroner: One comment would be the overlapping of the information coming from both tools.
  - Reshma Desai: Reporting forms were approved by GADA and any changes will go back to them. Will explore fully to get to the point FVRG member Kroner made about overlapping.
  - Dana Kelly: Ernst & Young Consulting Services will help build a database to support this reporting both through quarterly tool and intergovernmental tool and find a way to combine the metrics and eliminate redundancies on certain types of information.
  - FVRG Members Kochel and Lavery: Both agreed need more time to review reporting tools to provide proper feedback.
  - Joe Hoereth: From the evaluations that are either being discussed or designed or underway. Is there a way for the FVRG to have a conversation around what some of the critical measures are beyond the sort of process participant and evaluation data. Would someone be comfortable gathering that information?
  - FVRG Member Kochel: Sees something appealing to be involved in and collectively they know the answer in terms of what would be ideal and maybe get together to talk about what would be practical. The purpose of the entire effort is to reduce harm, and so that harm takes a variety of forms in terms of injury, death, and conflict resolution.
  - FVRG Member Reinhart: The subjective measures are quite important. It's easy as research to look for the hard data points because we imagine that's the most reliable, but we know so much of safety has to do with perception and often very distorted perception. If there is a way that the measurements would be accounting for shifts in subjective perception not just with those who have direct contact with interventions but with broader community members, it's harder to derive. That is one of the most important outcomes and that will give feedback on the individual interactions.
  - Joe Hoereth: Are there any subjective perceptions anywhere on the data?
  - Dana Kelly: No, but those lead into something that can be discussed when talking about utilizing the intermediate term report to look at.
Discussion-FVRG Outcome Support and Evaluation Moving Forward - Dana Kelly presented PowerPoint presentation FVRG Outcome Support and Evaluation Moving Forward.
1. Plans for FVRG Ongoing Support
  1. Immediate term
    1. Proposal - Produce a research brief on Year 1 activities
    2. Identify innovative strategies from the field nationally/internationally
  2. Intermediate term
    1. Identify critical data not currently being collected (or to which there are barriers for collecting)
    2. Frame research questions for a longer-term outcome evaluation
  3. Long term
    1. Review and contribute to evaluation and aid in disseminating program learnings
    2. Curate and discuss best practices for the purpose of recommending program adjustments and modifications
2. Research Brief on Year 1 Activities
  1. Concept: The brief would be a report that would:
    1. Describe how funds have been used to prevent gun violence, and the immediate impact of that work, while noting that a long-term independent evaluation is expected to be done separately
    2. Complement data from required performance reports with qualitative data from providers
    3. Provide a balance of "what and how much" has been done with qualitative data and "stories" of the immediate result of an intervention or programming supported by OFVP funds
    4. Begin to answer the question- "What is our impact?"
3. Ways FVRG Members can Contribute:
  1. Research design
    1. Develop focus group questions or other qualitative data instruments if needed; facilitate focus groups
    2. Reviewing data for observations
    3. Writing and editing the report
  2. Data Sources:
    1. Data summarized from Periodic Performance Reports required from all grantees quarterly
    2. Focus groups and surveys of grantees conducted by IPCE focusing on qualitative data recommended by FVRG
4. Timeline - Completion by Dec. 15th for public release and to attach to December 31 report to the legislature as required by the RPSA
5. Discussion
  - What are your thoughts on this proposal?
  - What value could it have to OFVP?
  - How could it help with shaping evaluation and other future research questions?
  - Should it prioritize specific data/measures? What measures should it focus on?
  - FVRG Member Reinhart: Trying to translate these kinds of public policy initiatives into easily digestible products that lawmakers can take out easily and understand and appreciate the value but also the public is incredibly important.
Next Steps
1. Have one-on-one conversation with Dr. Eric Reinhart for feedback.
2. Discuss group project
3. After reviewing reporting tools FVRG members can follow up in the next week with any impressions in writing or phone call with someone from OFVP.
4. Send reminder of meeting to FVRG members along with any materials that will be shared sooner than a day before meeting
5. OFVP to provide summary of the feedback we heard today
6. Within the next week - IPCE will reach out to schedule the first meeting to discuss research design and timeline of the research brief project. Activities will include:
  1. Review and summarize data.
  2. Determining data gaps
  3. Recommending qualitative feedback needs
  4. Designing needed focus groups or other feedback tools.
  5. Determining quantitative and qualitative data conclusion.
  6. Report writing and editing
7. OFVP to send update to program in October
Proposed Next Meeting Date/Time - Tuesday, November 15th 9:30am
Meeting adjourned at 11:05 am.